Starter issue?

Went out to start truck this am (2014 standard cab 4wd auto 107000 mi). Cranked a couple of times sluggishly then that rat a tat sound and no action. Checked battery with meter, (showing 12.3 v), lights, horn, radio all operate fine. Loosened and moved clamps on battery and retightened, still no dice. Any insight is appreciated. TIA

 

Sounds like a dead battery, what's your battery voltage while cranking?

 

That's exactly what I thought, but am reading 12.3 v at battery and all other functions are fine. I not getting any cranking just rat a tat (just like a dead battery).

 

12.3v with no load on the battery doesn't mean much, see what it drops to when you try to crank it.
If it goes less than about 9.5v your battery is either bad or dead.

 

Bear in mind, there are 2 factors to consider with a battery when starting an engine - voltage and amperage. A battery can read fine on a volt-meter at rest but still be failing because it lacks sufficient amperage to deliver that voltage to the starter. The issue you describe sounds like exactly this. You can test by attempting to jump start it. If that works, the battery is failing.

 

Indeed. My wife got home and upon cranking it dropped to 6-7v. I am ordering a battery now. Thanks

 

I’m going to ask a dumb question but when your truck is idling, does the tachometer needle bounce a little bit or is it steady?

 

Steady, and I checked alternator output with new battery and got a steady 14v. So the alternator is okay. Thanks for the help from everybody.