Hello All,

My daily driver is a 1984 245. She has 380,000 miles on the original B23F. I replaced the headgasket in 2001 at 200,000 miles and had the valves done by my shop at the same time. Didn't really need it but since the head had to come off to replace the HG and the shop wanted only $250, I figured it was money well spent.

The bottom end of the motor is original.

Here is the problem: After replacing the battery, battery cables and the starter, she still cranks v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y the first start of the day. Sounds like the battery is near death but it's a brand new Interstate. As mentioned, I have also replaced the starter with a rebuilt Bosch unit. Weird thing is that I can take it for a short drive and for the rest of the day it will start with one flick of the key and cranks at normal speed.

So, I thought that maybe the battery was not being charged properly. I replaced the brushes/voltage regulator pack on the back of the alternator, and it did not make a difference.

Wondering if it is possible that the compression is so low on a cold start that the starter motor has a hard time turning over the motor, but once it has warmed up and everything has expanded, the effort on the start is less? Does that even make sense?

I am at a loss here.

Thanks for your help!