Is it a battery problem or starter??

Might check for loose connections , at the batteries , and the starter. Also, corrosion. That's first. Then , disconnect each battery , ( you can disconnect them one at a time , to keep your radio settings , etc. ) and do a load test on each battery. Autozone , advance auto , O'rilley , among others , will probably do it for free , if you talk nice , and explain.
If the batteries check out ok , it's probably the starter.
I guess you pay for repairs , or you wouldn't be asking on here ?
They can check the starter ,too , but you'd have to take it off. Well , NAPA wil , anyway. Probably only the truck centers .
Good Luck!

 

your problem is it comes from Ryder.

 

Ok, first off, get a volt meter out and read voltage with key off. Gadge says batts are fine, but the gauge could be wrong. If t is at 13+ volts you need to get the batts tested to see if they can out put the Cold Cranking Amps required. A batt could have high vlt but not enough amps outputting. Slow crank is generally a bad batt or bad alternator not charging the batts fully

 

I went out and bought a battery test ($45) and an inductive pick-up amp probe ($250)
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=NBTAMP100_0006545175

Yeah, it's a couple hundred in tools, but it allows me to test my systems myself anytime I want.

Batteries, starter, charging etc.

The other question I have to ask is...

What is your mechanical ability? I have been turning wrenches in one form or another since 1980's. It doesn't bother me to crawl into the truck and do things like this. Others don't have that comfort level.

 

Does the truck have a Detroit? It could be the crank sensors - there are two of them and they are about $20 a piece. I had a mechanic change out a set one time after having the same issues that you are and the truck fired right up after that. The labor was way overpriced but if the sensors come right out it shouldn't be too bad. Let us know what the issue turns out to be. Good luck!

 

Do you own it or is it a lease?

One you are probably still dealing with cold weather. Check your battery voltage before you even start the truck in the morning. If it's below 12V you probably have a bad cell in one of the batteries. Another thing that would cause it to drag is the brushes on the starter are on their last leg. Usually corrosion or a loose connection it will turn but break connection and quit. It will also spark at the bad connection. Looking at it in the dark helps see it.

But you running all day and it's fine once you get going is because it's charging all day. I'd put my money on a bad battery cell. You can disconnect all the batteries (isolate them) If one is bad it's read much lower than the others. No need for a load test. Pop the battery caps and I bet a cell or two is dry. One has to check them batteries and connections every now and then. Especially this time of year after running all winter in road salt.

 

you can buy a battery tester from harborfreight for $50. and it pulls 500 amps. which is what you need to accurately test the batteries.

this idea is to pull half the cranking amperage that the battery is rated at. and semi batteries are usually 1000 amps.

you flip the switch. and hold for 15 seconds. voltage shouldn't drop below 11v while under load. but the batteries have to be fully charged to conduct that test.

the next test is 50 amps charge for 3 minutes. voltage shouldn't go above 15 volts.

the last test is 50 amps charge for 30 minutes and not go over 15 volts.

fail two of the 3 tests and the batteries are junk. test each battery individually.

 

ya i had an alternator die and those crooks at joplin petro tested my batteries without charging em .....told me i needed all four that was three years ago still have those bad batteries

 

Just go by one of the auto parts stores and they will check your charging system for free. I think someone already mentioned some of them. Autozone, Advance and O'Reilly's are three of the larger chains that will check your batteries, alternator and starter without charging you. You can go to any of their stores and it will only take a few minutes. From your description I would expect your problem to either be corrosion on the batteries or cables or the batteries.