If it's getting the full voltage up to the POS starter terminal, I'd suspect the starter itself. When mine went it got slow to start - then started to smoke on one of it's last starts before I swapped it out.

The day I swapped it out, it smoked pretty good on that final start. When I tore it down it was pretty much burned up inside. Wasn't worth rebuilding.

 

I’m suspicious of the starter also, I was going to be pulling it on Monday , weather permitting and putting the starter from Sweetie’s Sunfire in its place, for a test start .
But upon some research the 2003 starter is different from the 2007 starter. And Sweetie wasn’t to thrilled about me pulling parts off her GT to test on OLDBLUE.
On Donbrew’s suggestion, I ordered an EVAP valve for under the hood , it’s ten years old and could be the issue.
Man without a code I have go thru what we’ve learned over the past years on the site.

 

Try turning the key to on for ten seconds then shut it off and try to start. My 2006 got slow to start and this worked on it. A few weeks later I got the gas smell. The rusty fuel lines allow the pressure to leak down over time but don't leak bad enough to detect it for a while. If you haven't replaced the fuel lines, it could be your problem.

 

Actually, Donbrew nailed, it was the underhood EVAP Solenoid, starts quickly again

 

Cool - I reread your thread last night and realized when you said slow to start, you weren't talking about the starter being slow in turning it over - it was more of an issue with it needing to be cranked over longer before it started.

Glad it is back to normal for ya man. Got snow yet?

 

No snow yet! But this morning that slow to start was back at first start , then at the doctors office it was back to normal, (I know , define normal) .
I ordered up a new starter $128.00 CDN , it arrived today, Dan gets home at 3:30 , he should have it installed by 4:30 this afternoon.
He is enthralled with my 3/8 air ratchet and low profile aluminum, one pump jack.
No bad weather predicted, just cold low single digits temperatures, for y’all south of us Canucks , low 30’s , brrrr!

 

Great price on the starter - I had to pick mine up locally, and I had to pay at least twice that. Let us know how it goes. Luckily they are an easy thing to replace. That upper bolt is bit of a pain, but a long extension worked great for me.

 

I just pulled the starter a couple of months ago to replace the oil pressure switch, I cleaned a lot of oil and dirt off the starter, so after ten years , it deserves a new starter.

 

I hate that upper bolt ...

 

So did I , but the new starter is in , and as you might have read in the daily “What did you do to your HHR today”, I’ve had that problem return, I replaced the fuel injectors, an improvement, but still after sitting over night, slow starting.
That lead me to the fuel pump, I ordered up an AC Delco unit, I freaked out about the quick connections not disconnecting, but I resolved that with a small squirt of good WD40.
The tank strap bolts came right out with a 15mm socket and 3/8 ratchet. I placed a 12 inch square of plywood in my floor jack and wiggled the tank out.
To get the retainer ring of the pump, I used my 8 inch slip jaw pliers, or Channel locks.
The fuel level float sender unit simply unclips with two nylon tabs, the wires are easy if you follow the wires one at a time to the harness.
That whole job took me approximately 3 1/2 hours, I had to take breaks and my wrenchman Dan is away on vacation.

So new battery, ok the old one was 6 almost 7 years old.
New starter, that and the injectors and fuel pump were 10 years and 250,00 miles or 404,000 kilometres , so that’s just cheap insurance for another 10 years to get to 500,000 miles! The cost was still less then a down payment on a new car and nothing out there can replace the HHR.