Not starting issue

I have a 2008 Tundra that had a recent frame replacement. Since the swap the truck has had moments where the starter will not crank, I am not sure if it just a coincidence or just truck age. The truck has 280k on it, when it runs it is strong. My mechanic said the battery needed to be replaced, we swapped it but the starter is still intermitantly not working. The starter does not crank always when the key is turned. When the starter cranks, it cranks as it should with no struggle. The truck can sit for either a minutes or days and either work or not. Does anybody have a direction to start looking? My regular mechanic said a ground wire is loose somewhere from the frame swap.

 

Start by tracing out the grounds. Maybe even remove and scuff the paint where any body grounds may be. I like to install a little grease so it doesn’t rust. It may be time to replace the wires as well.

 

did The starter click, if the starter click then it’s starter, if it doesn’t even click then it’s ground.
Don’t really have to chase for ground wire, just add a few 0 gauge wire to the frame

 

I began thinking it's probably a bad ground from frame replacement before I even got to your last sentence.

They probably left a ground loose, or the fresh paint on the frame is preventing good ground contact. Insuring a good ground contact area is probably out of mind when replacing a frame...until it bites the owner in the butt. It will be highly coincidental if it isn't a bad ground.

 

I'd recommend using Ox-gard (available in electrical section at Lowes/ HD) on your ground connections after a good paint removal/ scuff as others have suggested...its the goodness. Coat threads of grnd screw/underside off connection & top of conn....Ox-gard is conductive.

 

I would also try a different key as well as ground continuity.