I have an '04 Cayenne S 64k miles, battery is new, no aftermarkets, it takes sometimes 4 tries to start the car, yet sometimes it will start on the first try. It sometimes just starts to crank and stops, if you don't get it by the second try you have to turn the key all the way back and then forward. Yes the brake is depressed. What can I try before the stealership, it sounds like a relay is bad maybe. Any clues would be greatly appreciated.

 

CEL on? maybe cracked coils? or the EVAP canister purge valve?

 

I already changed all the coils. CEL is not on. How would I check the evap canister purge valve and where is it located? Thanks

 

Just curious what exactly happens when you try to start, in real fine details if possible, does it always crank? is the key being recognized? Any unusual noises (starter, clicking etc?) Did this just start occuring? if so anything changed prior to it?

 

ok, had this for quite awhile and out of the blue, when I put the key in, yes, it is always recognized, it may crank for 1 second or not at all the first turn, or, it may start the first time one in ten times, or, it may not turn the first or second time, but if I turn the key all the way backwards and straight through to forward it eventually starts every time usually no more than 4 tries in all of the above cases.
Don't let what I'm about to say throw you off because it is NOT the battery or battery connection (battery is new and dealer checked it out including cc amps), when I use my Porsche trickle battery tender overnight, it will almost always start the first time only that morning, but again, the battery is new and it did the same thing with the old battery and nothing is draining the battery and no codes. There are no unusual noises at all and nothing has changed.
Thanks for helping me troubleshoot this, I will be so grateful for a diy fix.

 

I take it your vehicle doesn't have the Porsche entry and drive?

some examples from what I can dig up:

Not sure if you were having the same issue I was, but my experience was that I would turn the key several times with no success and on the 3-4 try the car would start. Everything would light up on the dashboard but the car wouldn't start. The dealer said the battery was low and replaced it but the problem came back. Took the car to another dealer and they said the new battery was low and asked how long I had it. Told them only a couple of weeks. They diagnosed the issue to be the cable loom in the starter area. It wasn't allowing the battery to recharge properly and needed to be replaced. NOTE: this was not a covered part.

While I agree with you on the load test I haven't found them to be worthwhile on my previous 2 vehicles (Sequoia and Tahoe). After having intermittent start/memory errors on the vehicles I took the vehicles to my local Interstate dist. shop and both batteries tested fine. After dealing with the problems for another month or so I replaced the batteries, problems went away.

There are numerous things that could cause this fault (coils, evap issues-leaks, ignition switch etc) really sounds like a poor connection-interesting though that when you leave the charger on it works better (high resistance in circuit perhaps and that extra little bit of juice is helping out?), I would start by checking all major electrical connections, don't forget the grounds as well, try to wiggle them, if they move obviously there is an issue.
Google search, you will find lots of reading material.

Hopefully this can lead you a start to your resolution of that annoyance.

 

Yes mine is exactly like yours, I had two batteries put in because they said it's probably the battery and was not in the end.....thanks so much for the input.....have a Merry!!!