Suprise my truck won't start!!!

[patrick8654]

I need some help here. I know this is a common problem, but I don't know where to go to get it fixed. I am located in Vass, NC. So if anyone knows where to take it please give me a clue. I called one of the local dealerships up in Cary and they said they have a two week wait for service on diesels.
Here's the skinny on what exactly it is doing; was hard starting for a week or so. Cranking longer than normal before turning over. Then it got worse and this morning all I am getting is the infamous clicking. I read a bunch of other threads and mine didn't seem like the others until last night when it wouldn't start while it was hot. When it was at it's worse this past week, the gauges would all go crazy, my clock would need to be reset and the trip meter would reset to zero as if the battery had been disconnected.
The truck has 143,000 miles on it(give or take a few) and zero mods to the engine. Up until now the only thing I have had to do is replace the radiator once a few months ago.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[codyrock87]

Batteries and alternator check good?

[Rob]

Before you go to the dealer, have your batteries checked. Or just replace them. Are they the original batteries? The "clicking" tells me you don't have the proper voltage/amperage to even crank your starter over.

[patrick8654]

No, didn't have either of those checked yet. It was already giving me a hard time so I jumped to worse case conclusion first. I'll get them tested in the a.m. though, thanks for the common sense reminder.

[HAM_RADIO_MAN]

Stop trying to start it untill your battery issue is resolved!!!

Bad batteries KILL FICMs

Spend $200 on batteries now and save $900 or so on an FICM replacement.

[patrick8654]

Thanks for bringing me back to the ground on that one. I had the batteries tested yesterday; one tested at about 150 amps and the other one was in the 130 range. They were the original batteries. Truck has two new batteries now and it is starting and running great. I appreciate the help everyone.