1994 f150 302
-battery and spark plugs are 6 months old
-recently became below freezing here
-larger gap in passenger side fender/hood, which is possible water is getting in

ive never had trouble starting, but today while driving to work, after 15 min of driving, the abs light came on, then battery, then while pulling into a lot, it died. it sat for 2 hours, i went back and it cranked up but very very weak.

where do i start diagnosing this? the starter solenoid is right where i worry water is getting in, but wouldnt this only affect the starting? im going to have the battery tested, then the alternator. any other ideas? ill clean all the visible corrosion as well.

 

after jumping it twice. the battery dies after about 10-20 minutes of driving. the battery gauge steadily drains as i drive. could it possibly be something other than the alternator?

the battery is draining so fast and its never done this before...

 

My first guess would be the alternator is toast, and you are basically running of your batt, which will die because it relies on the alt to recharge it while the truck is running.

 

yup. get your alt tested? does your 5.0 have a distributor?

 

I'd say your alternator, but I wouldn't rule out the ignition module, nor the pickup coil. My 95 4.9L f-150 did kinda what you are saying, just keeled over while pulling into a parking lot, come back 2 hours later and it fired right up. I changed both the ignition module and the pickup coil in the distributor and it fixed the issue.

 

Definiatly get your ignition module checked out. I had a problem like yours.