battery acting crazy? also an odor question

[Sloan]

so yesterday was just a bad day for the 4runner. i open the door to get in and it smells horrible, like something died. and sure enough after looking there was a dead bird in the trunk. after getting rid of the bird the smell is still strong as ever, so i go to pick up my girlfriend to go on a date. when the nights over and we begin to leave on the way back, i notice at a red light my a/c unit controls light dims and flashes a little. i think this is nothing but the bulb about to blow until at the next red light ALL the lights in my 4runner start dimming and the batter light comes on. any ideas on why its acting this way? i cranked it up this morning and it seemed fine and i checked the batter and everything was connected good and it wasn't dirty? the batter is not even a year old yet.

also any ideas on the dead bird smell? i put baking soda all over the place (my mom's idea) but it dosent seem to absorb the odor.

 

[LINY4Runner]

if you had a loss of power while the truck was running, I would have to blame the alternator. Check to make sure the belt is still there, tightened to spec. If all is well, test the output of the alternator with a multimeter, or if you don't have one you can get a battery meter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. The truck should read around 12.6v when the engine is off, and in the mid 14's at idle.

 

[juiceboxer]

How the Hell did you get a dead bird in your truck and not know about it? Unless the windows were open...