Extended cranking before starting

[linny]

I have an '08 liftback MT that's had this issue several months maybe close to a year. When turning the key to start The engine cranks several seconds before firing up. It does this most every time irregardless if its a cold engine or hot. Occasionally it fires right off.. The engine has no issues when running. There is no engine warning light or codes using a obd scan tool

To date I have
-replaced the battery upon finding it was marginal under a load test.
-replaced the spark plugs
-checked for and found no missing or damaged vacuum lines.

I'm hesitant to think this is an injector issue or fuel pump issue as the engine runs perfectly once it starts. I note that I do NOT hear the fuel pump kick in when I first turn the key to the 'on' position. I don't recall hearing it prior to this issue however. I have a fuel pressure tester but have not yet used it.

I was thinking this is an issue with one of the computer modules so I purchased the entire shop manual from Helm and now have the 30+ pounds of reference material. I started going through the troubleshooting guide in the manual and found reference to a 'techstream' tool. I've since looked these up and find them to be off the charts $$$$ wise..

I'm hopeful using a multimeter with a systematic approach will work in diagnosing this issue.

I found a couple past threads on here that seemed to be similar to the problem I'm having but there wasn't mention of resolution.. Has anyone had and then fixed this problem? I'd love to be able to narrow down my focus to figure this out. Thanks