Vehicle not starting

Hey, guys.

So I've been running into this issue where at least every other day when I go to start my truck everything powers on, like normal when I first insert the key and turn to the "on" position, but as soon as I turn the key to start the engine I hear a single click and loose ALL electrical power. So I hook it up to my jump starter and the electrical power comes back but the trip meter, clock, and radio presets all reset to factory settings. Then with the jump starter hooked up, I'll turn the key to start the engine and it'll start but die after a few seconds so I'll turn it again and it'll start just fine the second time. This has been happening consistently for the past month. I tried cleaning the battery terminals and that seemed to fix it for about a week, but then it started happening again and the battery terminals don't look like they've corroded already. Any ideas of what is causing the issue? Thanks.

 

Miles on the truck? Do you have a janitorial size wad of keys or stuff on your key ring?

Is your main key worn down way more than the spare key? Have you tried using the spare key?

Do you have a DVM to do a simple battery test yourself, or take it to a parts house to be load tested?

 

Sounds like you have a crap battery connection.

 

The fact that you loose factory presets on the radio tells me you have main power failure from the battery.

The next time this happens, hit the brake pedal and see if the brake lights come on. This sounds like a bad main feed wire. Hot or ground.

Grab the big wires coming off the battery and rig and shake them.

 

just because it looks good doesn’t mean it is.
It could be a bad battery terminal , internal short etc, but you are losing all your voltage.
That’s why your losing clock, radio etc.
That’s also why your truck stalls on first start.

 

Check your connections at starter also

 

The truck has 156k miles on it. I got it at 143k. I do have a lot of stuff on my Keychain but 90% of the time I detach the car key from the rest of it before I put it in the ignition. I have not tried using the spare yet, so I'll give that a try. There is some wear on the main key, but it doesn't look majorly worn compared to the spare.

 

I would start with load testing battery especially since you are able to start with a jump box. That being said it does sound like there is potentially more going on with the wiring with losing all power and causing the factory resets, but I would start with the battery test and then work the main wiring from there.

 

Bad battery, loose battery connections, corrosion on battery connections.

Clean and tighten first. If that doesn’t do it, get a new battery.

 

Yup what he said!!!!
Keep it simple at first

 

Update:
So I went to start my truck and surprise surprise it did the whole losing power thing and didn't start, but I waited about a minute and I noticed that the "door open" dash light turned back on (indicating the vehicle had power again) so I put in the spare key and it started no problem. Don't know if this changes the diagnosis or not. I do still plan on stopping buy the auto parts store later today to get the battery tested so I can hopefully officially rule out or narrow it down to the battery.

 

That sounds like a bad cell in the battery to me. Dies and then after sitting a bit the charge comes back up slightly.

 

Battery cable connect at both ends. Check the other ends.

 

Others have said it , it has to be a wiring connection. If it was a battery you would have at least something when you try to start,it would not be completely dead. When it happens again,turn your lights on and wiggle your battery connections hopefully they come on and it's easy to track down and fix. Did you notice any corrosion on your electrical connectors?

 

I cleaned the clamps and terminals two weeks ago and there doesn't appear to be any corrosion on them. I haven't been able to take a look at any of the other connections, though, because the weather has been super gross and I have only been able to look at what is immediately under the hood. (Battery and fuse box) I'll try the headlight thing next time it happens and I'll let you know what I find.

 

Had this exactly behavior with 2 different vehicles. Dirty battery terminals, even if they didn't look that bad. The first time I was in a company truck. The second time was in my Mustang. That time I knew exactly what to do.

Edit: your post about cleaning the terminals popped up after I posted this.

 

U handy with a volt meter ? If so what's the battery voltage @
Truck off
Truck running
Truck cranking to start.