Seriously, what is it with third gen's and them killing off batteries like a WWI fighter plane shooting down the enemy.

I know a lot of us go through this woe very frequently even after everything has been checked not once or twice and even several times after that for parasitic draws. Checking and replacing cables and ground straps only to find, it still happens.

The worst part is you know the battery is dead and the parts counter at the local parts counter tells you to come back in an hour as they need to verify that the battery is dead, yet you know it's more dead than my love life.

I've had pretty good luck lately..... Took my alternator to little old guy that does nothing but rebuild alternators and starters, from sun up, to sun set. Told him I wanted a stock rebuild and what he gave back to me has worked great. Before that, I'd tried several remans with very limited success. Couldn't say exactly why I couldn't get a parts store alternator that would work, but whatever.

I also think that the battery cables used in the earlier cars are crap. Stock cables in 87 for example are smaller cable than GM used later.

Beyond that, the electronics in general in the early cars is iffy. Lots of little things like relays and connectors changed later in the 80's. The later cars don't have a lot of the problems the earlier ones do.

FWIW.

Oh I tossed out the stock battery cables years ago and replaced them with heavier duty ones from Innovative Wiring on the suggestion of a co-worker running them on his 1996 Impala SS. As for the alternator, it works fine as when turned on the car, I unplugged the battery and the car kept running fine for a while.

I just put in the new battery. I still have another two years of warranty left so woo hoo. There is nothing like the sound of the car firing right up on the first turn of the key with only one quick push of the pedal on a cold engine. And being a carb car, that says a lot.

Years ago, I stopped buying parts store batteries.

I buy Interstate brand for all my vehicles - and there are many.
Have yet to replace one yet.

On the cars seldom driven, I use Deltran Battery Tenders
Again, have not had any issues in probably a decade now.

I know this may sound alarmist , BUT , that is something that has been strongly recommended AGAINST since the 1970s when transistorized devices first began controlling our engine's operations !

Back when cars had "Points" and the only "electronics" was the vacuum tube radio in the dashboard , sure , disconnecting the battery to see if the generator was putting out power was indeed a valid test . Once the very first electronic ignition system appeared (GM's self contained "HEI") , it began to be noticed that sometimes when the battery was disconnected from a running engine the resulting voltage spike was plenty big enough to destroy the HEI module . Even today , it is known that sometimes giving a jump start can kill electronics in the car giving the jump , when the dead car's starter is engaged it can drop the system voltage SO low in the donor car that "low voltage burnout" is a very real possibility and does in fact happen .

That is why you are supposed to turn the headlights on and the blower motor on high in the donor car - to prevent those voltage spikes.

The Bose radio was on and cranked up. No spikes in voltage and I had a voltmeter hooked up. Should have added that but didn't. And do I recommend this to another person? Absolutely not.

As for cars with points? Hate them. We had a 1967 Dodge Dart with a 225 slant 6 and I remember my dad and the mechanic always dealing with that and valve lash adjustments.