Hey all,

Whats it mean when my battery light comes on while I'm shutting my car off?

1990 DL240 Wagon

Thanks

 

Anyone??

Some additional detail:
New to Volvo, coming from a long life of VW. Once I started driving the vehicle on dirt with vibration I was getting an intermittent charge issue. I'd be driving and the lights etc would dim and after turning the vehicle off I could never get it start (dead battery). It's got a new alternator, I've cleaned all the grounds and double checked the connections. Only thing I could think it would be is the main wire running from bat to alt under the crank. I put a battery tie on it and it seems to be cooperating (knock on wood).

 

does the battery light STAY on when you shut off the car, or just blink ?

 

Doesn't stay on. Light goes off when the key is turned off and taken out. (it comes on as soon as I start turning the key to turn the car off and turns off when the key is at the 12 o'clock position)

-Battery is dead again
-Was fully charged on Saturday
-Started the car about a dozen times
-When battery is dead, I'll get a boost. Remove cables and let idle. Lights are bright and radio works. After a few minutes of driving around the vehicle's lights dim, radio does not work, and once shut off will not restart (even after long drives to charge)
-Battery is out of the vehicle and back on charger

Thoughts?

 

volt meter tests of the battery before starting the car, and again while the engine is running would tell you if the charging system is working properly.

first, charge the battery, then let it sit a few hours, THEN measure the battery voltage, and start the car and measure it again. the first reading shoudl be around 12.6V with a fully charged battery at 68F, and the 2nd reading should be 13.8-14.2V, indicating the alternator is working and properly charging the battery.

 

OK tested the battery this morning, although I have a multimeter(Greenlee CM600) that doesn't show anything after the decimal point. When the car was sitting, it flashed between 12-13 and did the exact same thing when the car was running. No change. So I'll trace back to the alternator, maybe the brushes have gone on it. It's going into my mechanic tomorrow morning, he can figure it out! Thanks for the help.

 

Make sue the alternator ground wire is intact and connected to the engine block. Mine broke last year and the alternator stopped charging, and with no volt gauge I didn't know, until the car wouldn't start one morning.

 

I thought maybe it was a grounding issue early on so i tried to clean them as best as possible while in my driveway. I didn't get a good view of where the ground wire connects to the block/mount so I'm thinking it could be something around there.

 

a ground test... take a digital volt meter, put one probe on the battery - terminal, put the other probe on the engine block, do this both while the engine is running, and when someone cranks the starter. you shouldn't see more than like 0.1 volt if the grounds are good.

that meter you mentioned you have is a clamp-on-amp-meter, which is a rather special purpose device and isn't particularly suitable for measuring this sort of thing. something like this is much more suitable.
Sears.com

 

Hey All,

Appreciate your help. My mechanic determined the alternator was only putting out 10amps. Looks like I'll have to find a new alternator.

UGH. Looked like a new one on there so I was a bit hesitant to think it was the issue.

 

it might just need a new regulator/brush assembly. those are like $40 or something and can be installed with a phillips screwdriver.

 

I"m going to look into that and also redo the ground to the block. Might as well check these things before I replace the alternator.

Kinda let down by my mechanic as he didn't check the ground, nor did he look at the brushes/regulator.

 

Cleaned the grounds up today on the alternator and still seems to only be putting out 13.10V while running. Didn't have time to remove the regulator off the unit yet. Picture below of my alternator below, which is it that I'm removing?

Wilson eCatalog




Edit:

Found.http://ecatalog.wilsonautoelectric.c...2-15-6641.html

Edit 2:

Found a complete one at napa for $100. Regulator is $77http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...300_0434556077

 

the 'power transistor' looking thing at '4 oclock' on your picture is the regulator and it includes the brushes.



$77 sounds high. way too high.

Volvo Voltage Regulator Brush Pack BOSCH 103064 1197311028, 3523710, 30093, 1197311023

 

Wow, you're right. I found one in the next town over, for $20. It looked to be the same the part number didn't match. I'm sure it would have worked. I have the right one coming Monday, we'll see what happens. I removed the old one, the brushes were about 1/4" long.

 

1/4" long brushes sound pretty much worn out, so thats quite likely it.

pretty much the only other normal failure modes of an alternator are 1) commutators worn beyond reasonable, 2) bearings worn out, and 3) internal diode board failure. I'm pretty darn sure many if not most rebuilders just clean them up, slap a new regulator/brush assembly on them, test them, and ship them. a /proper/ rebuild includes new bearings, and new commutator rings. For the really old Bosch alternators, you could GET these parts and do that yourself, but anything from the early 80s going forward, these are not widely available.

 

This is perfect. Thanks for the heads up, I wasn't really looking forward to purchasing a whole new alternator, specially while unemployed. Fingers crossed the brushes will do the trick. I'll order the part on Monday and post up just incase anyone runs into the same issue.

Cheers

 

Changed the regulator with no avail.

Friend giving me a hand mentioned that they loose their charge on the fishing boat and the first thing they check is the tension on the belts. Bingo. Sure enough the dirt roads I was travelling on vibrated the alternator to a point of the belts slipping on the pulley. Reset tension, its now charging at 13.90v. I knew it was something simple, unsure why it was overlooked. Might pick up a couple new belts just to be sure.