2001 Tundra sometimes won't start. Help?

I have a 2001 Tundra that has been acting really strange for the past five months. I think it is an electrical problem, but I don't know how to troubleshoot that or where to even start looking. I don't know much about cars, but I will do whatever I need to fix these issues. Do you have any ideas?

Basic situation:
My truck sometimes starts, but not always. When it doesn't start, it seems to lose power. Sometimes a jump start will fix this issue. Sometimes it won't. Often, a two hour break "fixes" the problem and the truck will start again (usually with a jump start, but not always). Once it starts, the truck doesn't have any problems running.

I have replaced the battery twice this year. I took it to a mechanic in February that somehow couldn't replicate the problem, but was able to run some tests. Apparently the battery, alternator, and starter all operated within specifications and the vehicle started and ran as intended.

Each time the truck "recovers" from this problem, it resets my tripometer, clock, and aftermarket radio.

One weird thing that happens when the truck "loses power" is that the truck will still power the wheelchair lifts on the truck. This is strange because they use the same battery as the rest of the truck.

Could there be a bad connection causing these problems? Do you have any other ideas? Need additional information?

 

Yes on the bad connection, that could be possible.

I'd suspect the short cable between the battery and the fuse/relay box under the hood. Although it could also be the alt fuse that taps into. And it could be general corrosion in the cables themselves. But that short skinny run between the battery and the in-engine-bay fusebox is the one thing that provides power to the cab, and deals with other starting functions.

See this thread for more info.

Some starting diagnostic tips you can use in this post.

 

This information needs to be a sticky. 2-3 threads a week with this problem. Don’t know if that would prevent the threads, but would be a nice resource. @shifty` to the rescue.

 

Thank you, shifty. I appreciate the direct answer to my specific question and situation. Your advice and thoughts will help me determine my next steps. I wouldn't have had the same level of certainty about what needs to be done without your input. I will post here if I find a solution or have more questions.

KNABORES, sorry I cluttered your message board with my problems. A sticky for "intermittent start" or something similar might actually be a good idea.

 

Not about your particular post, this is a common issue that deserves a sticky. Your post is evidence, as is the other 2-3 per week. Instead of having to get lucky to get a reply, the knowledge that has been compiled and shared about this issue would make a great sticky for future visitors with this same common problem. Hope it solves yours!

 

I've been thinking about it. If I'm going to do anything with that alternator fuse, it seems like I might just want to replace it and the short cable between the battery and the fuse/relay box. The truck is twenty years old now. I've noticed corrosion on the cables around the battery. If it's not too expensive, it might be worth it to just replace those two parts. I looked for the fuse and the cable at online part stores, but I'm doing something wrong. Do you know what I should be looking for?

 

The wheelchair lifts are aftermarket, and likely have their own ground(s). It seems to me that's why they still work. Following our other threads with this problem, I'd suggest starting by looking for bad/corroded grounds.

 

As @w666 alluded to, that sounds like at least a ground problem, in particular a possible corroded battery ground post preventing alternator from properly charging battery.

Our trucks are no different than others but we know without a doubt our 1st Gens need every ground point to be as free of corrosion as possible.
Mind taking an under hood picture of this corrosion ?

 

I was thinking an automated desktop assistant that makes you answer a series of questions before you post. Either that or a troubleshooting flowchart.

Truthfully though, a troubleshooting flowchart wouldn't be bad idea if members could edit to place their answers to different categories.

It would be so informative that even Toyota Techs will reference it at their dealership to solve problems.

 

The downside would be missing out on conversations with new members. Catch 22

 

There will always be someone who interprets answers differently and needs further explanation of an answer or has a new twist to an existing issue. Living documents never die although yes, it would cut down on new members conversing with us.

 

I mean, there's no reason we couldn't start a maintenance Wiki of some sort and link to it from a top-level sticky in the forum.

 

Two other observations:

1. I have a backup camera installed on the truck. It has only occasionally worked for quite a while now. After I installed the new battery in January, it worked every time for a couple weeks. It currently works sporadically.
2. The rear passenger side speaker makes a loud whining noise that changes pitch when the gas pedal is pressed. Sometimes it's worse than others. I've read that this can sometimes be caused by problems with a ground.

It's kind of hard to get good angles or the best pictures from my wheelchair, but here are a couple to get started. I can take more if helpful.

Positive terminal cable


Negative terminal cable

 

bit of corrosion there that could be cleaned up, or if too rotted, cables replaced

 

I'd take a razor knife and cut along those cables to open em up and look a little further down. They look crunchy.

 

There is a lot going on with both the pos and neg terminals. Positive has more big cables on front than normal and appears to have at least 1 if not 2 smaller cables on back end....perfect places for issues, corrosion and not properly tightend. As for negative from the little we can see, definetly needs attention and never fond of wing nut on a neg batt terminal. IMHO, you need to find a mechanic that will address your power source issues given your wheel chair situation if that is how they left you in Feb.

Until battery connection issues were properly addressed, personally I would not even consider trying to address the speaker, radio, clock or camera issues. With a wheelchair lift added to the equation, you are definitely needing attention at your power source.

 

This is all useful advice. Thank you. And I must apologize for not being more clear. I only mentioned the speaker, radio, clock, and camera because I suspect those problems might also be related to the power issue I've been experiencing recently. Those are all relatively minor concerns. I'm not specifically trying to do anything for those issues.

As an update, the truck wouldn't start again today after work. Instead of jumping it again, I was curious so I "slammed" the hood closed a couple times. Surprisingly (or maybe not), that worked. The truck started and drove with no issue to the mechanic. I read him several of the messages in this thread. They're going to take a look at it tomorrow. Hopefully they'll have some good news for me soon.

Thank you to everyone in this thread. You've helped me think this through in a way that I couldn't on my own. Hopefully I'll have good news to report soon. If not, I'll probably come crying back to this thread.

 

I picked up the truck from the shop. They apparently found a significant voltage drop so they cleaned up some of the corrosion on the cables, tightened up some of the cables, and replaced the wing nut on the negative terminal. The truck seems to be starting again.

They decided not to replace any of the cables or fuse even though I asked them to. I think they were trying to save me money (they only charged me $150 or so). I don't think they did much, if anything, to the ground. The speaker and backup camera still have the same issues that they did before the recent troubles.

Hopefully the truck will keep starting.

Here are a couple after photos.

Positive


Negative

 

Yeah, that's just a lot going on with all those damn taps and tees, it's asking for issues. You can see what looks like physical damage to the positive cable that's topmost in the 1st pic, opposite the red cable. What are those three? I only have two cables off my positive side, and your positive terminal clamp looks aftermarket.

Glad to hear you got it running. I'd get OEM replacements for your factory pos/neg cables. Replace everything from the alt to battery, battery to fuse/relay box, and the main ground from batt to chassis, pull it, clean both ends, dielectric grease on reinstall. Then check the other grounds in the bay.

You know, you can also add or beef up any grounds in there. Proper grounding is just as important as proper power. It's important to remember power is just a loop, a circuit, not dissimilar from the cooling loop your radiator makes. Picture if your radiator had a water hose on one side and a coffee straw on the other. Get my drift?