Year old battery good for one start only

I know this will be impossible probably to help diagnose through this forum, but just looking for a starting point.

I bought an '04 Expedition 2 weeks ago. Not sure how many owners it has had, but one of the previous J*&%@ss owners had a subwoofer (gone now), an aftermarket stereo, and an aftermarket remote start (and who knows what else). I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem.

The first day I had it, I was doing a deep clean in the driveway with all the doors and liftgate open. I ran the power rear seats down just to see what they did. I'm pretty sure the dome lights timed out after a while. At the end of the day, it acted like it wasn't going to start (low battery), but it did. I have had this occur several times since. In one case, all I had to do was run the rear seats down and back up (with the engine off - no key in ignition), and same thing - almost dead.

Yesterday, I was fiddling around with my code reader, which wouldn't link up to the vehicle (see other post). I turned the key to the 'On' position a half dozen times or so for a couple minutes each time. Then it wouldn't start and I had to have a jump. Started super fast as soon as the cables were on.

Today while working on it, I ran both front windows down with the key just 'On' (no motor running). A few minutes later when I tried to start it, it wouldn't go. 40 minutes on the trickle charger, and it was back to 100%

The battery sticker says 10/17, so I have to think it's probably ok. Voltmeter reads 14.3 while vehicle is running.

Where should I start in the way of troubleshooting this?

I wouldn't bother. I'd get a new battery, especially if yours says something like "Dina-Volt," "Power-Master," "Super Start" or some other auto part store Chinese $59 special.

The date stamp is only good for choosing a battery on the shelf and warranty. There is a good chance the battery is sulfated from self discharge over a few weeks or the sound system the previous owner deep cycled the battery repeatedly. That tends to trash a battery also.
Better to see if the seller will warranty your current battery.

Trainmaster said:

I wouldn't bother. I'd get a new battery, especially if yours says something like "Dina-Volt," "Power-Master," "Super Start" or some other auto part store Chinese $59 special.

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I had to look after this reply. It's a Durolast "gold". AZ says it's a 5 year battery?

It's a group 65 battery right ? You can always have AutoZone test it for you for free. It certainly should be doing better than that. I use the Bosch AGM from PepBoys. I haven't been too impressed by the Duralast batteries I've run across. Terminals are clean right?

I'm going to clean the terminals tomorrow. They appear to be clean to the naked eye, but the Jeep that I just sold had chronic problems with terminal connections - it was the problem almost every single time.

Take it to them (drive) and they are going to check it with their battery tester. One thing to look at is the amount of CCA once the test is finished.

If you go to autozone make sure you buy their better line of batteries after the test shows it’s bad. Their el cheapo isn’t one you want.

The duralast gold battery has a 3 year free replacement warranty, take it to them but they'll attempt to charge it if it doesnt fail their tester, If it does fail they can warranty the battery regardless if you bought it or it was already equipped with the truck.... it's a good place to start but I think you have a parasitic draw somewhere over what seems to be a faulty battery....

Habbibie said:

but I think you have a parasitic draw somewhere over what seems to be a faulty battery....

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After a couple more 'no starts' since my OP, I did a draw test on the vehicle this evening. After everything "goes back to sleep", it showed only about 20 mA (which I believe is well within the acceptable range). Based on this, I went and bought a new battery. Supposed to be cold tonight, so we'll see!