Truck will now no longer start without a jump, but all other electronics work

Some of you may have seen my post yesterday, basically, I got stuck in a mud hole and I'm worried about damage. I am going to try and lay out the events as best as possible.

• Yesterday I got stuck, the engine was running but I did not get any water in my engine, my air filter has a bit of dried mud in the case, but it's not wet or moist to any extent.

• I was giving it gas trying to get out of the hole, starting and stopping the truck about 4 times trying different recovery methods (yes I know now that I shouldn't have done this)

• After I got winched out, my truck would not start. When hitting the start button, all the electronics were rapidly flashing and clicking. I checked the engine and saw that the ground was loose, I tightened it and started up the truck with zero issues.

• For the rest of the day, I drove it fine for about 20 miles, starting and stopping the truck another 3-4 times.

• Today I go and start the truck, all of the lights and electronics work, and the headlights are on full brightness. I get a clicking noise and nothing from the engine. I got a buddy to jump me and it took about 5 minutes of the vehicles being connected to start.

• The truck started right up, ran totally normal, with no stalling when starting. I drove for about 20 miles, stopped the truck and could not start it again without a jump.

I'm assuming it's the alternator, but if that was the case then why did I start and stop my truck around 8 times with no issues? Could also be a fuse from the ground shorting? Not sure, going to take it to get tested tomorrow, but some early opinions would help. Thanks!

 

Another thread eh? Your battery shit the bed. Starting and stopping it was the nail in the coffin, the straw that broke the camel's back etc. OEM batteries are shit.

Also, I feel there are missing parts to this story. Grounds don't just come loose.

 

Replace the battery.

 

You don't think it was the alternator? I was told it wasn't the battery from a few people because my electronics work and the headlights aren't dim. They arent mechanics though.

 

Ok, hopefully that fixes it.

 

Me too brother.

 

The headlights don't draw 80A like an starter does. And the OEM is known to shit to bed

 

Have someone test alt and battery, sound like battery is not holding charge though.

What year, maybe warranty?

 

Makes sense, hopefully, l'll post back tomorrow with good news.

 

You didn't mention year of your truck unless I missed it. I got 3 years is all out of my original battery.
There have been other issues posted here, like being in a stuck situation and the starter taking in garbage.
You could make sure the battery is fully charged and see if it passes a load test.
My $02

 

Your alternator may be caked with mud, that’s happened to me before after my truck sat in a mud puddle for a few hours. I pulled the alternator, took it apart and cleaned all the contacts. Put it back together and never had another issue with it. That was a 1st gen Tacoma, so I’m not sure how much of a pain in the ass it would be on a 3rd gen.

 

Battery is on its last leg. Future tip, invest in a good multimeter. It will help you narrow down electrical issues.

 

Its a 2018 with 63k miles, I got it at 58k so not sure if it's ever been replaced, but I don't think it was.

 

Will do thanks!

 

Yeah true, ill check it out tomorrow.

 

What's the battery look like? Post pics? What's the delayed start sound like? Post vids.

 

If it was the alternator, you wouldn't be able to continuously run it from a dead battery start.
Think about it...the battery is dead/weak but it runs after jump starting...where is the current coming from?

TLDR; buy a battery

Another thought: are the battery leads tight?

 

Sounded like all the electronics were working though, he just didn’t have the juice to start the truck. I feel like it’s too much of a coincidence for the battery to die at the same time he got stuck. I agree to check the battery leads, but I still think the alternator is suspect.

 

He started and stopped it 4 times. Those are the times he's willing to share with us.

 

Don't forget that his negative terminal was loose. How long it was loose will determine how long was it wasn't charging the battery efficiently.