So my truck has been running fine...until... the other day I went to start it and there was no power. I turned the key a few times and it fired up and no problems since til today. Its a bit colder then it has been. I fired up the truck and no problems. Went to the gas station and got gas. Went to fire the truck up and nothing. I jumped it and got it started. It ran super rough and would barely idle. It died once more on the way home and I jumped it again. Got it home and it was running really rough still. It cuts out on idle and when you increase the Rome it will run fine for a second and then it will cut out and pick up again. The longer I let it run the smoother it ran. My cables were loose so I tightened them.

I assume that without appropriate power all of the electronic systems won't run properly and that's why it ran so rough. Gonna throw a charge on the battery and see what happens. Has anyone else seen this?

 

Rpms not Rome...typo on my cell.

 

First thing you need to do is check for codes.

 

I am going to charge the battery and then ill run the codes tomorrow. I can't do anything right now cause the battery is completely dead.

 

I figured out that I had a bad alternator. Unfortunately It wasn't as simple as replacing the alternator, partially due to my own stupidity.

So as I said in my OP after a jump start the truck would run but barely. After charging the battery, I still got nothing. I checked and found out that some of the connections were loose. I jump started the truck and same thing, whenever I took the cables off the truck died or ran rough. That is usually a clue of a bad alternator. I took the alternator and had it tested and found out it was only putting out 8 volts due to bad brushes. Rather then spend $10 and a bunch of time replacing the brushes, I got a whole new one. I hooked it up and everything seemed to work fine. I went to town and about 5 miles in, I lost all power, in the middle of an intersection. Got a police escort through the intersection and a jumpstart but it died again.

I was in the parking lot of an outo parts store that was closed (ironic right?). My son saw a guy come out of the store so we recruited him to jump start us. Not only did he give me a jump, he stayed and was helping me out, even opened the store back up so he could get his tester and sell me any parts I may have needed. I wasn't getting any power from the alternator. By this time it was raining and it quickly turned to snow. After using an array of colorful words to express my displeasure, I finally realized I was the only one to blame. I looked and found out I forgot to pluc in the wires for the voltage regulator. I cussed myself some more and tried to plug it in and it fought me every step of the way. Got it plugged in after I had about an inch of snow down my crack. Fired it up and drove away.

I drove around for a bit and went to the store. I came out and she started up just fine. About a mile down the road, I lost all power again. This time when I inspected the alternator, I found out that the plastic housing that holds the plug for the regulator had come off.....and it started snowing again....awesome! I used a little shade tree mechanic skills and got it to stay plugged in until I could get home.

Today I got a new alternator and put it in and I made sure that I had all of the connections plugged in this time. Everything works great now. The truck even runs better than it did before. I assume that because the old alternator was not putting out enough voltage I was running only on battery power and the 8 volts from the alternator causing really poor performance. Now there's a noticeable increase in power and the truck just seems to runs smoother. I also took the guy at the auto parts store a 6 pack of his favorite adult beverages to say thanks for the trouble.
BTW today when I was putting the new, new alternator in, it started snowing again.
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share.

 

another story with a GOOD ending.

 

Check all your grounds also. Make sure they are all good.