I had a weird one this morning. Turned the ignition and got a whirring noise. Tried two times, nothing, on the third time it cranked. Drove to the store, when I came back out to start the truck the exact same response. Brought it home turned it off in the garage. Tried to start, the same thing. Left it took my car to work. When I came home the truck started right up. Several times.

Temps were mid 20's this morning and around 40 degrees when I got home.
I would immediately go to starter but my starter was replaced last year around 100 miles ago. I checked the battery when I got home and it showed around 12.11 volts which seems a tad low. It should be around 13.5 volts. Even though I got all of the dash lights I am thinking that the battery was at fault here, that there were not enough cold cranking amps. Thoughts?

 

Battery.

 

When it clicks do you lose all the lights on the dash as well as the radio and clock resetting?

The battery really should be showing about 12.4 at the very least. Did you view it thru an ultragauge or from a multimeter at the battery?

 

So, all this problem usually is - is the battery connection on the battery posts to the battery.
Remove the wires to the battery and get a wire brush - a round battery brush and ream the inside of the connector.
And ream the outside of the battery posts.
That will fix it.

You may also have a bad ground where the negative wire goes to the frame.
remove that wire and clean it at the frame ground point.

 

I think you are correct. There is a slow leak somewhere. The battery is less than a year and 100 miles old. I charged it last night. Also, the alternator was replaced very recently as well so I can rule that out. I will try your suggestion.

 

+ 10 Done this many times.

 

I thoroughly cleaned the batter connections and properly tightened the connectors and I am still getting this issue ONLY when it is very cold in the morning. I saw the ground connection to the body near the batter is there another ground connection that I need to check? Where would it be located exactly? When I turn the ignition on a cold morning all I hear is the starter spinning not a clicking.

UPDATE: I just bought a brand new battery (700 CCA) and I am getting the same spinning starter.

 

The spinning started that doesn't engage means the starter solenoid is dead. I haven't checked the RAVE, but it's probly built into the starter.

So, you probly need a starter.

 

If the starter is spinning it isn't the solenoid it is the Bendix. The starter has maybe 100 miles on it ( 1 year old) and I only seem to have this problem in the bitter cold in the mornings. Once the truck (or the weather) has warmed up it starts just fine. I will take a look at the starter an connections when I get home from work today.

 

I was thinking 'solenoid' didn't sound right.

It's not impossible that the starter was poorly remanufactured. I've had a couple of bad parts directly out of the box over the years.