It only happens occasionally but when I get in my car and start it, you can hear the car trying to start and after a second finally does, only when it does catch it seems to hesitate and then it sounds normal.
Any ideas as to what it could be? Alternator? bad battery? new spark plugs?

thanks ahead of time!

 

I have an O3 GT and that sounds alot like what I get ocassionally. I don't think its necessarily a problem....i've always just written it off as the nature of the starting system. I have noticed that if you try to re-start your car up after driving it for a bit it seems to hesitate like that more consistently. But if you give it a couple of seconds she starts right up.

 

If as Hangwire said this is happening on hot starts, then it's a common issue, a result of the OEM tune being too lean when cranking at high engine temperaures.

It can be corrected by setting the 200° AFR richer in the Cranking A/F Ratio function in the tune. The stock value on my '03 GT was 13.8:1, I changed it to 13.2:1 and the problem went away.

I think this was corrected in later stock tunes, a Ford dealer can flash the latest tune--I have no idea what they charge.

 

thanks guys

 

My 2002 does this occasionally as well. My friend has a 2003 GT that used to do it about as consistently as mine (which is not that often). He replaced his battery at one point and he claims it has not happened since. I wouldn't take it as gospel, but it appears to have either fixed or coincidentally removed that startup lag.