Hello all my roommate has a 2001 Dakota that is having a crank issue, are problem is it's never a constant problem but it's enough of a problem that he's worried the truck may just die on him.

Issue we are having:
His truck at random will decide on it's own when it will and won't start. All he gets when turning the ignition is a click and nothing when this happens he has to turn the key to the on and off position about 5 times before the truck will start he can't try to crank it before 5 turns of the key though otherwise he has to restart the whole process over again.

I have tested the battery and the alt the both come back perfect at this point I don't know if it's the starter or fuel pump I don't think fuel pump because the truck would still try to crank would it not

 

Might be an ignition switch. When its doing this does the dash power up when he switches it to on? What does it do if he tries to crank it early? Check the starter relay as well.

 

Agree on ignition.

 

Yes sounds like ignition wiring problem,common in these . Sometimes the contacts wear out or a wire gets freyed after a lot of starts.
Is the fuel pump kicking in at the turn of key to accessory ? An any codes?

 

So when he first turns the key and get the click issue the dash lights and all come on like nothing is wrong however, as he starts to do the turn key trick the dash lights get dimmer and dimmer each time the key goes to the on position. When the truck starts everything is as normal, no dimm lights not dash/flickers, truck idles amazing when running. She has a bit of slip in her old tranny but that's already in line to be addressed, and nothing massive enough to tell the truck not to start.
When he does the key trick and try to start the truck before 5 spins of the key its the same results every time just a single click and nothing but for some reason 5 is the magic number and she starts up no problem after this. The oddest part about all of this is it seriously is random and out of no where at first it was happening constantly then stopped, slowly started coming back out of no where, and became a constant problem now its once a week to maybe 7 times a day.

 

Bad battery or connector. Make sure the terminals are tight and clean. It could also be a bad ground at the starter but check the battery first. Get the battery tested at parts store. Just because it shows 12 volts doesn't mean its good. A bad battery will drop voltage rapidly as soon as its under load. If your connectors are loose/dirty they will have much higher resistance that will result in a no/rough start condition. My bet is on the battery being bad though. Lead acid batteries need a few seconds to recover from load. When you draw current the voltage will drop for several seconds. By turning the key on and off you are turning on all of the electronics and giving it time to recover from the sudden spike in draw so it can run the starter.

 

Slight update in information he reminded me of this as I was getting off the phone with him, he is out buying a new battery as is for the truck he was wanting to use his old one on the boat. He is also having a issue with his blinkers, they also will randomly decide whether or not they are going to work or not. They aren't as common of a issue as the starting problem they are honestly like 3 times a month... But still at random could be they have a issue three times in one day and no issue all month then next month could be they cut out once a week... They are never gone long and usually are back to working within a mile or two down the road

 

Do the blinkers make the clicking noise when you turn them on? If not check the relay. On the 01 I think it is in the door panel fuse box. Should be a 5 prong relay. If its not there check on the other side of the fuse box. 2000's put them in from the back.

 

The blinker makes no noise it fully cuts out and just stops working, at this point in time he said the four ways/hazards do still work.
When you say to check the relay and the box are you meaning the box is known to have problems but it maybe the relay or the relay it'self is known to have a issue.
Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but before I go blow money on a relay for this to be a repeated problem I would like to just take care of the whole problem at once if it is the box

 

Relays with 20 years of use can fail. The box itself rarely has issues. I'm not suggesting you replace it. The relay can be placed in the slots visible or they can be hidden on the other side. If they are on the other side of the fusebox you have to reach from behind the dash from the floor to get to them. Its a royal pain to do especially since there will be wiring and other goodies in the way. The relay in question has multiple functions that can fail independently of each other. For example I recently had left turn blinker fail but hazards and right side worked.