Woke up dead.

the story so far. i cleaned up the terminals and there was a breath of life. i still had to jump it but it fired right up and i went for a joy ride. no issues during the drive and i turned it off and let it sit a few minutes and on the restart it turned over. so, i'm assuming that it was just corroded terminals and i feel like a jackhole. thanks for help, it's greatly appreciated.

 

Didn't read the whole thread so, sorry if it's already been answered, but here's my $.02

Def had a similar problem a while back.

I had been working on the electrical system doing a stereo install/lights and what have you.

Turns out I had stripped some of the threads on the positive battery terminal and it would loose connection occasionally. New terminals fixed the problem immediately.

Simple fix if this is the issue. Have you battery and alternator tested before hand, any interstate battery shop will do this for free.

 

this same shit happened to my wifes accord it was the ignition it kept telling the car it wanted to be off then it would come back on everything would freak out then go back to normal changed out the ignition never happened again

 

i think they make little felt pads, not sure what they are made of, but you can put them onto your battery posts close to the battery and it is supose to keep the corosion down and away from the connections

 

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Anticorrosion-Battery-Washers-(2-Pack)-Autocraft_6283152-P_1376_S%7CGRPBATTAMS___

 

You might want to give the battery a good charge overnight. Unless you drive it for a long distance the battery might not get fully charged. That is assuming that the battery was low to begin with.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCUh5liPkK8

 

Clean the post and make sure the cables are on tight before you do anything rash. It's free and has caused many problems like you have described.

 

You should charge the battery. Letting the alt charge a dead battery puts a lot of wear on it. Doing it just a few times can shorten it's life by over 20%

 

old school trick is to take a pre 83 copper penny and tape it between the terminals. It will become "sacrificial" metal and the corrosion will attack the penny not the terminals

 

I cleaned the post on the old battery and it never shut off while driving again but it wouldn't hold a charge. I ended up replacing the battery yesterday. So far so good, but I don't know if I'm 100% sold on having the truck turn off and turn back on while driving is because of a dead battery. We shall see.