"Seth Masia" wrote:
If there's plenty of voltage on the first few starts, and then the starter
won't turn, you've probably got a drain on the electrical system that's
bringing the battery down.

But everything else fed by the battery works just fine, even the next
day when the starter doesn't respond at all.

I don't know *all* the particulars, just thought someone may have had a
similar experience. The initial starter was bench-tested fine, put back
in, started a few times, then after a day, no response. Replaced with
"gear starter" with same results (initial start-up successful but no
response 24 hours later). Again, everything else tested and run by the
battery during preflight works fine.

Remember that motors are less efficient when hot -- so
your starter motor will draw more current on a hot start
even though the oil is thin.

Both successful and failing start-ups were done first thing in the
morning, after the airplane was parked all night.

Thanks to all for responding.