Battery is dying overnight....I don't WANT to think it's the 3 year old battery I have but it may just be it.

Left the truck parked throughout the winter while I was away with the Army. Came back, truck was dead. Thought that was a bit funny because we didn't have THAT cold of a winter this year. Boosted it and I was on my way.

Good for about 3 weeks, with NO problems. Got into my truck 3 days ago, truck turned over slowly, but started. Went to the gym, came out 2 hours later, truck was absolutely dead. Called girlfriend, boosted, got home, turned off, started up, no problems. Weather is mild lately (high 50's to low 40's)

Next morning, dead as a gnat.

Checked lights, nothing stays on after doors lock. No aftermarket electronics in the truck except for an Edge and a Sony head unit "professionally" installed at an electronics store.

Would rather get opinions before I shell out for a new battery.

Thanks for any advice you can give,

Aaron.

 

Take it someplace that can do a load test on it. Don't know what is available up in Canada, but even Wal-Mart can do it down here.

Problem is once the battery goes real dead, it will never come back 100%.

 

You can also tell on your own if the battery is dead or going bad. When you start the truck if your battery is going away your gauge cluster will sweep to max and then back. Just a little tattle tail ford put in for us...

 

3 year old battery, but no info on it.
- Does it have a 3 year warranty ?
- Lower cost option battery ?
- Top of the line, overkill CA battery ?

When the truck sat long enough to go flat, you boosted it and went out driving it, is problem #1.
- The alternator is not designed to charge a flat battery ( and this is in that ~ 12.0 V range ). Should have used an external charger to try to charge the battery.

The more often the battery is in a discharged state is the lower the chance it will come back to normal operation.
Anything down to 12.3 V is OK, but once the discharge gets into that 12.2 to 11.75 V level, it will start to have an impact on the battery life.
If the battery is 3 years old, and got to a severe discharge level ( <= 11.5 VDC ) while sitting, this may have been the death rattle for it ( due to discharge state and age ).

jgger posted some solid advice.
Have a real load test done on it ( not the autozone quick load test in the parking lot ) to determine what the state of the battery is in.

The gauge sweep is for the old body style trucks ( up to 2003 ) so you might not see that indicator on your MY truck.