Do I just need a new battery?

So I drove my 1997 Ford Escort about 25 minutes on the freeway today (ironically to go look at a car, 1991 300ZX twinturbo :-) and it was parked for about 20 minutes, and when I went out to start it, it was trying to crank but wouldn't start. Hooked up jumper cables, jumped it, and it started right up. The batter is about 5-6 years old, so not too terribly old, but I though, maybe it does need to be replaced. However, as I was driving home, when trying to take off from the first stop light, there was almost no power in first. Then I got it going, and the speedometer wouldn't register till about 25mph. Then when I hit about 50mph, the speedo died completely, as did the radio, or any other electrics. Turn signals, lights, nothing. I still had power, and was able to limp home, but it was sputtering some times, I felt like I had to keep it revved at stop lights, and it just acted really weird all the way home.

Could this just be the batter? Alternator? Ignition coils? Looking for some ideas. I haven't pulled any codes yet, cause no CEL came on, but I'll pull them in a little bit and let you know if anything pops up. Thanks!

Edit: FYI - About an hour later, I have gone out to try to start it and it is absolutely dead again. So I jumped it again, got it started, let it run for a few minutes. Then I turned it off and tried to start it again immediately, and nothing. I'm going to run to Autozone and have them check the alternator and battery and stuff. But not sure what else to look at. The battery cables aren't terribly corroded, but could they have other problems keeping them from pushing power?

Most batteries will make it 4 years without too much problem. But when their 5th anniversary hits, I keep jumper cables in the car and swap it out before the cold weather hits. Unless it was a very expensive and super quality battery to begin with, I haven't had one make it much past 5 years. You may have other issues, but I'd start with a new battery if it was my car. I've seen batteries go bad in as short as a month (usually manufacturer defect) and many make it to just past the warranty of 2 or 3 years depending on what they offered on that battery. I usually get a 36 month warranty battery and get 5 years out of them.
If the battery is too low, the computer won't have the correct voltage to run the car correctly. So you can get some weird symptoms.

Most batteries will make it 4 years without too much problem. But when their 5th anniversary hits, I keep jumper cables in the car and swap it out before the cold weather hits. Unless it was a very expensive and super quality battery to begin with, I haven't had one make it much past 5 years. You may have other issues, but I'd start with a new battery if it was my car. I've seen batteries go bad in as short as a month (usually manufacturer defect) and many make it to just past the warranty of 2 or 3 years depending on what they offered on that battery. I usually get a 36 month warranty battery and get 5 years out of them.
If the battery is too low, the computer won't have the correct voltage to run the car correctly. So you can get some weird symptoms.

Thanks for the reply. I limped it over to O'Reilly and they tested the Alternator. That was it. It was only pushing like 6 volts. So I put in a new one last night. However you may also be right about the battery. While I was replacing the Alternator last night I out the battery on a charger. I let it go for a couple hours and it was up to 12.5 volts. I took it off and noticed it emediately started dropping. One night off the charger and it's now down to 12.2 volts. So I guess I'm off to get a new battery now lol.

I put the new battery in and all is well now. It may be that the Alternator was fine and it was just the battery that was dead now that I think about it. But the car is 17 years old, I've had it for 10, and I've never replaced the Alternator, so I I don't mind that it's done even if it didn't need to be.

So I had one other thought. Now that I've replaced the alternator and battery and all is working just fine, I'm worried now that perhaps the battery cables are in a state where maybe the alternator is not able to fully charge the battery and that it might have been the cause for the issues in the first place. Is there a way to check and see exactly how much voltage is reaching the battery from the alternator, to check that the cables are transmitting the power fully?

I dont think there is really a good way to check out battery cables. If they start the car then at least the positive cable from the positive battery terminal to the starter is okay, but there is another cable that runs from the positive battery terminal, back to the fuse box near the battery. Than can also be badly corroded - and if the corrosion is inside the plastic insulation, you might not see it. A bad wire here would interfere with the battery getting recharged by the alternator.

And the negative battery terminal and cables are just as important as the positive ones. I have had one Escort that went from running and starting fine, to not starting ten minutes later - but the battery wasnt the problem. It was some corrosion between the negative post on the battery, and the inside of the battery terminal. I like to take a penknife blade and lightly scrape the outside of the battery post and the inside of the battery terminal on the end of the cable. This removes the lead oxide from the post (load oxide doesnt conduct electricity very well) and the metallic salts from the inside of the battery terminal.
There is a funny rectangular connector on the negative battery terminal of the 2nd gen Escorts, and I think its there on the 3rd gen Escorts also. It is merely a grounding point for several wires. But every one of the several ground wires on an Escort is important for something. So if that connector looks corroded, you might want to ground all of the wires going to it. I did this by stripping back the insulation and soldering them together, along with a heavier wire. The other end of the heavier wire I connected to the bolt where the negative battery cable is attached to the body of the car - behind the car's battery.

Thanks guys. I remember reading about grounding all those wires when I had to replace my negative battery cable a few years back. I installed a used one from the junk yard. Well so far so good, nothing else going wrong, so I think he cables are fine, but thanks for the link I'll look into that.

You're alternator probably went bad, which then ruined your battery by not keeping it fully charged. It happen from a process called sulfation which affects car batteries.

Check your battery cables with a volt meter. Measure the voltage from one end of the cable to the other end of the cable ( with the power turned on ). The voltage should be 0.
If it is even 0.1 volts... you could have a problem in that cable!

You're alternator probably went bad, which then ruined your battery by not keeping it fully charged. It happen from a process called sulfation which affects car batteries.

Check your battery cables with a volt meter. Measure the voltage from one end of the cable to the other end of the cable ( with the power turned on ). The voltage should be 0.
If it is even 0.1 volts... you could have a problem in that cable!

Thanks I'll have to try that. But so far so good, no problems with the new battery and Alternator.

Pagman, aside from what you've already seen with the alternator taking out the battery due to inability to effectively charge it, extreme heat and cold will also hasten it's demise. I've been in Oklahoma since '94 and temps go from >100 in the summer to occasionally <-10 here. I've seen plenty of batteries begin to fail around 3-4 years here.

Consider making part of your winter and summer prep doing a good cleaning of the battery terminals. Also, doesn't hurt to carry either a set of jumper cables (I have a set in every car I have, 4 atm) or one of the gel cell portable jumper kits.