Sorry if this is covered somewhere but I couldnt find anything that seemed to match my problem.

For the past week when starting the car the following occurs: (temp doesnt make a difference)
1st key turn = starter turns slowly as if battery is weak
2nd key turn = same or slight better but doesnt start
3rd key turn = car starts fine as if everything is perfectly normal

I had the battery tested by two seperate shops and both said battery was good. Given the test results I elected to check all connections. I tightened the battery terminals (didnt' take much) and the starting issues went away for about 2 days.

This morning the symptoms came back except this time there was a major difference:
1st key turn = starter turns slowly as if battery is weak
2nd key turn = lights on dash lit up @ half key turn then went off @ full key turn. Starter never even engaged. Like battery is completely dead.

I hooked jumper cables to car and still nothing happens. I'm assuming that even if the connection is poor or the cables are bad that the car would at least turn over when connected to jumper cables.

Anyone have any clues?

 

Not sure if this really matters but the vehicle is a 1999 Disco Series II

 

Take your battery out and charge it followed by a load test.
Battery should be able to hold 12.5 volts under a 200 to 300 amp load. Charging system as a whole should be between 13.6 and 14.4 volts with the engine running.

 

I had it load tested and it passed.

 

Take the entire truck in and have the charging system tested, you may have a fried alternator.

 

One last thing I forgot to mention. This morning while I had it hooked to jumper cables, the far rear relay was firing back and forth non stop. I changed the relay and it still did it.

 

Still no luck. Any ideas?

 

How about try the rest of the connections?

In the fuse box under hood - every large cable that is held down with a screw or bolt.

The positive battery cable - remove, clean, and re-tighten connectors at each end (battery and starter).

The negative battery cable - clean up and re-tighten on the battery, then follow that big black cable and clean up and tighten every place it connects to frame of truck.

At 300 amps draw, it only takes a dirty connection to drop plenty of volts to the starter, and such a connection can react to heat, etc.

 

So, are you saying you have no way to start the engine, have you recharged your battery?