octanejunkie
Elite Member
Love how some threads get abandoned or never solved...
I have a similar problem the OP of the thread referenced above described with my 1999 4R 2WD w 3.4 V6, 156k miles: the common issue, starting seems labored and "feels" like a weak battery. I don't off-road but do park it outdoors all year long in So Cal. Sometimes when starting in or after a good rain, the belts squeal for 30 seconds but the engine compartment looks clean and dry, a bit dusty perhaps.
I replaced the battery a few months after buying the truck about 2 years ago; after a few months of hard starting the battery just went dead and wouldn't take a charge anymore. Before that day, once or twice I woke up to a dead battery, like a slow short or lights left on; jumped and drove and was ok again. When it became more and more difficult to start the truck I decided to just replace the battery.
Fast forward a year. The truck runs well but still starts hard, occasionally it won't turn over, sounding like a weak or dead battery; wait a moment, try again and it starts. About a month ago I lived an entire week wondering if my truck would start each day, then it just got better.
Today my truck wouldn't start, turn the key and nothing, like no battery at all. Dashboard lights up, radio works, etc but not turning over or even trying. Pumped the key a few times and then it decided to turn over very weakly but did start. While it was running I pulled the POS battery cable, truck kept running. Put the POS cable back on and pulled the NEG cable, truck kept running. Seems the Alt is good. Drove around, parked, shut it down. Same results with the no start, no start then finally weak start.
Lunchtime today I decided to get the battery checked/replaced. Drove to autozone they tested the battery in the truck, at first it tested bad: less than 1V on the battery. I pulled the cables and they tested direct off the terminals, good battery. I noticed some corrosion on the connectors and terminals, but not the worst I've ever seen. Scraped the crud off (was really very minimal, like dust) and put the cables back on the battery, started like a champ, best ever.
I drove away and went back to Costco, got a new battery (<36 months = 100% free replacement) waiting to install it. Got home tonight, cleaned the battery terminals and cable connectors with steel wool. Truck starts strong. It's crazy, the problems I had this morning are gone.
Looking backwards, for corrosion to be present on the connectors there must be resistance somewhere in the system; the battery cables were not loose. Those factory connectors look awful thin and cheesy. I am thinking about replacing the battery cable connectors and obviously checking all the grounds and connections at the starter, fusebox and alternator this weekend.
What's the next order of business assuming my intermittent hard start/no start issue returns?
Sorry for long post...
I have a similar problem the OP of the thread referenced above described with my 1999 4R 2WD w 3.4 V6, 156k miles: the common issue, starting seems labored and "feels" like a weak battery. I don't off-road but do park it outdoors all year long in So Cal. Sometimes when starting in or after a good rain, the belts squeal for 30 seconds but the engine compartment looks clean and dry, a bit dusty perhaps.
I replaced the battery a few months after buying the truck about 2 years ago; after a few months of hard starting the battery just went dead and wouldn't take a charge anymore. Before that day, once or twice I woke up to a dead battery, like a slow short or lights left on; jumped and drove and was ok again. When it became more and more difficult to start the truck I decided to just replace the battery.
Fast forward a year. The truck runs well but still starts hard, occasionally it won't turn over, sounding like a weak or dead battery; wait a moment, try again and it starts. About a month ago I lived an entire week wondering if my truck would start each day, then it just got better.
Today my truck wouldn't start, turn the key and nothing, like no battery at all. Dashboard lights up, radio works, etc but not turning over or even trying. Pumped the key a few times and then it decided to turn over very weakly but did start. While it was running I pulled the POS battery cable, truck kept running. Put the POS cable back on and pulled the NEG cable, truck kept running. Seems the Alt is good. Drove around, parked, shut it down. Same results with the no start, no start then finally weak start.
Lunchtime today I decided to get the battery checked/replaced. Drove to autozone they tested the battery in the truck, at first it tested bad: less than 1V on the battery. I pulled the cables and they tested direct off the terminals, good battery. I noticed some corrosion on the connectors and terminals, but not the worst I've ever seen. Scraped the crud off (was really very minimal, like dust) and put the cables back on the battery, started like a champ, best ever.
I drove away and went back to Costco, got a new battery (<36 months = 100% free replacement) waiting to install it. Got home tonight, cleaned the battery terminals and cable connectors with steel wool. Truck starts strong. It's crazy, the problems I had this morning are gone.
Looking backwards, for corrosion to be present on the connectors there must be resistance somewhere in the system; the battery cables were not loose. Those factory connectors look awful thin and cheesy. I am thinking about replacing the battery cable connectors and obviously checking all the grounds and connections at the starter, fusebox and alternator this weekend.
What's the next order of business assuming my intermittent hard start/no start issue returns?
Sorry for long post...
