Alright so im out cruisin and I can smell sulfur bad. So I get home and pop the hood and smoke is comin out of it and the battery is very hot. The truck ussually runs between 12-17 amps and it did this running between 15-17 amps. So Im open to answers or guesses.

 

a short, wire rubbing on steal, somthing like that

 

internal or external voltage regulator?

 

your reading volts at the gauge? assuming you are, the post looking at the external voltage regulator would be the suspect, a two wire rectangle box above the passenger side of the motor.

 

Replace the voltage regulator. Get a genuine MOPAR one, either from the dealer or out of a junkyard. You can probably walk out of your local junkyard with 3 or 4 OEM regulators for $20. They used the same regulator on all Chrysler products from the mid '70's until they put the regulator in the PCM.

 

jOSE,I had the exact same thing happen to me before i converted my 85 gasser to a 12 - v. What has happened is exactly what wannadiesel said. What mine did is regulater would open while i was driving with lights on and circuit never shut allowing large amounts of volts to flow and cook battery. I made the mistake of purchasing a new battery and almost cooked it also. I drove around for a few days without lights and every thing was fine. Then with lights on you could see volt guage almost peg out. I think you get the idea now!! Replace regulator like Wanna said and you should be fine.I also see you are from Lander,WY. When i attended Wyoming Tech in the mid 80's the teachers who were from the Wyoming area used to make fun of the girls from Lander don't know why? Just thought i would share that with you . It just brought back memories when i saw where you were from.

 

Those are all good guesses but I checked it this morning and there was no water in any of the cells

 

Your battery description has all of characteristics of a battery with a dead shorted cell: A decrease in acid level due to the acid being converted into gas.

Remove the battery. Refill to proper levels using distilled water. Place on a battery charger and see how it reacts. The battery is bad if the battery charger goes to full charge and stays there for hours while the battery just emits gas. A hydrometer will confirm this. If it's a sealed battery you won't be able to do this. That's why I never buy a sealed battery no matter who make it.

 

dead battery is most likely caused by overcharge,that is why you smell sulfur when it is running it is cooking the battery and it won,t crank anything,