Off to a slow start!

[johnssi]

So here's a question for all you forum people and maybe you can help me diagnose the problem. When I hit the ignition the starter runs a bit slow, almost like the battery is not up to snuff, mind you it starts every time, but it just seems like the juice is not there. I have a sealed battery so I took it to the local auto parts store to check it out. It is a 540 CCA battery and it reads 544 on the guy's meter, so I know the battery is good. I'm not sure of where to look next and could use your collective thoughts.
Also had a similar problem as described in the electrical forum: car wouldn't start with the parking lights on but started right up after I turned them off. Hmmmm?

[kmead]

So, you have a battery at one end that is clearly healthy. At the other end there is a starter motor that apparently works but may be a bit weak or ?

So between the battery and the starter is what? A primary wire that carries current to the starter. Is it in good condition? Is it properly connected to the starter?

Current moves through a car in a circle. How is the current getting back to the battery? How is the ground strap from the engine and transmission to the chassis? How is the connection from the body to the battery?

The thing about electricity is to follow its path and ensure the path is unimpeded. Each step along the way should be checked and verified. Areas one should look at are the various small grounding points as well as the connections to the ignition connections.

In my case I have always added a heavy ground cable from the engine mount to the either the same bolt the ground cable from the battery attaches to or to a bumper mount bolt or another heavy gauge bolted connection. Its worked well for me but YMMV.