Wow, it's been a while since I posted...

This morning the strangest thing happened. I went out and tried to start my 97 SuperCab 4x2 2.3 5 speed, w/ 108k miles. I drive it every day, and it's always been flawless for me in the year or so I've owned it.

When I turned the key, the starter engaged, started spinning the flywheel, then it acted like it hit a spot of broken teeth. I was highly surprised! I immediately turned the key off and retried. It again engaged fine, turned the flywheel for a second, and then again disengaged from the flywheel. I tried it again and it finally started the truck. I'm confident that the flywheel is fine since every time I retried, the starter engaged the flywheel fine. If there were missing teeth, the starter would have just spun, right? So, you say, I have a bad starter since the flywheel teeth are fine. Ordinarily, I'd agree with you but listen to what happened next...

This truck has always started instantly and idled smoothly. But this time, when it started, it was running on only 3 cylinders. I got out and looked under the hood, but there was nothing obviously unusual. I got back in and revved the engine, but still that dead miss was there. I decided to try to drive it up the street to see what happened. Within 2 blocks, it was back to normal, and it's been fine ever since. But that's not all...

Then I reached down to turn on the radio and I realized that the station presets were erased and the clock was wrong. WEIRD!

So, I'm thinking that I must have had some electrical hiccups. When the starter was partially disengaging, I think it was due to a momentary power drop. The battery/wiring was able to supply sufficient amperage to the starter for a second or so, but something was then breaking down, reducing the voltage. As this was happening, there was no obvious signs of low voltage otherwise though...

I'm guessing that's how the memory in the radio was erased also. The only thing I don't understand was the miss. It seems to me it would have to be an injector not firing, since there are 2 spark plugs per cylinder. The miss was so bad that the cylinder was obviously not firing at all on either plug.

Ever since that first problem at 7:00 this morning, I've driven 20 or 30 miles, started the truck at least 4 other times, and I've had no more problems.

Now:

1. Do you think my diagnosis is right? Is it a battery or wiring problem?

2. The battery in the truck is less than a year old, but it's an Advance Auto store brand battery. Do you have any guesses about what the source of the problem is? Battery? Bad ground? Maybe even the starter is the problem, and drawing a huge load momentarily?

Thanks for all your help, guesses, and ideas!

 

Really sounds like a ground problem. Check your battery cables and engine to body ground strap if there is one.

 

I agree with Tiggie, sounds like a connection problem of some sort. My first inclination would be to throughly clean the battery terminal connections, and re-seal them. Then check any block or frame/cab grounds you can find for any sign of corrosion or loose/rusty failure. And check the solenoid connections very closely, generally a very fussy area. Just my 2 cents...

 

Thanks for the replies so far. I think you guys are probably right. There's no rust at all on this truck, but there's a poor connection somewhere most likely. I think I'm going to have a load test put on the battery too.

Thanks again!

 

I like the suggestions so far, just be sure to check both battery cables, as they were the last thing messed with, when the battery was changed & be sure to check their connections, on BOTH ends, along with the ground straps on both ends as suggested.

Look for loose or corroded connections, including corrosion where the battery cable strands connect to the terminal lug.

I had a hidden poblem there once. It was corrosion, hidden under the battery cabe insulation, at the lug/wire strand inteface connection. The cable looked normal on the outside, but was bad under the insulation & up inside the lug, where the cable strands connected to it.

A, under load, voltage drop test caught it.

If you don't find any problems, why not run this puppy by your Advance Auto store, for a no cost electrical system check up, via their portable electrial system tester.
It'll poperly load test & likely be abe to sniff out any system problems not evident.

Let us know what you find.

 

Actually, my local Advance Auto loves me. I have an account there because of all the work I do on our Church vehicles. They're even on my mobile phone speed dial. I plan to do exactly what you recommend. That's the logical place to start.

Of course, I've driven the truck all day today, and it's never given me another hiccup. It may just be one of those things that will have to get worse to be findable.

Thanks again to all!