Alright, here is the situation. This past wednesday I detailed my car and I left the radio and doors open during the 5 hour process (yeah I'm a dumbass, I know). So I go to start the car to back it out of the garage and it struggles to start. I held the key forward and it just kept struggling. I waited a minute and tried again and it fired up fine. I figured it was the battery and it just needed to be recharged. I drove it to work for 3 days, the drive is 20 minutes each way, I thought after the first day it would take care of the problem but no such luck. Each morning and after work it would struggle to start. I took the battery in to Autozone to have it tested, they charged the battery and told me it was fine. The wires are fine and the battery is not old, maybe a couple of years. If I don't leave the car sitting for a long time it will start up fine. This only started happening after I detailed the car, never did it before this. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Check the alternator.

 

What does "struggling" mean? Could be fuel related. Check the fuel pressure regulator (FPR) vacuum hose. It is the easiest, and quickest to check. If it smells like gas, or has liquid in it then the FPR is bad.

If the FPR is fine check the fuel pressure. Could be leaky injectors/bad check valve.

If it is electrical then maybe alternator. If it turns over for a long time then it is probably fuel related. Prime it a couple times, and see if that fixes it. Might be a check valve in the pump.

 

The volts meter can tell you alot about the alt. What are the voltage readings before start, after, and after driving for 15min. Did you do the engine bay or just the body/interior.

 

sorry for the delayed response, I took the car in today to have it checked out, they listened to the car at start up and said it's most likely the starter thats sticking. They couldn't check it any longer because they had other cars to work on. The volts go up to 14, the battery was replaced just to be sure it wasn't that (probably needed a new one soon anyway). Anyone familiar with this problem? I have an appointment to have it further inspected on monday, but if it is the starter and it does need to be replaced, what starter should I get?