ticking sound when starting my truck

I have 2006 toyota tacoma, Trd 4x4. lately I've been having problems starting my truck. when starting the truck the starter sounds weak as if the battery is dead or the truck has bad terminal problems. The starter makes a tickin sound and either takes a while to start or just didn't start at all. so I jumped the truck with battery cables and it started up fine. When starting after i jumped the truck it has no problems.. I tested the batter and it read 12v. so earlier i started the truck it made the low crank sound as if the battery was dying but still started up.. I can't figure out why it's starting the way it does. i just recently installed a 6" fabtech suspension lift. Would the lift be a cause of the bad start on my truck.?

 

Its definitely either a battery problem or a wire problem. Try either buying a new battery or charging the one you have. Make sure both terminals are clean. : )

 

just go to autozone they will test your battery for free

 

sounds like you need a new battery or a good re-charge. Take the battery and have it load tested. Just because it reads 12v doesn't mean it can handle the load of a start. If you want, put a meter across it and watch the volts DC and have someone else crank the engine. i can almost guarantee that under the load the voltage will drop bad.

 

ok. I havent tried that yet.. but after having the low crank, and the truck starting up.. it starts up perfectly fine.. until i let it sit for a while and it does the same thing. ill have the load checked.

 

Really sounds like the battery. Question will be what caused it to drain in the first place? So, battery might still be good and just need a re-charge. Short trips won't recharge it, needs to be charged on a charger or very long trip. Was there any wiring work done recently? Check all connections as well. Loose ground at the battery terminal may be a culprit. Good luck and post waht you find. BTW, welcome to TW!

 

Don't overlook the obvious-->loose battery terminals. I had same prob with my Camry. Couldn't figure it out until I decided to check battery cable connections. Sure enough, negative cable was loose. Tightened her up and problems were gone. Just my .02

 

LOL, thinking the same thing at the same time

 

thanks for the welcome, but yes. i installed an amp and sub, so there is a power wire to the battery. but maybe a good charge will do.. if not a new battery .. thanks for the help..

 

Make sure your amp is turning off with the ignition/head unit

 

so i had the battery checked , terminals cleaned and tightened. battery is good even when the load is put on. found out that the ticking sound is not from a dead battery, it's from bad conacts on the starter which you can only get genuine parts straight from toyota. costs like 40$$. but thanks for the help..