Battery Drain
 

Hey guys...Having as issue with something draining the battery in my 850. Here is basically what happened: While we were on vacation for 16 days (Volvo European delivery to pick up our new XC60), the car sat in the garage. When we came back, I went to start it and it was completely dead (no interior light, chimes or anything). I figured that it went dead from sitting all that time and threw my charger on it and charged it back up. Drove it everyday to work last week with no problem. This week, the car sat Tuesday and Wednesday. When I went to start it yesterday, didn't have enough juice to turn the engine over. After recharging, again, I put an ammeter on the negative post and battery terminal and read .12mA. Removed each fuse and it never dropped, remained at .12mA. Is that a normal reading to when everything is off and I have a bad battery? Getting 13V on the battery and my load tester says it's ok. I haven't checked the alternator yet, but, it seems to be charging since this only happens when the car sits for more than a day.

Forgot to mention, the battery is only 2 years old.

Check to make sure the glove box light turns off when it's door is shut. I had the exact same issue in my car. Pulled the glovebox light bulb out, problem solved. More than likely it is something just that simple.

Don't recall if the light even works but, I'll give it a shot. Thanx!

.12 milliamps? Or .12 amps?

.12 milliamps

I did that except, the current never dropped after going through all the fuses. However, I did not think about disconnecting the alternator to see if it drop. I will give that a shot this weekend too. Thanx!

.12 milliamps is very low. It has been a long time since I've had to do a draw test on an 850 so I don't remember what they stay at, but the general spec is anything under 20 milliamps (0.020 amps). Most of the newer Volvos (with way more computers and electronics) are around 8-12 milliamps. .12 milliamps (0.0012 amps) is almost impossibly low.

Like ES6T said if you're showing .012 or 12mAH that's the computer and radio. Both hold memory by staying on at a very low level even when the engine is off and the radio is turned off.

I suffer from OCD and when you say .12 mAH that is .00012 amps. You can't afford a meter that sensitive.
If it's 12 mAH then that should be acceptable and it's .012 amps
If somehow it's .12 then it might be amps and you do have a problem.

Best thing, take the reading and a picture showing the reading and clear enough we can read the meters face. That should end the discussion :D

I can't tell you specifically what a Volvo 850 should draw but a general rule of thumb is 50mAH or less. Some of the newer cars (late 2000,2010s +) can run as high as 100mAH in normal dormant operation. If you're reading 12mA then you are not connected to the circuit causing the problem or when you have the meter connected the problem isn't present. I hate intermittent.

If you're connecting your meter between the battery post and the battery cable end then you are already reading the alternator as you are reading everything.
If you try disconnecting the alternator and the reading changes it would indicate the alternator might be the problem and that you might have been reading the meter wrong. It would be good to know either way.

I can't speak for other brands, but even the new Volvos are under 0.020 amps. 0.050 kills the XC60s, I draw test them all the time. There is a CEM software update that drops it from 0.048-0.052 down to 0.008-0.014.

.07 should be able the highest you should allow. If you drive your car everyday you would not notice anything. If you didnt you would have a low battery in about 3-4 days.

Here's what I got including how I connected the ammeter

Hey guys....Just an update, replaced the battery on Tuesday and so far, so good. Never had a battery fail so prematurely before (rated at 70 months but, only 2 years old).