battery dies after truck sits for 3 days or is a cold night cranks real slow in the morning
-so one I have a red top optima (2nd 0ne return the other after 5 months)
-also I noticed my alternator is charging at 13.4 when i hit the gas no difference now on a load lights,ac, radio amps and subs it drops to 13.1 sometimes 12.9
so maybe a bad alternator? and disconnected the alarm and amps and still the same thing.
-so maybe i should do a dual battery setup???

 

take your alternator in for testing .
any draw when the truck is off?
pop the hood then to let it sit for 15 mins and not open doors etc so it will go to sleep then check the amp draw

 

thanks

 

Also charge your battery,and have your battery load checked ,or do it yourself if you have a 12v load tester.This will verify if your battery is holding charge or not.If your battery holds charge after doing a load test,I would lean more to alternator failure....

 

I almost forgot!How many add-on accessories do you have on your truck?Fog lights,auxillary lights,dvd players etc.........You may be pulling more amps than your alternator is putting out.Do you have an accessory connected to direct power,instead of key switch power.This will apply constant load to your battery!!!

 

Might have a bad cell in the battery. How old is it and what brand? I know my last battery went bad only 4 months after I bought it, so you never know.

 

optima red top 2nd one goes bad after 4 months i think am going to go with 2 battery's

 

Ive had Optimas before and they never seem to last long for me.

I know Ive said this before but I will put it out there for everyone else who may come along.

Our alternators voltage output is controlled by the PCM. But the PCM gets its info for how much voltage to regulate by the BTS (Battery Temp Sensor) which is a resistance variable 2-wire sensor on the bottom of the battery tray. That sensor is about $50 BTW.

But the BTS measures the battery's temperature and send a signal to the PCM when in turn lets the alternators voltage vary.

This is why most guys see thier voltage gauge in the truck higher in the winter when it is colder outside.

 

^ dude thanks i have always wondered that....makes total sense now...

as for OP i used to manage a stereo shop and we sold the red and yellow tops. I ran a red top for years then after about 5 years i needed a new one and that one ended up exploding on me. the lid popped off. I did some research and apparently they were making them in a different place or something because at the time they were having more and more problems. The yellows are great, but pricey, however a buddy of mine went to the local Interstate Battery battery store and they have an Interstate version of the yellow top. Its like $120 and they install it for free and the guy said if you dont like it bring it back he said the date didnt matter. My buddy got it for tailgating and he has quite a few things drawing from it so we will see how it does.

 

thanks bro you are the man I think am going with 2 batt.