Hey all! Disclaimer: I've been reading around here for a while. Thank you for all your advice. But this is my first post so if I mis-post or break the rules around here let me know... I know you will PS The Volvo's name is Wilma. Flintstones jokes are welcome.

Here's the issue: Won't start. Battery voltage at 11.84.

Recent Issue: Battery kept dying, got stuck out of town one night and leapfrogged it to a mechanic by jumping it every 5 miles. This was as much of a ****-show as it sounds like, with me driving fast with no lights at night, diving off the highway to jump it for 10 minutes and repeat(4 times). Had the shop put in a new alternator (warranty) bc the battery was only 1 year old so I figured it wasn't the battery's fault. That worked for 2-3 days, then Wilma wouldn't start again, battery voltage... 3.5ish. Big time cooked. So I got a new battery under warranty and she was happy again for about a week. Now she won't start again.

Recent work: new battery, new alternator

Work w/i last year: complete brake job, new windshield, fuel pres. reg., odometer, tons of lights., new radio, muffler, spark plugs, radiator, fuel pump and funnel, and when I first bought it I replaced the alternator bc bat. kept dying (1 year ago)

General Ideas? Ideas on what I could have cooked by draining my battery again and again that might be causing this issue?

W.A.G. - Could I have fouled the distributor or the plugs?

Anything helps - thanks for reading.

 

first thing i would do is take the alternator and battery both out of the car and get them bench tested.

 

The alternator will not work if the battery light is bad, as that’s what’s used to energize the circuit. In fact, the battery wont charge well if its missing 2 warning lamps from the dash (doing some electrical tests over the last few months)

since you replaced them within the last year, they are suspect.

The battery could be going bad because they aren’t technically made to be fully discharged