[sector95]

Hi,

Sounds like your truck is giving you the fits.... You give a lot of info in your post, some of which is helpful.

Slow cranking of the starter... things to ponder:

Start (pardon the pun) with the obvious... is the battery in good condition electrically? One of the other posters gave a good way to driveway assess the condition. A more thorough method would be to take it to your local autoparts store and let them do a battery check...this will show how the battery handles a load, its charge state, any dead cells, etc. Many times this is a *free* service (the better to get you to buy their batteries). If the battery flunks, well then buy a new one and disregard the rest of this... but....just FYI.....

Electrical connections... it is amazing what a thin coating of corrosion on a battery terminal will do. The resistance created by the corrosion prevents proper charging and also prevents full current draw. Remove the battery cables, get some medium grit sand paper (or you can buy one of those nifty battery terminal brushes when you bring the battery in to have it tested). Lightly scrub the posts of the battery until they are shiny (this won't take much as they are made of lead). Now lightly scrub the insides of the ring connectors on the ends of the battery cables... again you want them nice and shiny. While you're at it, clean the battery...especially the top. Reinstall the battery cables... if you have some petroleum jelly (Vaseline), smear the a bit of it on the tops the the terminal connections.... your trying to keep some of the moisture out. If you have a side-terminal battery where the cables screw into the side or back of the battery you can do the same type of maintenance.... only instead of sandaper, use a small wire brush to clean the cable connectors and the "pads" on the battery.

Water,water,water.... as in distilled.... yes, we've all gotten lazy with the "maintenance free" battery but... some are only disguised as maintenance free. Unless your battery is *totally* sealed, there are probably caps you can pry open to access the cells to check water levels....you may need a screw driver to pop them off. The "water" in a lead-acid battery is a mix of distilled water and sulphuric acid (the "acid part of lead-acid)...BE Careful. Take a peek in each cell... usually there's a "ring", about 1/2 to 3/4 inches below the top opening, indicating the proper height of the water... any low cells need water added to bring them up to proper level. Use distilled water, not tap water...distilled water has no minerals in it... and a turkey baster to add water as needed.

A good charge.... if your battery has never gotten a good charge (becuase of the dirty connections to it) this might be all it needs to make it good as new. If you've taken it to get it checked and they find nothing wrong with it other than a low charge state, consider buying a small, 12v battery charger. Or better still, if you've got a neighbor with one, mooch it off him (or her). Prior to charging, do all the above first.

BTW, a low battery can effect how the engine runs, especially if there are any engine management computers, electronic spark controllers, etc.


Good luck...hope this helps a bit....

Mike