2017 sport wont start

So the last few days my 2017 sport double cab with 15,000 miles has been having trouble to start it’s taking me at least three times to finally get it started And this morning it took five tries I would get a click or I would get the motor trying to turn over. So it’s sitting at the dealership right now under warranty. We’ve had a lot of rain here and that’s when it all started so I’m curious if something got wet that it shouldn’t have. I checked the battery and it’s reading 12 1/2 V and the service writer told me that that is low haha.

 

Sounds like another case of crappy factory battery

 

Battery is my bet.

 

My truck has started just fine with 11.5 volts before

 

12.5V is low. I believe 12.6V is the minimum and normal should be around 13.5V. That's not saying your truck won't start with less, but the writer is technically correct, it is low.

 

You need to check the battery under load to see if it’s good

 

Battery tested good at 12.9 volts however they found the battery to be leaking,they replaced it under warranty.

 

I have to wonder if the batteries sitting on a shelf in Mexico or Texas just dry out a little more in the heat. When I got my 2016, I picked up a truck made in May, in June. The battery fluid was low and I had to add water to it. I picked up my 2020 2 days after it rolled off the truck, and it was the same deal when I opened her up. I added about 10 or 12 ounces of distilled water to the battery after I drove it a good hour or so. That's a LOT of water to add on a new vehicle. I'd have to think if we just keep driving from the factory for a year or so without checking the fluid, it's not long before fluid starts to evaporate out even more over the warmer months.

Something I learned a long time ago from a friend: if you fill your battery fluid in the winter 1) make sure it's after a good hard run and the battery it's at its fullest charge. 2) after you bring the fluid up to a meniscus, drive it a little more to make sure the juice is mixed up. Battery acid can range from -20 to -50f. depending on the concentration, but not water. So if it's cold out and the distilled water doesn't mix in well, it can sit on top and freeze causing issues. Does it happen? who knows. but it wasn't something I was willing to risk since it was about 10 degrees the day I took delivery and checked the battery fluid.

 

I get the sentiment but this isn’t oil and water. As soon as you put the water in, it’s mixing. You can absolutely freeze batteries though, I had my solar batteries freeze at my cabin last year. That was an expensive surprise to find when I got up there.

 

Battery didn’t fix it same problem, press the start button and get a click, but the engine turns over on the 3rd try. And only seems to happen after the trucks sits for a while. Back to the dealership tomorrow

 

Fuel pump? Fuel pump relay? Starter?

 

The stock Johnson Control batteries pretty much suck

 

Yikes hope mine doesnt do this. Please keep us updated

 

your truck is almost 3 years old and you only have 15k miles on it?

I have had mine for 7 months and I already have 10k

 

I've had mine for 15 months and only have a little over 3k on it, and it had 400 miles on it when I bought it.


Even though it may sit a whole week or more without moving, I have not had any issues cranking it when I need it to crank, except for one instance but that was my fault. I had a cheap voltage cut off for my dash cam and it failed letting the dash cam run the battery down. Future reference, dont trust a 15 dollar low voltage cut off module for a dsah cam from Amazon.

 

crazy how random it is, i'm at almost 4.5 yrs on the stock battery and it still performs like new.

 

I changed mine out after about a year just to be safe - I was also starting to add more accessories so it was a matter of time. Cheap insurance personally.

Seems a lot die around 2 years so you are doing good!

 

when I traded in the 2011 after about the same amount of time, stock was still in and working perfectly as well. maybe with the assload
of issues (all resolved) my 2016 has had the battery decided to cut me a break.

 

Yup same. I changed mine early, but I fudged it a bit

 

Resting battery voltage is 12.7. Starters are designed to work at a low of 10 volts. It sounds more to me like starter solenoid.