Year old battery good for one start only

[Bolt snapper]

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?

 

[Trainmaster]

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.

 

[stamp11127]

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.

 

[Bolt snapper]

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.

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

 

[Hamfisted]

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?

 

[Bolt snapper]

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.

 

[stamp11127]

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.

 

[JExpedition07]

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.

 

[Habbibie]

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....

 

[Bolt snapper]

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

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!

 

[Habbibie]

Ok good, Keep us updated...

 

[Bolt snapper]

I'm always hesitant to do the follow up post, but I read so many of them that rejoice in their success of fixing the issue, then a day or two later come back to report that the problem persists.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the battery was the problem. I bought a new battery on Monday. It has been in the 30s every night since, and the truck has fired right up every morning. Still don't know why AZ's load tester said the old battery checked out fine (it still has 12.4 v sitting on my garage floor), but I'm fairly convinced the guy didn't know how to either use or read the tester.

Once again, thanks to everyone that helped with this!

 

[Trainmaster]

Forget anything AutoZone or Advance Auto "team members" tell you. Never met one with a clue.

 

[stamp11127]

The new style of testing doesn't put an actual load on the battery. It fires ac voltage into it and compares the resulting waveform to stored information on how it should appear along with measuring the internal resistance. I've had new batteries fail the first test and pass on a second test. Anytime I have one fail I always retest after moving the clamps on the tester.

All wet cell batteries will sulfate during operation. If the sulfate isn't broken down and recombined with the electrolyte during recharging, it will harden and reduce the active plate size with a resulting loss of cold cranking amps / cranking amps. Basically the large battery is being turned into a small battery about the same size used on motorcycles. There isn't enough amps available to start a large motor but it still reads 12.6 volts fully charged.

 

[Habbibie]

I swear you learn something new every day, good info stamp.

We need more olden & hardened members like stamp here... full of knowledge and experience us young folks feed off of!

 

[1955moose]

I especially like the part of the battery being reduced to a motorcycle sized one. It's rare when I get Oreillys or Sears or whom ever I bought from, to say it's bad let's replace it. I have to demand them to. I remind them that I was a Manager for them as well as a mechanic. Like Stamp said, modern testers don't have the pile testing of older or better battery load testers. It's done that way, so retailers sell more batteries, even though their under warranty. It stinks, but that's life in the big city.

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