Hi,
New here but very experienced in electronics and mechanical stuff.
I have a 95 that drains the battery every 2 days or so. I have traced it to a fusable link connected to the starter. (5 cyl). The wire (fuse link)is gray, but I cannot figure what it runs....does this car have an alarm? Just got it for the wife and she loves it if it will start reliably. Don't have any manuals yet...
Thanks if you can help

 

Here's something nice to have

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/dow.../Volvo_850.zip

The Haynes manual is available on emule.

 

excellent, thanks much

 

Also, check to see if your glovebox light isn't stuck on all the time, that could drain your battery as well.

 

I am pretty sure this is what it is, the alarm system. Checking the schematics does show a connection at the starter. I have the wire disconnected and can't find anything not working except things attributed to a few fuses I still have out. I'll post back in a few days if it stays charged...can't be 100% until then.

 

Hello dit,

I had a similar problem and in my case the battery would also
run down in two days. In my case it was the classic glove
compartment light.
The best way to identify the problem is with an ammeter in
series with the negative battery lead. Then you can pull fuses
and immediately see the result. Otherwise it is a "hit or miss"
procedure- pull a fuse and wait to see the problem is solved.
This is also not good for your battery and if you let it run down
too many times you may have to buy a new battery.
Just for reference I found that when things are correct on my
car and with everything turned off the current draw from the battery
(parasitic drain) is 30 milliamps (.03 Amps). My car does not
have an alarm so your drain may be a little higher. The rule of
thumb that I've found is that for most cars the maximum parasitic
draw should be 50 milliamps. Maybe someone else has some
more exact values but this should get you pretty close.
If your car is draining the battery in two nights you have to be
drawing roughly 1 Amp or more (assuming your battery is in
good condition and properly charged). This should be pretty
obvious on a meter when you start pulling/ replacing fuses.
I haven't heard of an alarm module drawing that kind of
current but someone else on the forum may have more
knowledge in that area.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

 

I did not mention it but this is how I determined it to be this particular wire. I pulled each fuse while watching the draw on the battery. 2 fuses reduced the draw but did not eliminate it, the radio and the keyless entry are always on. I left these out and continued testing, at this point I was past the fuses so I had to start disconecting wires. First I eliminated all the small hot lead battery wires....still there. So the draw had to be coming from the main hot wire that goes to the starter / alternator. I dosconnected the hot lead at the starter where there are 3 wires. connected just the starter and the draw was gone, connected the alternator the draw was still gone. Some it comes down to this small fusable link connected there. I have left it off and so far so good, but only over 1 day. This appears to be the alarm, as everything else works, there is no fuse for the alarm, and the haynes manual shows the alarm connected to the starter.
I did notice that with this wire disconnected that the door chimes were always on, always...so that fuse has now been removed and the other 2 put back in (radio / keyless entry).
Tha car has the "basic" alarm, and I will not really care if it does not work. Let's hope I have it tracked down, the meter says I do, but I have seen stranger things....

 

You are way ahead of where I thought you were ...you've
done all the right things and I think you have the problem
isolated pretty well. Let us know what you find.

Best regards, John

 

I wonder how much current can the glovebox light drain, I mean it's just a tiny bulb.

 

The glove box light bulbis either 3W or 5W, so:

3/12 = 0.25A or 250mA.

Or,

5/12 = 0.42A or 420mA.

(According to Ohm's Law: I=P/E)


JPN

 

Hi JPN and Rev,

I was surprised that such a little bulb could pull my battery down
so quickly, but then again my battery wasn't in the best shape. I've
also heard of the trunk light causing the same problem.

I hope things are going better for you Kanji.

 

Hi John,

When it comes to electrical/electronic problems, you, Tech & axelm are the mentors.

Yes, I too was surprised that the glove box light could run down the battery overnight (happened to me as well). On a different note, I just finished reading another automotive book and according to the author, a sealed gel battery (maintenance free) can last 8 or more years, whereas a conventional lead-acid lasts only about 3-5 years. The longevity also depends on how much heat they are subjected to. But what do I know, you probably knew all these.

>I hope things are going better for you Kanji.
Thank you, but unfortunately things are getting worse day byday, not sure how much longer I can bear this. I think the Feds are considering of giving out green cards to those illegal immigrants or whatever their plans are[8D]. I think problem related to immigrants is becoming universal; I worked with British Airways in Chicago and one of their engineers (BA refers to their technicians as engineers) told me that England is also having a huge problem with immigrants. Before I left the States, some people jokingly suggested that I stay illegally, but I have a respect to the States' policy and I did not consider it as an option.


