Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
FYI - 2006 Mega-cab diesel, auto. About three weeks ago it failed to start, not even a click of the starter. I found the driver's side negative battery cable loose and off of the post. Since I was short of time, I just put it back and then charged the batteries. It started fine. I may or may not have locked and unlocked the doors in the process, I don't remember. Two weeks later, after driving it daily since the first episode, I tried to start it. It turned the engine over but not enough to start the engine, and then would not even make the starter solenoid click.
I found the same battery cable end to be loose. I cleaned and properly tightened the cable end to the battery. My battery charger said I had 55% of full charge, and since it still would not start, I put the charger on. When it showed full charge, I tried again. Nothing. I then segregated the batteries and found one at 100% and the other at 20%. I charged up the low battery, and when it also said 100%, I put the system back together and tried again. Nothing. I locked up the truck for the night.
The next morning I searched this forum and found if's and maybe's related to the neutral start switch.
I went out with the spare key (also with the remote entry and anti-theft chip) and the truck started right up. I turned it off and tried it with the key I had been using. It started fine also.
Since my truck is my office and I have this thing about having a vehicle not start 200 miles from home in a no cell phone coverage area, I made a bee-line to the dealer in Moses Lake, WA. I reviewed the antics of my truck with the service mgr.
After a long and frustrating conversation for him, I came away with the following best guess of what happened. The loose battery cable most likely let current flow from the batteries to the truck but not from the alternator to the batteries to the recharge the batteries. The resulting low-voltage situation caused the truck to not even try to start by failing to "see" the chip imbedded in the ignition key, and due to low voltage. (The chip being the anti-theft device which makes the vehicle not start without a chipped key present and go onto "I'm being stolen" mode.)
Since I gave up on the second incident without locking and unlocking the truck, my theory is that it remained on "I'm being stolen" mode until I used the remote on the key to unlock the door, which seems to have re-set the anti-theft mode to "normal."
My understanding of the chipped key was that an attempt to use a non-chipped key would require a dealer to re-set the anti-theft mode to normal. Apparently all it takes is to use a remote for the vehicle in question to unlock the doors to re-set the system.
The truck has functioned without further incident for about ten days now.
Any comments?
I found the same battery cable end to be loose. I cleaned and properly tightened the cable end to the battery. My battery charger said I had 55% of full charge, and since it still would not start, I put the charger on. When it showed full charge, I tried again. Nothing. I then segregated the batteries and found one at 100% and the other at 20%. I charged up the low battery, and when it also said 100%, I put the system back together and tried again. Nothing. I locked up the truck for the night.
The next morning I searched this forum and found if's and maybe's related to the neutral start switch.
I went out with the spare key (also with the remote entry and anti-theft chip) and the truck started right up. I turned it off and tried it with the key I had been using. It started fine also.
Since my truck is my office and I have this thing about having a vehicle not start 200 miles from home in a no cell phone coverage area, I made a bee-line to the dealer in Moses Lake, WA. I reviewed the antics of my truck with the service mgr.
After a long and frustrating conversation for him, I came away with the following best guess of what happened. The loose battery cable most likely let current flow from the batteries to the truck but not from the alternator to the batteries to the recharge the batteries. The resulting low-voltage situation caused the truck to not even try to start by failing to "see" the chip imbedded in the ignition key, and due to low voltage. (The chip being the anti-theft device which makes the vehicle not start without a chipped key present and go onto "I'm being stolen" mode.)
Since I gave up on the second incident without locking and unlocking the truck, my theory is that it remained on "I'm being stolen" mode until I used the remote on the key to unlock the door, which seems to have re-set the anti-theft mode to "normal."
My understanding of the chipped key was that an attempt to use a non-chipped key would require a dealer to re-set the anti-theft mode to normal. Apparently all it takes is to use a remote for the vehicle in question to unlock the doors to re-set the system.
The truck has functioned without further incident for about ten days now.
Any comments?
