DaleB

This has happened a couple of times now, but it's highly intermittent. I've never driven another S600 or S65 to know if the starter is acting normally or not.

The USUAL start in the S600: Push the button, starter winds up for a fraction of a second (sounds almost like a turbine whine), then engages, engine starts right up, idles as smooth as warm butter. Life is good, everyone is happy.

Once in a while -- like yesterday: Push the button; dead silence and no reaction for a full second or two. Starter winds up for a second or so, engine starts, idles rough, MIL comes on. Shut down and re-start, everything acts normal and the idle is once again smooth as butter. Shut down, read codes, it's a forest of misfires from random cylinders in both banks. Clear codes. MIL is off, life back to normal.

So two questions... first, is it normal for the starter on a V12 M275 to whine and spin up for half a second to a full second before engaging? Second, if not, could a dying starter cause the other behavior. The two would seem unconnected, but then again many seemingly unrelated things aren't always unrelated in this wacky car.

Edit: To be clear, the car never has a misfire code other than when this thing (delayed/abnormal start) happens.