i have a 99 ram v10 with a 97 v10 in it whens its cold it will fire up alot quicker when its warm ill turn the key an it cranks a little bit a few times then starts i changed the battery already helped a little bit soemtimes it will fire right up other times it goes rrrr rrrrrrrr rrrrrrrr rrrrrrrr then fires . . (cant tell you what it sounds like so i tried spelling it haha) but ya should i try new alternator? starter? both are maybe a yr or two old.. also thinking about hooking up a second battery like the diesels will that be ok or?? any suggestions??

 

whats your voltage when running look like? lotta guys hook up two batteries. specially those with plows.

 

How long would you say it cranks over for when it takes longer to fire? My V8 will sometimes fire right up the instant I turn the key then other times it will crank over a few times (doesn't crank for longer than a second and a half) and temperature doesn't make a difference with it. So coming from me it sounds kind of normal but maybe I'm wrong. Guess it depends how long it cranks before it fires. But at least your pickup is still starting either way! haha

 

My guess is a bad ground for the NEG batt wire, or possibly the wire[s] itself may need a change.

 

While the vehicle is running, take the positive terminal off the battery. If it dies the alternator is dead. if it stays running you can eliminate the alternator as being the problem

We have touchy PCM's...hae you replaced both terminals yet?

 

I wouldn't disconnect the battery cable while it's running. You can seriously damage the alternator and pcm. These aren't old cars with generators anymore. Now days disconnecting the battery from the system will take power away from the PCM and stop the truck from running anyways. So it's not really a valid test anymore. Take it over to an advance auto store they can test the battery starter and altenator. If it were me I would clean terminals off really well. Test the voltage with the truck turned off you should have about 12.4 or more. Then start the truck and test the voltage. You should have about 13.5 to 16 volts. If you started with 12.4 and after starting you got less then 13.5 or more then 16 your alternator may be bad. If you didn't start with 12.4 then your battery or alternator may be bad. Sorry, if your battery isn't fully charged it's hard to tell if the alternator is good or bad. Generally if you see an increase in voltage after starting the vehicle then the alternator is usually good. If everything test good then your starter is bad. In my opinion since you said you changed the battery already and from the best interpretation of rrrr rr rrrrr I think your starter is frozen.

 

Sometimes it fires as soon as I turn the key other times it takes a few seconds and sounds like the battery doesn't have enough power to turn over the flywheel