i ran into some issues, i drove my car to wokr one day and came out and it was kinda sliggish on the start. on my way home, the radio was turning on and off, and the car was kinda sluggish, i pull into the driveway shut the car off then try to turn it on, and nothing, wouldnt crank over or anything.

i put another battery in it and it fires right up, i go to autozone and have them check the charging system and i am seeing fine voltages.

about a week later here i go to go to the store get in it starts kinda sluggish and i get ot the store and try to restart it and nothing, i jump it off a spare battery i had sitting in the car and it fires up. i get home try to crank it and it doesnt do anything.

when i was driving the car inoticed on start up the tach and spedo were jumping. then when i was drivinig it and i turned on the heat, the spedo stopped working all together then shut the heat off and it started working again.

anyone know what this could be? please help

 

You mention the charging voltages .. what (voltage) values were you getting?

 

What kinda car are we talking about?

 

when i went to autozone it was at 14 volts they said that was fine

its a 1991 volvo 240 wagon.

but the odd thing is, wen i went to the store last night and jumped the battery and drove it home, and then when i got home shut the car off and tried to restart it, the car wouldnt restart ,you would think that it would have charged on the way home.

it just sort of cranked till it stopped cranking and cliked a little

i was tihkning of removing all the fuses that wouldnt make the car undriveable then trying to go from there i have no clue on how to deal with electrical issues

 

Does the BATT light come on while you're cranking the starter? It sounds like a charging issue. Either bad alt, wiring, or connectors. The voltage should be measured at the battery posts.

 

they did it with he car off and they did it with the car on, and they said both the voltages were good.

it doesnt seem like the car is chargng the battery becuase i just jumped it and drove it for 15 mins and theni went home and shut the car of and tried to restart it and it would barly crank over but wouldnt start.

 

Please answer Blue Goose's question about your Batt idiot light! Does it work at all?

I suspect not or it would have been coming on while you were driving. It sure sounds like you have a charging problem.

What exactly the issue is will take some diagnosis (which I wouldn't trust the keyboard jockeys at AutoZone to be capable of). Your issue could be intermittent; poor connection, loose belt, alt brushes about done, diode pack going out, flaky voltage regulator, etc.

If you have a decent DVOM, and know how to use it, you could diagnose it yourself; or you need to find someone who does know auto electrical charging systems (tip: won't find them @ AZ..) and let them diagnose it.

Shout back if you have more info...

 

mooses9, your problem sounds exactly like mine and i have a 91 740. i am clueless as to what is going on. i was hoping you would respond to what is going with your car so i could gain some insight on what might be wrong with mine.

to answer a previous question, my battery light does come on and seems to get brighter while driving. i took the car to my dad and he tried all sorts of tricks to figure it out. we determined that it wasn't the battery or the alternator. my problem is that it seems to be draining the battery while the car is sitting causing it to have trouble starting again and requiring a boost. i'm assuming there is a short somewhere...??? does this make sense? i'm not electronic savvy.

oh ya...i'm trying to avoid taking it in since i'm sure the mechanic or dealer is going to charge me a small fortune. so your response would be beneficial.

 

BATT light on while engine running indicates no charge. BATT light should be on when you turn the key on but engine not running. Check the little red wire (D+) at the back of the alt. It goes to the gray connector on the firewall (on 240s) and then to the BATT light in the instrument cluster.

 

i fixed my problem it ended up being a loose alternator belt, what it was doing is when i charged the battery it was giving the car enough juice to start, but the belt was slipping and not actually charging the battery, so after nunerous times of starting the battery drained and thats when i was geting that tach flickering and lighiting issues ect... i went and tightened the belt and that fixede the problem, you might wanna see if your belt is loose or has slack

 

I have a similar problem, except mine dims when the revs go up. I do not get what that could be? It needs a jump to start it. Then after a while going down the road it seems that the power is being lost. Then the abs light comes on before it dies.

 

any hints as to what my problem could be?

 

i took the car to the mechanic, who claimed it was the alternator and charged a small for fortune to replace it. i will say the car does start all the time now, however i still think there is a short somewhere. the other day i was reaching for the door handle and it was like it had a charge in it as i could feel it through my fingers before i even touched the handle. once the weather warms up i'll be able to take time to really look at the wires and fuses to see what is might going on.

 

check your grounds. block to firewall, battery to body, alt to body....disconnect them, clean them up reconnect them.