A stereo won't make the engine harder to start. The additional load isn't physical load its electrical load. So no the starter solenoid is not your issue.

 

+1
a starter solenoid would be 1. no start at all or 2. starter staying engaged
Neither have you described

 

Well guys, almost had a funeral to go to for my husband lol . ((Cause I coulda killed him haha JK))

I guess it pays to make sure that a certain wire is crimped good before you go blaming the alt & battery. ((Understand it was dark out too and only using a small kids flashlight cause the kid broke ours lol... so there was minimal light to notice the small things))

A fresh start this morning he goes outside and happens to get a better look at the wire coming off of the alt. Come to find out that the end was not crimped on good enough and when he had hit a bump on his way home from work made the connection stop working, and then work for a sec and stop again. Apon looking at it and fiddling with it... Started the truck ((Left the battery to charge roughly 8-9 hours on low volt over night)) sooooo, low and behold. The amps are actually running now at around 16v instead of 14v and does not fade at all.

So thanks guys for all the great information and sorry if I was at all rude to anyone. I was all flustered and upset that if we did not get it fixed within a day my husband could loose his new job he had just started by not having a vehicle to get there.

 

hey
I got 5 sisters and 2 brothers ,it takes much more than that to offend ME

Unfortunately so many issues are self inflicted

I hate crimp connectors and scotcklok connectors
Guys probably think I am a little **** about splices because I solder and shrink tube everything but never ever need to go back to that splice because of failure

my first job was working in a truck shop working on livestock haulers
If you don't make really good connections on that stuff it fails in short time due to the acidity of manure

 

LOL I got 5 brothers and 1 sister, so I'm the opposite but know exactly what you mean haha.

Yes, the crimping is a load of BS and I am seriously about ready to solder his connections from now on. Believe me this isn't the first time that somethings been blown outa proportion and it then turns out to be a wire or some kind of connection somewhere lol. I should have known but... what'dya do? Laugh about it and move on =) The joys of marriage I suppose

But yes, soldering sounds like a better bet because i'm a DIY'er and I've soldered many things in my day so I guess I better start doing that on the vehicle too haha.

 

I'm glad you found the problem, and that it wasn't anything too serious. As a former certified journeyman electronics installer I would highly recommend soldering every electrical connection that is made outside the cabin of the vehicle. I never make any other type of connection on my or a customer's vehicle. The engine bay and underbody of a vehicle are extremely harsh environments, and you're just asking for problems if you don't protect yourself by soldering the connections. All my stereo power cables connectors are crimped then soldered then covered with heat shrink.

 

when guys at work ask about DIY I make them buy the solder seal connectors
Solder Seal: Connectors & Terminals | eBay
They bitch about the price but never have issues with that connection
I even loan them my heat gun to do it