Could battery reading 12.2 volts cause starting issues?

[somerled]

Recently bought an original '98 Boxster which seems to have intermittent starting issues. Sometimes it starts fine and sometimes nothing happens on the second stage of the key - no ignition, crank, starter. A few more attempts and it eventually does start. All dash lights always come on.

I used a multimeter on the Yuasa battery with the engine off and it reads between 12.2 and 12.3 volts.. and sometimes the multimeter doesn't get a reading at all and shows 0.0. The indicator 'eye' showed black initially and then green once removed and moved about a bit.

Apparently the battery is quite recent (or so I was told) but the car had been sitting for around 2 years until I bought it and I doubt it's been replaced since then.

Could this voltage cause these issues? I'm really hoping it's not the ECU. Carpets feel every so slightly damp but I have no other electrical issues (alarm, windows, radio, central locking all work fine...)

Thank you.

[JFP in PA]

Yes, the battery needs to be load tested.

[ronniegoodson1234@gm]

Just buy a new battery that is the cheapest thing you will ever do to that car

[somerled]

Originally Posted by ronniegoodson1234@gm

Just buy a new battery that is the cheapest thing you will ever do to that car

Haha - probably true. However I think I have discovered that the intermittent starting issue is caused by a switch or electrical unit which sometimes thinks the car is in reverse when it's actually in park, which means it won't start. Going to monitor it in case I'm wrong...

[PLP]

I suspect ground issue or poorly connected battery terminals.

Yes, the battery itself may be a problem, but if the cell was dead or internal issue, it would be present all the time,
12.2 V is not bad.