Hi all -
I drive a 1989 Volvo 740 GL and this morning I was headed to work and it died on me. I always start it and let it run for 5-10 minutes before I leave when the weather is cold (around 20 degrees today) and it started/idled fine. Before leaving the driveway I ran the wipers to clear a dusting of snow and noticed they ran a little slow. I chalked it up to being an old car and was going to look at it tonight after work.

I backed out of the driveway and headed down the street and as I braked at the stop sign about 150 yards from my driveway, she coughed a couple times and died. It wouldn't restart but I could hear the starter clicking. Luckily a neighbor came by and pushed me back to my driveway. I tried to start it about 15 minutes later and it cranked and started but stalled after 30 seconds or so. The dashboard lights look pretty dim.

Any suggestions? I'm thinking alternator but I don't have a voltometer to test it. I will go buy one later when my wife gets home with the car that runs

What should I look for and test?

A little update -

I went out and tried again - it's been about 2 hours since the initial episode. It started fine and idled/revved normally. I tried turning on the headlights, heater and I could hear a noticeable strain in the idle. It almost died when I turned on the wipers and hit the brakes at the same time. It seems to idle fine just sitting in the driveway with no extra electrical components running.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

I think your alternator is bad too, but I'm no expert on how they work. I do know that batteries, when killed, can bounce back a little if they sit for a while. That's what the intermittent starting and running for a bit seems to be about. It seems like the battery is not being charged. First I'd check for loose connections to the alternator and other loose wires.

 

I have to agree. I picked up a multimeter today at Wally World and checked the battery before I tried to start it. Got close to 12V. After starting I checked and it was only getting about 10.5V at the battery.

I still thought that might be because of faulty wiring or something so I checked voltage where the red wire connects to the alternator and grounded it on the engine. It started at 9V then steadily dropped until the car stalled when it hit 6.9V or so.

I'm thinking that confirms it but if you or someone else that's familiar with such beasts could second it I'd feel better about ordering a new one.

Thanks again!

 

The battery voltage should be 13.5+ VDC when the engine is running. If not, it's most likely the alternator. I would doublecheck and clean wiring and contacts to and from alternator as well as battery cables and ground contacts first though.

Another thought. Charge up the battery first and let it sit overnight. First thing in the morning, check the voltage before starting. It should be about 12.1+ VDC. Then, see if the engine starts. If battery fails to hold charge, then you need a new battery.

 

Thanks for the help! I replaced the alternator this afternoon and now am pulling correct voltage off the battery when the car is running as well as off. It was the original alternator so it was 20+ years old - not that uncommon to wear out after that amount of time I suppose.

I uncovered another problem, I thought it was a burnt out low beam on the driver side but when I switched to high beams it works. I haven't tried swapping with the bulb on the other side yet, but I didn't think the low/high beams had different filaments on those cars since they are separate lenses/bulbs. Any suggestions would be most helpful.