Killing Batteries

[KODIAKWARRIOR]

okay about every 6 months the truck wont start. i look at the battery and its covered in battery acid dripping everywhere. its starting to get real aggrovating because i just borrowed a battery from my dads truck and its killing that one as we speak. the voltmeter read somewhere around 16 volts driving down the road. i dont know if its the alternator or a wiring problem someplace. has anybody else had this problem? its a 1998 2.2 5 spd

[Sparky2263]

You probably have excess parasitic draw on the battery. Not enough to kill it overnight, but enough to pull it down every night, then the alternator has to charge it back up. The exaggerated discharge and recharge cycles will kill a battery in a hurry.

Anything over 15.2 is considered too high. Get a voltmeter and check output at the alternator output terminal.

[KODIAKWARRIOR]

okay ill give that a try tomorrow. ive never really trusted the stock gauge, ive got a fluke 12B, so testing it wont be a problem. ill post up on what it reads. thanks sparky for answering so quickly

[T Man]

Damn, dr sparky beat me to it.