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Hey all, I'm having a fight with my starter.....

So its been a bit cold here in New England for the last few months and my 710K has been hibernating on a battery tender for the last couple months.
I decided it was time wake her up. Only a couple cranks and it was up and running as usual. Never had starting issues before.
The very next day I go to start up again.... I press the button and thunk...no start. If I continue to hold the button down it does a couple slow chugs.
I figured I left something on overnight and hooked it up to the charger overnight.
The next day.... go to start....same thing. This time I KNOW the voltage is good, voltage meeter reads 24V and each battery reads 12V.
So I continue holding down the start button and it tries, and verrrrryyyy sloooowwwwwly chugs once every few seconds and then little faster..and then it catches and it up and running.
After getting it warmed up I turn it off and try to start again. Starts right up with half a turn. I unplug the coil and try again and the starter happily turns over like it always had.

The confusing part to me is that that it started right up the day before after sitting for a couple months. Its the same temperature to with the same oil viscosity.
The batteries are reading good, but could they be lacking CCAs? Normally they don't just suddenly go bad.
Can a starter just suddenly get waker? Maybe the solenoid isn't transferring all the power the starter needs?
Battery terminals are nice and clean- connections seem tight.
I'm a bit stumped and a new starter is a good chunk of change if I don't need one.
Any help would be great!

A volt meter will tell you the voltage but not the condition of the batteries. Back in the day, the simplest method to check a batteries in the vehicle was to put a load on them, and other than the starter, (seal beam) headlamps and the horn were the next heaviest user. Turning on the headlamps on and they're dim or go dim quickly is a good indication of a low charge state or bad batteries. A small 2a battery tender will not give a "deep" charge. You can also turn the headlamp on and try the starter for a few seconds, the lamps will go dim while the starter is engaged but will return to somewhat normal when you release the starter button. If not, remove your batteries and have them checked by a repair shop or parts house with a load tester. If either battery is questionable, replace both. If the batteries are acceptable, remove the starter and bench test it to determine if it is ok. A word of warning while trying to start the Pinz with the starter in place. You should never crank it over for any prolong period as there is heat being built up and that can damage the starter and it's windings. I was taught not to crank for more than 15 to 20 seconds and let starter to rest an equal amount of time, but not if you know the batteries are good, you'll definitely be huerting the starter.

OK, took it down to the parts store, and after telling the tale of Pinzgauer I got them to test the batteries....
Sure enough...one was exactly where it should be....the other was 175 out of 900...... yeah...pretty dead.
So I replaced just the one since the other was reading where it should be. I'll find out tomorrow morning after a cold night and see if it starts....
What really threw me off was that the day before in the same weather after not staring for 2 months it turned right over.

Anyway, there are 2 silver linings.....

1- I didn't have to buy a new starter.

2- Found an oil leak at teh oil cooler junction. I'll probably need to replace the oil cooler rubber seals. I know, more work to do..but its better to find it now than later.

Thanks!

Glad you found the problem. Be ready to go though this again in a few years. Even with 1 battery checking out good, the batteries' imbalance will work to shorten their lives.

To avoid the imbalance, best to replace your batteries as a set -- don't mix-and-match types brands models or ages if you want to keep them balanced. Keep in mind your battery is already a stack of cells (6 per battery), so you just stacking more cells by putting two batteries in series like in the Pinz.