It is also possible that you are suffering from ghosts of the past. 98 and 99's had a problem with the connectors in the back of the instrument cluster. The dealer fix is to remove the cluster, replace the selfdocking connectors and give you a $210 bill. My fix was to remove the cluster, clean the connectors, tweak the pins *ever so slightly, hardly visible to the eye* and plug it back in again, takes about 20 minutes and you need to disconnect the battery and let the system discharge for 20 min for the airbag stuff just to be safe before working on it.
It is possible that budtx has something there too, with all the electronics in the vehicles now a solid source voltage has got be a major player, though original OEM battery in my 98 lasted and was still OK when I replaced it last fall with a red top it was still stretching it some. The only reason I replaced mine was because I did not want to deal with it in the winter time so I bought what I consider the best battery out there for the money.