The battery once again "checked out" according to their charging system check, but was pretty low (505 out of 600). It also was a pretty small/cheap battery that came with the car and was just outside the 2-yr warranty. It wasn't even a recommended size according to their system (grain of salt).

New 34 series Gold with 800/1000 and i'm good to go! Cleaned up the terminals, added those red & green felt washers and some grease and I should be good for some time! No more limp mode now that Rover and I are communicating clearly.

Thanks again...glad it wasn't the more expensive alternator!

 

Good to hear! Me and limp mode have been friends. About a month ago I had to drive about 100miles to the nearest Orielly's auto parts store. I had a 3 year full replacement warranty on an Optima Battery that only lasted 2 years. They had me a new one for free. This one was made in Mexico and the one that died was made in the USA. I know one thing. My alternator is strong! The rover ran well even though the M&S lights were flashing like stop lights. Changed the battery in the parking lot like white trash and good to go. I even got the CRC terminal spray that sprays red and turns clear when you need to re-apply.
I figured out my original problem. The positive cable was loose on the post, even when fully tighten down...the clamp had bottomed out. I discovered corrosion about half way around the terminal, I scrubbed that away and got one of those post caps made of lead. Basically, I think the Alternator was not making a good connection to charge the battery over time, so it slowly degraded it.

 

Hah, same here almost exactly! Except my Advance auto is less than 1/2mi away. The previous battery was from the PO and only had a 2 year (silver cheap) and they couldn't replace it anyways cause is still tested "fine" at 505 out of 600.

My positive connector was loose as well, I assume from scraping up the post so many times to get a better connection with the cheap-o battery. It would probably be worth while for me to get new batter cables and connectors sometime...