Thread: Difficulty warm starting?

Hey guys. My 04 GTP Comp G has been having issues warm starting. I drive 40 minutes to work or so. When I come home, I usually eat dinner and dick around for an hour or so, then head to the gym. When I go out to start my car to leave the house, it won't start. The starter turns, lights come on, but the engine just won't turn over. The service light comes on. Then after a few minutes of trying to start the engine and letting it sit for a bit between tries, it just starts without a hitch, no service light. Battery is new, I replaced it just last spring. It starts up just fine cold in the morning. I'm at the gym 30-40 minutes, and it starts up just fine when I get out as well.

Only possibly related issue is a ticking noise it's been making. Shop diagnosed it to be a leaking exhaust manifold gasket, but they didn't have time to fix it near the holiday.

Any ideas? I don't really know where to start..

Are you saying the starter spins, but doesn't engage and turn over the engine? If that's the case, the next time you have the issue, give the starter a good whack with something solid. Use a rubber mallet or a chunk of wood, a hammer isn't a good idea. Basically, when the starter turns, it spins a small gear up the shaft to engage the engine and turn it over. When the starter stops spinning, a spring pushes it back down the shaft so that the engine doesn't continue to turn the starter. If the starter is just spinning, particularly when hot or cold consistently, this gear is sticking. There are a lot of reasons this can happen. I've never taken apart a GP starter, but I imagine there are simple rebuild kits for this. Alternatively, a new starter will do the trick too.