Occasional Hard Starting

[eagle]

In order to help troubleshoot, I would get the hand crank out and get used to the general torque it takes to turn the engine over with the key off. Then when you have troubles with the starter pull out the hand crank and you will be able to feel if the engine is truly turning harder than it should or if you have a starter issue. If it proves to be a starter issue I would put a voltmeter right across the battery and check what your typical voltage drop is when cranking. Then move forward to the starter lug to starter case, should be pretty close to the same as the battery drop. That will tell you if you have a bad starter or cable issues.