1996 Dakota. My mechanic says I have I have a loose plate in my battery that is causing my truck to quit from time to time and may be difficult to start. I have never heard of such a problem. Can it be true?? This guy is a very good mechanic!!
I don’t know how he can tell if a plate is loose. You might have a shorted cell and that can be caused by more than one thing including a loose plate. Can you take the caps off of your battery? If so, the specific gravity of individual cells can be checked. This corresponds to the state of charge of the cells. If one cell is very weak compared to the rest, the battery needs to be replaced. A sealed battery can have a weak cell as well. This can be detected with a battery tester, but the test is less intuitive.
A weak battery should not cause a truck to quit, but will make it difficult to start.
Sometimes an inaccurate story is good enough, especially if it really is a battery problem.
It can be true, but like the others have indicated it is not easy to be sure.
How old is the battery? I would say if it is four years or older, replace it.