Diagnose Starting Problems

Hi everyone.
noob here. Was hoping for some help. I've seen this place for a while now, and I can appreciate all the helpful people here, so here goes.

I am a second owner of a 2010 V6 Double Cab Tacoma.

It's not starting right. This is what happens when I turn the key.

When it's been sitting....it clicks and stops dead. Then I pull the key out, depress the brake and put the key in and turn at the same time. The engine turns over and the vehicle starts.


What it's been running and just turned off....it turns over.

I checked the battery, and it is at 12.7V when off, and at 13.5 when running.
What do I check now?

Thank you. I've been told it's the alternator, selonoid, starter, and four other things. I just want to know for sure. Most appreciated.

 

i would take it to the dealer and let them worry about it while they give you a rental until they fix it. its a 2010, it cant be out of warranty. they replaced my alternator under warranty.

 

Thanks. In normal circumstances I'd agree with you, but the vehicle has 96K miles on it because the last owner was a security officer, and it was his patrol vehicle. I did buy it from a dealership. While he kept it up immaculately (I have all the maintenance reports), the dealership said it was as is, and gave me an $8,000 drop in sticker price...hard to beat.

I just didn't think I could run in to this.
Would appreciate the help.

Evan

 

so you think it's the alternator causing this?
The battery is not dead.

 

Start with a new battery, you can always return it if it's not your cause. An alternator is a lot more involved and not just something you want to throw at the truck. First thing I'd do is unhook the battery, get some battery terminal cleaner or break clean and spray/scrub the shit out of the terminals with steel wool, then spray some white lithium grease on it and connect it back up tight and see if it fixes it. Next thing I'd do is buy a battery terminal and replace the positive terminal, then change the battery wires on the truck. One of those should fix your problem and they're all cheap/easy, and good things to start with. THEN if problem persists get a new battery, if its still happening at that time, return said battery and take it somewhere but you've done everything you could to that point. It honestly sounds like a loose cable/bad or dirty terminal... Let us know how that goes!

 

I agree w/650H1 --Dirty terminal or cable connection.