Charging/battery issue

I'm at wits end with the problem on the wife's 65. I've been driving it since August, when my car got hit and have been at the body shop...but that's a whole different story.

Well...let me start at the beginning of this story. Everything was going good, just cruisin' back and forth from work in style. One morning when I jumped in it and all i got was click...click...click from the solenoid. Hmm...that's odd. So, I put it on the trickle charger and went on my way. Got the battery all charged up and started driving it to work again. A short time later, same story...jumped in it to got to work and just the solenoid clicked. That's really odd. Started thinking I must have a bad battery. Took it in to swap it out, but the auto store checked it, and it was good. Must have a drain. So, I get home grab the amp meter, yanked the neg cable. The car has about a 25 milliamp draw. That's pretty good, so that's not the problem. Charge the battery and start driving it again to work. But this time, after work dead battery. I hate to admit this but a Chevy had to jump start me. =^( But at least it was a 66 Malibu, so that takes a little sting out of it. But my coworker isn't letting me forget this. Car starts up and I drive her home no issues with the headlights on. When I get home the car starts up. So, I assume the alternator is good and charging the battery. But that's the only thing I have checked. I take it off and the pulley moves in and out. That isn't good. So, new alternator installed. I figure that I must have fixed the problem. Wrong!! I drive it to work for about a week, and I need another jump. At least this time it was from a Ford Superduty. Get home and car starts right up.

This is where I now sit. I'm not sure exactly where my issue is. All I can think is that the battery must be weak and not holding a charge.

Any ideas?
Thanks

I was having a problem with my F250 not cranking last summer. Sometimes it would just click, sometimes it would crank slowly. Replaced the batteries (they did need it), checked the electronics, cables, etc... Came across a thread one day at the Diesel Stop that talked about a bad starter doing the same thing. Replaced the factory starter (with 140,000 miles on it) with a gear reduction starter and now I can go out on a sub zero day and it cranks right up. No problems since.

I don't put much weight in the auto store's ability to trouble shoot anything. There is a good chance that it is still the battery. Have you checked the output of the alternator with a multi-meter? As long as you are getting close to 14 volts with the engine running, all things point to battery problems. How old is the battery? over 4-5 years old?

A bad ground connections or deteriorated cable can give issues, but it sounds to me that it's like the battery. After my wife got stranded a couple of times with similar thoughts not believing it was the battery I put a new one in at her request... and it hasn't failed since.

All the above.

Cables are cheap. I would disconnect all and verify tightness and cleanliness of connections. If the cables are years old, replace 'em. I've peeled back cable insulation and found unbelievable damage from corrosion hidden beneath.

This happened to me last year in my 2010 Lincoln, while I was away on travel. I managed to get it jumped, and went on my way home. I could start the car up when stopped at a gas station, but the following morning after getting home, the battery was dead. It simply would not hold a charge for long.

Replaced the battery, and haven't had a problem since.

Had pretty much the same problem in Focus.