greetings All

I recently replaced my water pump and changed the battery with a genuine volvo battery. After starting the car weekly for approx 4 months, the battery is completely dead. Does this mean that the alternator is not charging the battery ? Can a leaking water pump damage the alternator? (this all happened during the spring/summer seasons)

Thanks for any advice/suggestions

 

usually when the water pump leaks it exits at the bottom of the timing belt cover so its possible that road wind wet some of the underneath or in the engine but not likely to damage an alternator. To test your alternator try this: get a simple volt meter (aka VOM or multi-meter). Measure the voltage across the battery terminals. A charged battery will be 12.6 to 12.8V, a drained battery will be like 12.3 or lower. Now start the car (you may need a jump or a charger to get the battery back to snuff). Measure again across the terminals- if you see 14V or more, the alternator is working - if its less than 14V but more than 12.6 or so, turn your high beams, rear defroster, AC blower etc (to create a load) now measure again. If it dips blow 13 that means again points to the alternator. Usually if the alternator is totally dead, it may simply be the voltage regulator which can be replaced separately on some models (for way less money). Last test - if the alternator appears to be working, you may want to do a current draw test. See if you can rent/borrow a loop tester (ie at Autozone) that clamps over the battery cable to measure current. With the car off, key out, If you measure more than say 25 mAs or so, then you may have a parasitic current draw. You can pop out fuses or relays to see what is staying on. this could be as simply as the glove box vanity light etc. I once saw where a friend's car battery was being drained by an orange peel stuck in the lighter socket! It was enough to create a circuit with the key off to drain the battery in a few days. Final though is how long did you run the car for in your weekly start up? you may need a 15+ minute driving cycle to really charge up the battery. If you have access to power, investing in a battery charger/tender may be a good idea for a covid car.

 

Your 2010 T6 will be the Volvo/Ford/ LandRover inline 6 - the water pump is nowhere near the alternator - but the one way clutch on the alternator can seize and spins the alternator drive gear loose causing the alternator to not charge. As others have mentioned I would also recommend a battery tender rather than starting and running a car "a few minutes" if it is to sit for long periods of time. If you don't want to "tend" or don't have house current access where the car is parked - simply disconnect the battery to prevent discharge. You will only have to reprogram the automatic up windows and reset the clock when you reconnect the battery,.

 

Alternator is on the top and water pump is all the way bottom of drive belt assembly