Ok getting battery charged now... if I put it in after being charged should it at least start regardless of needing new alternator or not???? I just want to make sure I'm on the right path as I'm getting super frustrated
You have to make sure that the battery is even good enough to charge! If your charger has an amp guage on it, when you turn it on it should go up to the rated max amperage of the charger if the battery is dead but is still a good battery! Therefore, if the charger is rated at 20amps, the meter should shoot up to 20, indicating the battery is charging!
I can't preach this enough, but you HAVE to have clean connections on everything to have a chance on it starting! Clean the battery terminals and the cables with one of those little battery terminal wire brush cleaners, clean all of the connections on the starter relay while the battery is disconnected, making sure to put all terminals back in the right place! Clean each ground that goes to the engine block, the negative battery lead and the block to firewall connections as well!! This has been the solution to problems just like this many more times than I can count!!!
