when i go to start my car it seems to fire slowly and the battery guage goes down fast. After a few seconds it will start up and be fine driving. What could cause this??

 

Are you talking about the starter "cranks" it slowly or the starter is just as fast as ever but it takes a few more revolutions than it used to to "start"?

 

it cranks slowly

 

but after it has been running for awhile and i go to a store or sumthing and come back out a few minutes later then it does fine

 

Your starter is requiring more current than it is being given. The choices are pretty clear.

Battery is low or bad. Have it tested under nomal load.

Battery or other cables have poor connections which limits the amount of current. Remove and clean the cables at the battery, both clusters at the passenger fender and both ends of the ground strap on the drivers side.

The alternator is not charging the battery and allowing it go down. Once the engine is running check the voltage across the battery to see that is around 14 volts DC. Note a bad battery or poor connections will have an effect on this test.

The engine is dragging causing the starter to work harder. Not likely.

The starter is drawing too much current due to many of the windings internally becoming shorted together. This too can be tested by load testing the starter but not usually by the people at AZ or Advance. Your best bet to test if this is the case would be to use a known good battery that can take the load and use jumper cables directly to the starter and eliminate all possible sources of current draw other than the starter.

 

so my starter is not likely the problem??

 

If your referring to this statement:

It only refers to the ENGINE dragging. Not the starter. As far as the starter, read the last paragraph.

 

ever figure it out??