Hopped in my truck Monday morning after it was sitting all weekend, and it only turned over once or twice before the battery gave out. Used my sons car to get to work and started trying to fix the truck on Wednesday. I hooked up the battery charger and charged the battery back up overnight. It started the next morning and I drove it around for 20 minutes or so. Turned the truck off. Multimeter at battery read 12.9 volts. Started the truck up and the multimeter read 14.5 V while running.
I wanted to check for an amp draw, so I turned the truck off, and removed the negative battery cable (I noticed the cable was not as tight s it should be, BTW). I set the meter to AMPs, changed one of the leads to 10A and touched the leads between the removed cable and the negative battery post. The meter read 0 amps (really, zero mA).
I purchased new post terminals and connected them and tightened both pos and neg really well. The truck started the next morning, and started when i left work to come home so I thought problem solved. Stopped for gas on the way home, and truck wouldn't start again! I jumped it and it started and drove home.
Any ideas? I know the alternator is good because the battery reads 14+ V while running. I know there is no parasitic draw because the meter read zero mA while doing the test above. I know the battery is good because it charged up to 12.9 V. What am I doing wrong?

BTW, I normally don't try to sell products on here, and I have zero affiliation with this product or store, but I bought one of these from Costco:
https://www.costco.com/Lithium-Jump-...100383979.html
I really had no expectations from this thing because it's so small and seems so "un-industrial", but this thing works like a charm. It jump started my truck 3 times already, and right away - like the engine started on the first turn. Pretty amazing, fits in my glove box, and only $50. It took 5 hours for the initial charge, but it puts out 200-400A. The owners manual does say to charge every 2-3 months if not used, so I will have to remember to do that. Here's a short video:

 

 

These trucks seem to be more prone to starting issues than most other vehicles. I often see new starters on trucks in the junkyard - I bet a lot them were replaced without proper diagnosis and the problem wasn't resolved. Perhaps that's why they were even junked.

I have a thread in here that discusses my starting issues. In my case, I've had two separate problems, but the longer thread is the starter-circuit problem. It's still not 100% resolved, but new cables helped, as did a new starter switch, as did adjusting the starter switch closer to the steering wheel. You can search on my ID to find it.

 

This in no way proves your battery is good.

 

Well, jas88 - you are 100% correct. I went to the local mom-and-pop parts store (the kind where you can actually talk to guys that work on cars!) and they tested the battery with an actual battery tester, and it was a bad battery. Bought a new one, dropped it in, and it starts just fine now. I was always under the impression that if the battery could be re-charged that it was OK. Learn something new everyday!