Good battery/bad battery

Brand new member here. I have a 2001 with about 220,000 miles on it and have been having intermittent battery problems for about 2 years. Yep, 2 years!! I use it almost daily and can go weeks or months without a problem, and then it's dead after sitting overnight. So far I've been lucky in that I've always been somewhere where I can hook up a charger. The reason I'm on here now is that it happened again after about 6 months. I've had the battery checked twice in that time and it has been good. The only thing non-stock about the truck is an after market alarm system. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

I just joined the forum but had a very similar problem with my 2000 Tundra . The existing battery was older than yours ,would work for weeks at a time and then next to no cranking power . I had it load tested and it tested good . Changed the terminal ends but still the problem persisted. To eliminate the battery as a problem I replaced it . It has been two months without any issues in some very cold temps .

 

Is the alarm possibly causing a parasitic draw? Are the terminals and cables clean/free of corrosion?

My brother went through this same thing on his (6) year old battery in his RAM. He finally replaced it and has been trouble free.

 

Just replaced mine with OEM 27R, high CCA and high reserve, only 120.00. Original was 6 years old and no problems , just don't wait till stuck somewhere. Keeping old one for backup in bed for inverter.

 

I’ve read others say the aftermarket alarms will cause the battery to intermittently die on our trucks. How long has the alarm been installed?

Check your grounds, connections, etc on everything under the hood.

 

Got an update: I took it to an Auto Electric shop where they checked the battery, charging system and starter. They are all old but good. Then they looked under the dash at the wiring for the aftermarket alarm (something I never used) and the aftermarket remote starter (something I didn't know was there) and found some wiring that had scraped/worn insulation that might have been the problem. When they called me, I told them to go ahead and remove all the aftermarket stuff and make it stock again. I now have a pile of black boxes and wires that looks something like a gut- pile out of a small deer. So, I still don't know for sure what the problem is/was, but I've eliminated a bunch of the possibilities. Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas!

 

Good move.