so not 5 minutes after i go online to order a set of MC plugs, lisle extractor, 9/16 spark plug socket, and nickel anti seize (for a grand total of 160ish bucks), i go out to get in my truck and it started HARD, like the battery was going. just my luck :P

I put a volt meter on the battery and with the truck off, im getting 13 volts on a 2 digit tester, ill try a finer tester when i get home. with the truck running im at 14 volts, and the alternator is spankin new. Once it does start it sputters for a second, and the gauges in the dash all shimmy for about 10 seconds before rising up.

all terminal connections are tight (ive changed the terminal before) and its not doing it every start. only most starts. any thoughts?

 

did you just put gas in it? might be bad gas...just a wild idea. where we are the first tankers of "summer" gas just started to show up. could this be part of a problem?

 

A volt meter wont tell you if the battery is toast, it will read 12v all the way till it dies. You need a load tester. You can be getting 12v all day but be pulling really low amps.

 

Also disconnect your battery for 20 mins then hook it back up and start it and see if that fixes it. My guess is that it will.