96 850 turbo has a 1 year old battery that will not hold charge.
since winter started if left alone 1 day in really cold weather it wont start next day or has a hard time starting. in less cold weather it can lasts for maybe 2 days. the other day I let the car run and warm up and there is no lights on or flickering of headlights and I disconnected the positive cable and the lights started flickering but the car stayed on for 5 -10 min until I stepped on the gas and it died immediately. can someone tell me if this is a sure sign of the alternator?

 

Huh? You should not disconnect the battery with the vehicle running. If you have a question about the serviceability of your alternator or battery take the car to have the stuff tested at an auto parts store.

You need to test the car for something draining the battery. The most common thing is the glove box light. Start a video recording on your phone, toss it in the glove box, close the door, count to 10, open the box and stop the recording. Then watch the video to see if the light went out or not.

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...g-101-a-42655/

 

Try going to auto zone and getting your battery tested. Always start with the simple things.

 

ill try taking it to autozone. no the glovebox light goes out when shut. when the battery died we jumped it and since then weve been starting the car daily and letting it charge.

I have another question/issue there is a lot of condensation on the inside of the car. in extremely hard rain the sunroof leaks. can that be the cause?

 

I doubt it.

 

A new battery is just that, new. Your battery isn't new it's a year old and as it's an electrical part that's know to be able to fail in the first week it should be suspect just like any other possible cause. It's less likely to be the cause because it's only a year old but never rule something out until it's been tested.

Good idea taking it to autozone, oreilly, pepboys ..... they all offer free testing and can do it in the car. They do the battery then the alternator and then the starter and do it for free.
When you pull the cable off the battery with it running you run the risk of burning out the voltage regulator or worse, sending a spike into the cars system and taking out heaven knows what (pick anything expensive and electronic ) and then the regulator.
There is also the chance that the alternators regulator is failing and presently it's charging properly when it's running but when turned off one of the diodes is allowing the battery to slowly drain through the alternator. It will not necessarily test bad or give you an idiot light.

When you first start the car in the cold and turn on the defroster does the windshield get worse before it gets better ??
Have you been losing any coolant week to week ??

 

when I first start the car and its cold the defroster makes it worse because its spittin out cold air. a few weeks before this problem happened the antifreeze light came on and it was a little low so I filled it and its been good ever since. no leaks or anything

 

I replaced 4 batteries in one car last year (in 4 months).

 

How many miles since you added coolant? If the core seals are leaking, you won't get a smell out of the vents but will get coolant under the carpet.

 

no there is no coolant leaking on the carpet. tomorrow I will take the car to be tested. thanks for your help. I will let you know what they said

 

And what did they say ???

 

wasn't able to take it to the store because of the snow storms and a problem with the registration. went to start it today and it wont start. starter engages but kinda whirs when you let go but the engine doesn't turn over. can this be due to the alternator wheel seizing? the last problem I had it turned out to be the a/c compressor wheel seizing.

 

FWIW, I don't really use auto parts store testing. I believe that everyone should own a volt meter. If you have a coupon, they give them away at harbor freight. So here is what I would do.

1. If I thought the battery was bad, I would charge it up, then disconnect it. if it was okay when reconnected, then I would hunt power drains. If it ran down while disconnected, I'd get a new battery.

2. If I thought my charging system was not working properly, I would check its operation with my volt meter. It ought to put out 13.5 to 14.5 volts with the engine running. I want to see that voltage across the battery posts. If you see that across the battery posts, then it's charging the battery.

 

I did NOT say ON the carpet, I said UNDER the carpet.

The carpet has a plastic backing to prevent top spillage from getting under the carpet and into the padding & floor boards. On the flip side of this is the issue with the heater core leaking coolant UNDER the carpet. You can't feel it on top of the carpet, you have to peal the carpet back to find the leak. Then it never dries.

 

FWIW, I was one of those guys doing the parts store testing and I love that little hand held machine. I have one like it of my own that also has a printer.

You're voltmeter is great, exceptional, fantastic for telling you volts but it can't tell you if the alternator is CHARGING the battery usless you have an expensive Fluke with an adapter or an inductive amp meter. I can't afford the Fluke, I have the inductive amp meter.

A voltmeter will tell you how many volts is in the circuit and if it's 14.5 volts it's likely charging but is it charging the battery ??? NO, NO you do not know if it is. For all you know it could be straining to putting out 30 amps (1/3 the possible output) and if you are in the cold north and have headlights on, heater on high, wipers, seat heater(s) and the engine and transmission electronics you are now sucking more power out of the battery than the alternator can produce. That's a damaged diode trio and you also won't get an idiot light because the system sees charging but like a voltmeter the idiot light doesn't differentiate between the alternator charging the battery or the alternator being not able to produce enough to charge the battery and run the car. Only reading the amp output of the alternator tells you that.

Voltmeter reads 12.3 or less, yup very likely the alternator is shot. Check for a belt, fuses, that the lines leading to the alt are hot and it's time for an alternator. Read above 12.3 or 12.5 and you know the alternator is putting out something but you have no idea if it's enough. Sure it's 14.5 volts but is there any power (amps) going into the battery ?? Voltage is just pressure, it's the push but it's not the power and it can tell you the alternator is dead but it can't tell if it's good. Maybe, maybe not . . . that's the problem with trusting your voltmeter when testing an alternator.

If it's safe to drive the car it's so much easier to let those guys run a simple FREE test on the battery, starter and alternator. When in doubt about the testers competency go to a competetors store and have it done again. You can always hit up Sears or a tire store too as most sell batteries and will have that handy little tester.

I'm sorry to be terse but I'm just tired of people saying you can test with a voltmeter. It will tell you the system is dead but it can't tell you it's good and doing so can make you spend hours chasing something you tested and passed and shouldn't have.

As for the battery itself. Yup, you can charge it up and let it sit a couple days if you have the time but again if it's mobile isn't it easier to just have someone test it for free in a couple minutes ??

 

The other thing is never ever trust a battery. It may only be a week old but like a light bulb it can epic fail and leave you stranded. It's very unlikely a month old, 6mo old or year old battery is the problem BUT . . . don't take it for granted. Always test a battery if it's a possible cause of an electrical problem. Many a person has spent way too much time searching for a bad battery because they started out telling themselves it must be good and moved on only to test everything else and finally come back around to the battery.

 

im going to try and take the battery to get tested on Monday. I want to try and remove the belt and start it to see if it is the alternator that broke however I don't know what to use for the tensioner. the square hole. is there something around the house I can use? and then once I get it open I can just use a nail to pin it in place correct?

 

Robert (Rspi) had and may still have a kit for it. I think he was selling them for under 10 bucks. I've used a pry bar on the very edge of the idler wheel but it's VERY dangerous as it loves to slip off. Make sure your fingers aren't in a pinch position if you attempt to do it with a pry bar.

$23.00 shipped on Ebay. Volvo serpentine belt tensioner tool #4708