Retail 850 wagon won't crank
#1
Retail 850 wagon won't crank
Hi everyone,
I just bought my dream car in january, a 850 volvo station wagon, 2.5TDI, manual. I am a young driver, inexperienced mechanic from France.
I never had experienced any problem with it until a month ago, when I stopped on the side of the road, and the engine wouldn't crank. A guy came to tow it, but we tried to boost the battery and then the engine started, and I could go on. Turned out the battery was dead, so I changed it.
A few weeks later, I forgot a cell-phone charger in the cigarette lighter, and again, the same problem, no crank. I thought that the charger had dried out the battery, so again, I called another guy to boost it. The car started again, but the guy told me that the alternator was a little weak (I think he said around 12.5, 13, whereas it supposed to charge around 14), and that I should drive every 2 or 3 days at least 20 minutes to keep the battery charged.
I tried to do so, but I think my last trip with it was a little too short. Again, a few days ago, no crank. I'm suspecting the alternator, and I'm about to bring it to the garage this afternoon, but I would like your opinion, because it is an associative garage where I could fix it for much less money.
Other things you should know : During my last trips, the abs light turned on and off, as well as the cooler light, though not at the same time. Also, one of my windows has been broken, and it was connected to an alarm, so I thought maybe I could loose some power there, because I haven't fixed it yet. Finally, though apparently the starter could be suspected in this kind of situation, know that it has been changed by the previous owner in 2015.
Here it is, if you have any suggestion, I'm all ears !
Cordially,
Antoine Sultana
I just bought my dream car in january, a 850 volvo station wagon, 2.5TDI, manual. I am a young driver, inexperienced mechanic from France.
I never had experienced any problem with it until a month ago, when I stopped on the side of the road, and the engine wouldn't crank. A guy came to tow it, but we tried to boost the battery and then the engine started, and I could go on. Turned out the battery was dead, so I changed it.
A few weeks later, I forgot a cell-phone charger in the cigarette lighter, and again, the same problem, no crank. I thought that the charger had dried out the battery, so again, I called another guy to boost it. The car started again, but the guy told me that the alternator was a little weak (I think he said around 12.5, 13, whereas it supposed to charge around 14), and that I should drive every 2 or 3 days at least 20 minutes to keep the battery charged.
I tried to do so, but I think my last trip with it was a little too short. Again, a few days ago, no crank. I'm suspecting the alternator, and I'm about to bring it to the garage this afternoon, but I would like your opinion, because it is an associative garage where I could fix it for much less money.
Other things you should know : During my last trips, the abs light turned on and off, as well as the cooler light, though not at the same time. Also, one of my windows has been broken, and it was connected to an alarm, so I thought maybe I could loose some power there, because I haven't fixed it yet. Finally, though apparently the starter could be suspected in this kind of situation, know that it has been changed by the previous owner in 2015.
Here it is, if you have any suggestion, I'm all ears !
Cordially,
Antoine Sultana
#3
Most common issue is that the positive battery cable goes bad inside the connector. Causes weak intermittent charging issues. Best to measure the resistance between the battery cable down stream from the connector and at the connector. If you have more than 3 ohms resistance, probably a good idea to replace the battery cable between the battery and starter.
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