Not too long ago I started having problems of losing power to all my gauges intermittently. Then they'd come back on. After a while I lost all power going to the radio, but occasionally power would surge to the radio, give it some power, but I could not turn it off and would have to pull the fuse in order to kill it. Now my batteries are losing charge or tonight no charge at all. Starts up fine on a jump, but I have to keep the fuse for radio out to do so. Batteries, alternator, harness or something else? What might I be looking at for cost?
Thank you for any info. This is my first diesel.
Today I tried using a 400amp battery booster. Drained it dead and did not start the truck. Thinking back seems like I may have replaced the batteries 3+ years ago. I know that could be one problem solved. I don't get the impression that would cause the other problems

 

There are safeguards built into the electronics to prevent battery discharge when the vehicle is shut down.
There are also modules that receive info and send info to control many functions.
When strange things start to take place the best way to locate the problem is with the use of a capable scan tool. The tool can check"module health" and let the tech know there is a problem with a module. The radio is one of the modules on the network as is the instrument cluster. To replace modules because you think it is defective can get expensive especially if you guess incorrectly. The scan tool can take the guessing out of the equation.
Diesels do not have anymore problems than gas trucks and usually less.

 

Are the code readers at Advance Auto Parts reliable?