JPN

 

Hi JPN,

Speaking of discharging the battery, I ran my battery down a
couple of nights ago and couldn't start the car the next morning.
I had left the headlights on for a few minutes, then worked on
the car for 3 hours with the door open and some of the interior
and door lights on. You wouldn't think that would run the battery
down so quickly. Of course my battery is old and undersized too.

Thanks for your confidence but you, tech, axelm, and many
others on this forum are my mentors. I refer to your excellent
posts regarding any problem that I have with my car.

Best regards, John

 

Hi John,

When my alternator died at night in the middle of a busy intersection, it reminded me how important a power supply is to cars, it could have meant possible accident as you lose power assist for the brakes & steering.

I've been using Interstate Battery and haven't found a better product in the United States. The following URL guides you to the one that fits 850. CCA is 590, which seemed a bit on a low side to me, but is actually above the specs in the Volvo manual.

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/e...oduct+Type%7c0||Rank|1&Nu=Part+Number&mscssid=J8F36X54JC 8V9PPAKX70PPUQU41EABLB&js=1

BTW, I hope you've found the cause of the leak into the trunk.

Good day,


Kanji/JPN

 

Speaking of battery issues, when I got my 850, it had an old battery. I once accidentally left the parking lights (not even the headlights on!) when I went to work, and by midday, the battery was dead.

Checked voltage, and the battery was at 10-9.9 volts [:-] I was surprised that the car will even start with a dead battery like that.

For a short, it just takes a live wire somewhere slightly rubbing the frame for you to get a parasitic drain. To troubleshoot shorts, I would follow what other people have said here, pulling fuses and checking electrical connections related to that fuse.

 

Hi rev and JPN,

My engine would not quite turn over at 9.9 volts. I didn't try
any further without fully charging the battery because from what
I recall 9.9 volts is in the batteries "damage" zone. I charged the
battery at a slow rate (1 to 2 Amps) to see if the plates would
recover. Fortunately it recovered enough to be useable. This
also was an old (and undersized) battery the dealer had put
in the car...it was just enough to get it off the lot.

JPN, no I haven't found the leak yet- but I found people on
another forum that are having exactly the same problem and
so far no one has found the cause.

Best wishes, John

 

Hi John & rev,

These may be the things you already know, but here it is:

1. Complete discharge, which makes a battery useless.
2. Heat damage, which shortens the battery's life. Some cars put the battery in the trunk to avoid engine heat.
3. Low electrolyte: This is often seen on new batteries sold at franchise store. A decent battery should cost $70-$100+ (My Interstate Battery was $105). Took the vent caps off, checked the electrolyte levels and they were impeccable.

Battery is often neglected but is one of the most important items.


JPN

 

Well, here is an update on my problem. what I orginally thought was the alarm system attached at the starter seems to be the elec. fan (fusable link). Leaving this off did NOT fix my problem. Using an analog meter (I don't currently have a digital available) it appears to draw about 60ma.
I have a brand new battery by the way.
Troubleshooting this is taking a very long time, but that's OK. I am in no rush...I lost several days due to my brother unplugging my charger
So I started disconnecting everything and leaving that way to see if I could get the charge to hold. none of the fuses or whatever seemed to help drop the draw. Finally I had to resort to cutting all the small hot leads at the battery. Draw all gone...of course. My meter shows that 3 of these wires have a 60ma draw. So I got a connector that I could connect/disconnect each one at a time(ground bus for a house breaker panel). So far I have left all 3 wires diconnected and the batter stayed up. Then one of the 3 wires with a draw connected and the battery went down. So next step is to charge it back up and with the first one disconnected try the next.
This is the first time since I bought the car it stayed charged for 2 days so I am hopefully on the right track. It is very consistant, 2 days sitting no start...
I am hoping my digital meter will show up shortly, maybe it will give me a different read on this.

 

Hi The Dit,

Very methodical & logical approach, there's nothing else I can tell you, as you're ahead of me. Please do let us know what your findings would be. For a person like you, a digital multimeter is a must and will make your work a lot easier. I personally like the ones with LED backlights on the LCD display, but for some reason backlights are usually equipped on very expensive meters only (I have a Fluke-112; a Craftsman would've been sufficient for me, but I just couldn't stand Craftsman meters made in Chin@..
(even their top-end meter was made there). I know it's silly, but Iwanted to payextra for Made in the USA (hey, gotta pay for quality as well as job security), and the 112's heart, the primary LSI, was actually made in Japan[8D]).

Hi John:

At this point I am puzzled as to where the leak is from... Could it be due to a condensation caused by the cold fuel in the tank...in case of airplanes, the lower surfaces of the main wings, shortly after landing, are usually wet or icy so I was wondering...


JPN

 

I used to have a Fluke and loved it, I just don't do enough of this stuff these days. Poor Fluke would probably still be around if I had quit dropping it. That thing went on and on for many years.