What was the fix?

 

The alternator is directly attached to the passenger side battery and sends its charging current to it. The PCM samples the voltage from the driver's side battery using a small wire connected the the screw that clamps terminal to the battery post. A heavy wire connects both + battery posts together and this will keep the charging current going to both batteries. The problem is if the clamp gets corroded or loose and the small wire to the PCM does not make a good connection. The PCM, sensing a low voltage due to the connection, will tell the alternator to output more current. This extra current will overcharge and boil the passenger side battery as the PCM thinks everything is OK and the dash volt gauge reads normally.

If the negative post on the driver's side battery gets corroded the battery looses a good ground reference. The passenger side battery has the negative post connected to the engine block. The alternator is connected to the engine block so the poor negative connection on the driver's side battery will also overcharge the passenger side battery.

 

$40 Rebuilt starter, new oversize contacts from fostertruck.com. My old contact was almost completely disintegrated. Cleaned armature, hacksaw blade to clean out groves, 600 grit sand paper for copper areas.

$90 Rebuilt alternator, could've gotten parts cheaper, but Kragen had a more complete set, so I didn't mind. Brushes were getting really low, possible that alternator was mischarging my batteries and ruined them, they were not made for deep cycle.

2 new bosch 700cca batteries. Free because of warranty.

It starts quicker now than when I bought it.

 

Thanks for sharing.