Need help with my electrical gremlins

I've got some odd things going on with my electrical system. After leaving my truck unused for a few months large accessories will now kill the engine. Accessories such as turn signals, DRLs, break lights, dome light, window wipers, and even ignition will drop the voltage and dim the lights. Larger appliances like the headlights and blower will outright kill the engine if I turn them on.

I am really at a loss. What could be happening here?
All the fuses are good and the battery and terminals are brand new.

 

Sounds like your alternator failed or you have a very corroded ground wire somewhere

 

She can't handle the load. That was reason enough to end my first marriage, and reason enough for you to do some looking for the cause of this issue.

Rodents could have chewed on stuff and you could have a ground wire hanging on for dear life somewhere by a few strands of wire. Since you said a few months of no use...

 

UPDATE: Just put in a volt meter to my cigarette lighter and watched the volts while driving. It was reading 12.0 and 11.8 but occasionally would read 13.5 and 14 and that's when I had no problem with the headlights killing the engine. After a minute of headlights and good volts the engine would die and have low voltage again.

 

Could be a loose wire, I’d check the one on the back of the alternator.


Or maybe the regulator is failing in a most irregular fashion

 

It could be the alternator even though its relatively new and I've been searching for a bad grounding wire for a while.
I really like your tacoma's front bumper, where did you get it?

 

Thanks! It is from the 4x4 Store in Clarkston, WA

http://the4x4store.com/bumpers

 

Check for rodent damage

 

If you don't find any obvious bad wires it's free to have your battery load tested at most parts stores. Maybe you left something on and draining your battery before it sat for a few months and you now have a bad cell or two inside the battery. It's possible.

 

I heckin' said that earlier! haha
But screw it, we'll hammer it home.

 

Yeah.....saw that after I posted it. But rodent damage seems to always be the last thing people think of. But the second I hear something like, "haven't driven my truck in weeks", it's the 1st thing I think of.

 

How do your belts look? Could it be skipping?

 

Same here. Luckily and knock on wood, I have not had it happen to a vehicle of mine but I see them ruin hot tubs all the time. Relentless little shits.

 

Squirrels laid waste to my buddy's '16 4Runner and mice to another friend's Mitsubishi 3000GT several years ago.

 

it was probably for the best

 

Not when it was a VR-4.