Could battery reading 12.2 volts cause starting issues?
 

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.

Yes, the battery needs to be load tested.

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...

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.