Alternator/battery ?s

[rancid240]

I changed out a battery recently that was dead (around 4-5 years old, so I didnt think anything of it) with a fresh one from Pep Boys. I moved the car from parking space to parking space about twice in a two week period, then checked the car and battery was dead again at the end of that period. So I got it charged at pep boys and read my voltage at idle, which was only 13v. So I removed the alternator and had it tested, and it was bad. Replaced that and thats where I am today. (Just an FYI its much easier to remove replace if you remove the lower fan shroud) My question is that it seems that the battery died awful quick if it was just a bad alternator, combined I didnt even move the car 100 feet. So I am wondering if I may have a short or the battery was sitting for a while at Pep Boys.


In case I have a short, if I check the batteries voltage while its sitting, if I have a short I should notice a drop in voltage right (over the period of a few days)?