My 2001 civic has always been a wee bit slow to fire. Even in the middle
of the summer if it has sat all night it would turn over a raw times
before catching.

I bought the vehicle used about this time last year. It fired every day
last winter without a problem. A couple of cranks and bang.

Now it's starting to take more than that. In fact this morning I was
afraid it wasn't going to catch. It was to the point where I was worried
that I might begin wearing the battery down.

I don't have the full history on the vehicle, but since I've owned it
I've had the oil changed regularly and did the big tune-up at about 100
Km. My mileage is quite constant at about 13.5 Kms per Litre. ( sorry
but I'm Canadian). The car runs well and I'm putting on almost all
highway miles. I have 110,000 kms on it and I believe that it's the
original battery and alternator.

Lately, for unknown reasons to me, I get the odd whiff of raw fuel from
the vehicle, but my mileage hasn't changed.

I would normally just change out the battery at this stage, but I'm not
sure that that is the problem. It cranks fine and at good speed. Also
the slow firing has been habitual, just getting worse.

Any ideas from the experts. Could there be a fuel leak somewhere causing
a vapour gap and slow starts?

tia

Peter H