My dad owns a 2018 Lariat that has recently been experiencing issues starting. After the car sits for a couple days, when he presses the start button, the vehicle tries to turn but doesnt. On second attempt, nothing happens but the idiot lights on the dash go nuts. Third attempt, the truck struggles and eventually turns. Whenever he experiences this, the clock falls back 1 hour and some user setting disappear. It sounds like a battery issue, but the dealer said it tests fine and there are no loose connections. Anyone heard of this or have a solution? He said the clock falls exactly an hour, which sounds like maybe it's a computer issue.

 

Sounds like it's something with parasitic draw draining the battery while it sits and then by the time he gets it to the dealer it's just fine. How long does it take to get to the dealer?

 

I believe around 20 minutes. I guess it would be enough time to bring it back up. It would take a few cycles of this to start showing damage to the battery. The only thing I dont get is why he gets two no starts and then a start. I would think each attempt would cause more drain.

 

That's a good point as well, but starting a vehicle with a weak battery does odd things like that sometimes. I've always been told 15-20 minutes will charge the battery back up. When he gets out have him listen by the fuel tank for any noise. My dad had a 2006 that had the fuel pump start staying on after the truck was turned off and would drain the battery.

 

Did they do a load test on the battery or just test the volts. Still sounds like a bad battery to me. The clock going back one hour sounds like the low voltage is dropping enough under the staring load to reset the APIM and reverting the DST setting.

 

I don't know specifically, but it was a 1 hr test to see if it could be replaced under warranty. Assuming it's more than just a voltage test.

 

Just because they had it for an hour...... never mind. You could take it to a couple different auto parts stores and have it load tested for free. But I would hook up a jump pack or jumper cables and see if it still does it. If it does it’s not the battery. If it doesn’t it’s a pretty good chance it’s the battery.