2018 Tacoma 16000 miles starting issues

For last two weeks have had issues with the Tacoma not starting . I had the battery tested at Autozone and they said battery was ok . Its weird because will put the charger on and the battery and the meter goes up part way so showing its low and taking a charge .After 30 minutes or less it will start . Today when went to start it would not start ,lights appeared ok and kept on the key and heard the clicking like the solenoid . put charger on and again in 20 minutes it started . I have taken the terminals off yesterday and cleaned and retightened so know they are good. Ideas?

 

My dad had same thing on his 2018, turned out to be bad battery. Swapped it out and no issues for a month so far.

 

My 17' sounded a little tired one day last year. I didn't bother testing it, just replaced it and it didn't happen again. I just didn't want to drive around guessing the battery would be o.k. Some of the OEM batteries suck.

 

It sounds like you need a new battery, I'm not one to play pick-a-part but in this case, given the circumstances and age,,,, I'd replace battery.

 

Sounds like a weak battery. Seems 3-4 years is about all you get out one any OEM battery these days. My sister bought a Mustang GT Vert back in November. Car was a 2019 with only 8K miles. 2nd or 3rd day she had it, would not start. Neighbor jumped her off and she had no problems the rest of the day. Next morning, car would not start. Since it was in warranty, she had it towed to the dealer and it was a bad battery....on a less than 1 YO car.....so you can't just go by age of the battery.

 

A bad battery can be missed by Autozone, dealer or shop using very expensive testers . One the most positive battery test I know and is low cost will set you back about $9-15, but should rule out a bad battery that may only have a weak cell.

It can also be used as a periodic testing to spot failure at your convenience and not left stranded on the road. I find it most accurate when used before the first start of the day.

It’s called a battery hydrometer.

That said, your issue could also be caused by a parasitic battery drain.

Good luck

 

I should mention that sealed battery will present a different challenge for testing maintenance free batteries, but most sealed batteries are still accessible to the test if you know where to open the cell caps.