Slow crank, but fired up

^This. Without knowing the age of the battery, it's just a guess as to what the problem is. Five years old, sure it's more likely the battery. Less than five, corrosion on the terminals or ground points.
Battery is 5 years old. Motorcraft Max Battery. Terminals were disconnected over a week ago to do other work. This morning, starter, started out slower, but went faster than day before. Was in garage overnight vs. sitting outside day before and was 29 degrees when started. This morning, it showed 47 in garage.
 
Motorcraft is a good brand and can last more than 5 years, but still, that would be the prime suspect. A battery test from one of the chain stores would be in order.
 
5 years is good lifetime though so prob good time to replace.

The OEM battery on my '09 MB C300 lasted ~7.5 years. Worked fine until the day it couldn't even turn over the engine, when I yanked it I was shocked to see the date sticker that was a few months older than the vehicle build date in 2008. I think one good engineering decision by MB is to have the battery sitting in its own bay away from the engine so battery is not exposed to extreme engine temps, make is a PITA to change though as it was nestled next to the firewall and partially under the windshield cowl.
 
Motorcraft is a good brand and can last more than 5 years, but still, that would be the prime suspect. A battery test from one of the chain stores would be in order.
My last Motorcraft Max lasted longer than this. It looked different than the replacement. Could be Ford changed a more inferior supplier.
 
If someone could show me a 2004 with original battery, I love to see it.
We had to get a boost on the original battery in a 2002 GMC Sierra about 6 years ago. Was about 12-13 years old at the time. That's my record for longest battery life. I've seen/had a couple last 10 years.
 
Had this happen last year on the Mazda 3. Must have left a light on, or something. It JUST turned over and had gauges flying back and forth, clicking and the power steering coming in/out. Once it was off, it wasn't coming back on. Tried to jump it, no luck. Thought it was a goner!

Took the battery out and took to advanced auto (where I bought it) to have them run a diagnostic. I assumed the battery was shot or had a dead cell or something (just over 2 years old!). It passed their diagnostic test to my suprise but it was dead in need of a deep charge. They kept it overnight to re-charge and I picked it up in the AM and it's been over a year with not a single issue since.

I now have a CTEK battery charger/maintainer for my Camaro, so I will use that every so often on the Mazda is somewhat of the dog-mobile these days, so sometimes it is not driven for weeks at a time. Especially with winter as well, the CTEK keeps it topped off nicely when needed!
 
We finally got plowable snow here in northern Minnesota on Tuesday evening, and my neighbor stopped by yesterday morning to plow (he’s off work and wanted something to do). Lucky me , he’s willing to do it 😀.

I fired up all of the cars parked in the drifts to move them for plowing and only one failed to kick over: my mom’s 2008 Chevy Silverado 5.3 V8. It’s been about a month since it ran. Grabbed my jump start box and got it going. The battery is getting to be near 6 years old (I remember swapping it in the bitter below zero temps back in 2015). Maybe it’s even older, but I’ll check.

But I never had an issue with it starting, even with the old battery...turns out that she left a phone charger adapter plugged in the socket, and it has a blue LED that glows as an indicator. A month of glowing blue light put it down far enough to prevent it starting. I would guess on a weak battery, something like that, or even a plug in camera recorder (also in this truck but unplugged), could take it out overnight. My 2 pennies on the issue 😎
 
I put the charger on the battery. That sure helped the slow cranking. Now I should go get it tested. Don't know about using Advance Auto. I feel I should buy a battery from them if it fails. That is why they have the free service for.
 
I’d skip the test and just get a battery at WM. $50 for the economy line or $80-100 for the EverStart.

Yes, if you get it tested and it fails, you should get the battery from them. It’ll cost 2-3x more too.
 
I had the slow start problem before in the Escalade. Wasn't the battery it was actually the starter. same symptoms as a dying battery
 
I once got an Everstart Maxx once, and when it came to the 4th year, it let me set one day with giving no warning.
 
I had the slow start problem before in the Escalade. Wasn't the battery it was actually the starter. same symptoms as a dying battery
True, if one of the windings in a starter fails it will be weak and crank slow with a cold engine. But the gauges would not be going all bad after it started like NH73 said they did after it started.
 
but charging the battery doesn't solve that
No, didn't solve when I tried charging. But it did throw me off because the crank wasn't as slow. But soon after starts were back to slooow again. So I changed the battery... Same as charging. Seemed better initially then back to slow.

I mentioned the slow crank starter experience as something to consider if a battery or alternator doesn't solve.
 
It sat for over a day. In the garage. This morning, it wouldn't start. Not enough of current this time. Put charger on it. I just want to rule out a current draw. Have nothing hooked up in my vehicle. Could it be anything on vehicle that be doing it? Would desulfacation work, or would this battery be beyond doing that to?
 
To rule out current draw, disconnect the battery while parked. Make sure the connections are clean and tight. Loose connections will fool you because when you touch the terminals to hook up a charger or jumper cables, it might make a temporary improvement, or make it worse.
 
I jumped a Nissan for a stranger once. He had a shorted cell that dropped the battery to a hair over 10.2VDC. It would crank, slowly, just couldn't catch. Dash lights test at key-on engine off worked, but everything would drop/wink out the moment you cranked the starter in winky-blinky weirdness.

The second I touched a jump cable negative to his engine block, the engine and electronics caught and he was off to the races. I suggested he go up the highway to the Wallyworld TLE and grab him a swift battery swap - do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not turn off the engine or he'll be begging for a jump again. ;>

Low system voltage @ crank-up can play all sorts of hobb with more sensitive electronics onboard. Just an anecdotal though for y'all.
 
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