Slow crank/no start

I've been having an issue that really gotten worse as temperature here have dropped for the winter. hoping some of you might have some more ideas for me for trouble shooting.

I have a 2006 tundra V8

Currently the truck has alot of trouble starting. it started with a slow crank after it hadn't been run for awhile but now it acts like a dead battery after eight hours and struggles to start even after being driven around. I've been getting it started by jumping it, whatever the problem is, adding more power to the situation seems to help. I replaced the battery 6 months ago, but i tested it anyway, in the morning before starting the truck for the day. It read 12.5V, so the battery doesn't seem to be the issue. I cleaned the terminals. no change after that, they weren't that bad anyway.

I just replaced the starter today and holy cow. I think v8 tundra wins the award for least accessible starter. Unfortunately, its still having the same issue.

One thing i haven't looked into yet are my grounds. This is an old truck, and rust is a factor.

is there anything else i could look into? loose wires somewhere maybe? I'd appreciate any ideas. Diagnostics has never really been my strong suit.

 

Voltage on a battery means jack shit, except to see if a cell is bad. Cold cranking amps (CCA) are what let you start the truck or if it can power your accessories. Voltage doesn’t start a truck; amperage does (CCA).

Before you waste any more time, remove the battery and carry it to any auto parts chain store to be tested for V, CC, CCA, and take this as a lesson learned about car batteries.

Let us know how it pans out. If they say the battery is good, we have a dilemma, because the symptoms stink of a failed battery totally. If it’s not that; it’s possible (but unlikely) you’ve got rotten terminals, or corrosion inside the cables.

I can’t believe you replaced the f’n starter, but … it happens all too common. Put the factory starter back in if you didn’t buy a genuine Denso part. Aftermarket starters are garbage these days, and it’ll likely fail on you within the next 12-18 months.

Batteries absolutely can fail within 6mos, especially if you have regular drains on it, or you buy the cheapest. It even happens with premium batteries.

 

I'll bring it in for a test tomorrow.

Thanks for the tips on battery testing!

 

You were right. The resistance on the battery was low. I got a free one on warranty, and am back on the road. I actually do have a very small continuous drain on the battery, but never really tried to find it cause it wasn't too much of an issue till now. Might explain part of the premature failure of the battery.
Sucks that I did what ended up being a 12 hour repair before figuring learning it was just the battery. but live and learn. I'll be checking resistance in the future.
Thanks for your insight.

 

You aren't the first, and you won't be the last. We see it waaaaaay too often, my friend. Sad part is, a lot of people end up installing store-brand starters and totally fucking themselves. The factory starters are known to last hundreds of thousands of miles without a rebuild. You're lucky if you get 3-5 years out of anything auto parts stores sell. If you do replace, the Denso brand (Denso made the OEM starter) starters are remanufactured from functional cores right here in the USA and are known to last nearly as long as the new ones from the factory, but you gotta be careful where you buy them - RockAuto and Summit Racing are legit sources usually with the cheapest pricing ... scAmazon and fleaBay, not so much.

Any time. Stick around. Or at minimum, do yourself a favor and BOOKMARK THIS THREAD in case you have problems in the future OR if you want to know what you're doing wrong OR you need a copy of the service manual, OR you want to know about common problems/annoyances/solutions/etc. We try to encourage everyone that comes here to read that thread. It contains much of the collective knowledge shared in the forum over the years, it took us a while to collectively compile and post.