battery dying trying to find out why

i have no idea why my battery keeps dying. if i jump start it will run and keep running til i turn it off. about 5 minutes after i turn it off it will not start. anyone have a trick besides going thru and looking at every single wire to find a problem or is it better just to take it to a electrical place? i am stumped.

alternator

probably your alternator, yes.

Start it up and take a wrench and put it to the back of the alternator if there is no magnetic pull then that will tell you it is not working.

Also, what kind of battery do you have? It could be a bad cell or something.

You need to "Load" test the battery. It sounds like it's a toasted battery. Any local Kragen, Pep Boys, etc.. can test it for you.

You need to "Load" test the battery. It sounds like it's a toasted battery. Any local Kragen, Pep Boys, etc.. can test it for you.

yea my girls ranger did that the other day and it was the battery,it had a dead cell from not puttin water in it and the battery was 5 years old

NOT THE ALTERNATOR. If after jumping it will run until you turn in off, then it's running from the current made by the alternator. You need a new battery. While it's running go ahead and disconnect the battery. It should remian running. If so, replace the battery. No need to reed anymore posts. Try this and you'll be railing again soon as you shell out some coin for that new battery.

i have put in another battery and it does the same thing.... i have also tried to disconnect the batt while it is running and it stays running like a champ.

Have you tried replacing your camshaft ...but seriously, what about connections. You said you tried another battery and it did the same thing and I'm guessing the alternator is good. Maybe clean the terminals or something

buy an optima, they last forever......