2011 Outback no crank in the morning then starts no problem in the afternoon??

Looking to see if anyone is ever experienced this.

2011 Outback 2.5 6 speed manual, I get in the car to go to work in the morning turn the car and get nothing. I come home from work and the car fires right up.

The temp has dropped to lower 40s / upper 30s in the morning and 65-70 in the afternoon.

The battery is at 12.5 volts and it's charging at 14 volts. I've made sure the terminals are clean.

It is obviously hard to diagnose an intermittent problem so I'm curious if anyone has ever experienced something like this?

Only thing I can think of is dead spot in the starter or an issue with a relay. Maybe the safety switch on the clutch being effect by cold somehow but at the moment I'm guessing.

Condensation?

Where? I have no clue. I do know that mornings tend to be more damp than afternoons which is a function of temperature (dew point) but, also seperate when troubleshooting. Do with that what you will, it's probably bunk.

How old is your battery? Have you had the cells tested? Cold is bad for batteries, as you alluded to, and if you have some borderline cells in your battery it might not have the oomph for a legit cold crank. \

Also, what kind of nothing are you getting in the mornings? Lack of fuel or lack or spark nothing, based on sound?

Could be some kind of weird, intermittent grounding problem. I'd check all your ground straps (or whatever a 2011 Subaru has), your negative battery terminal, &c.

By nothing, you mean literally turn the key, nothing at all, no crank, no starter solenoid click?

Yes turn the key and nothing.

After I posted this I remembered my wife's Santa Fe did this same thing and that turned out to be the solenoid. 

I don't know but I certainly relate.

Turning the key and getting nothing is definitely an electrical problem. I would start at having the battery cells tested, cuz it's easy and free at a parts store.

Stone dead is going to be something on one of the main power cables or the battery.

At your next cold start, hook a multimeter up across the battery.  Got over +12V?  Good.  If no, replace the battery.

Now if you have over +12V, turn the key while watching the meter.  Does the meter drop significantly like down to 2 or 3 volts??  If so, replace the battery.  If no, check all the main wiring connections between the battery and the vehicle.  All good and clean?  Does it start now?  If yes, problem solved.  If no, get a jumper cable and run from the ground of the battery to the engine.  Problem solved?   Clean your grounds.  Problem remains, check the positive wire.

None of that worked?  Swap the battery to a known good one.  Problem solved?  Replace the battery.

Turning the key and getting nothing is not the same as turning the key and getting a click. If a click resulted the dash lights would have appeared when the key is in the ignition position.

When the key for the Outback is turned to the ignition position, do any dash lights appear? If so what happens to them when the key is moved to the start position? If the dash lights go out and no sound from the starter is heard it's likely the connections at the battery or the starter motor- or the main ground connections at the battery or chassis.

If no dash lights, the ignition switch is suspect.

I get full dash lights and all the rest just turning the key to the start position does nothing.

I tried it this morning when to was 55 degrees and it fired right up.

I'm going to try it early tomorrow morning and see what happens.

My sons Sierra would do something similar. Like be perfect one moment then either a flash of gauges or nothing at all.

Both battery cables were loose.

My OBS Bronco did something like that when I was more dumb than I am now and the mechanic across the street yelled to me to check the battery cables. 
 

Positive had worked itself loose. But not at all to an obvious extent.

Starter solenoid contacts are failing.

If it's like the older Nippondenso starters, you can take the end cap off of the solenoid and shim the contacts in with washers, if you want to be too cheap to buy a starter.

Sounds like starter solenoid. But check out the battery and wiring first. I would also test out the ignition switch just to be sure. 

In reply to Knurled. :

Yeah and if it's like those starters there's a brush and contact set out there for $15 or so. 

I don't think Subaru uses a Nippondenso starter, so the contact fix is out.   Sounds like a starter or battery cable situation.  Polishing the cable clamps solves the battery situation.  Testing power at the starter trigger wire diagnoses, but on an intermittent failure, it can be a pain in the butt to catch it.  Piggyback a wire on to the trigger wire, and use it to power a bulb that is placed somewhere you can see it.  Hit the key, bulb lights, no crank, you need a starter.  Hit the key, no bulb, start looking for switch or connector problems.  Pro tip- use a larger bulb, like an 1156, and watch the brightness.  If it's dim, you might have a low voltage situation.  Still switch or connector, but low voltage can mislead you to the starter being the problem when it actually needs more than the 8 volts or whatever you are delivering.

So the dogs had to go out at 5 AM this morning.........so I decided to try the car, naturally it fired right up.

At this point it does seem like a solenoid/starter issue.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I admit to not knowing what Subaru uses nowadays, but the washer shim fix is what I did on my '88 GL.