Hi Kanji and dit,

Dit, what you've done is a good approach but something doesn't
make sense. If your parasitic drain is 60ma you should not drain
the battery in 2 days. As a rule of thumb you can estimate an average
automobile battery to have a capacity of 60 amp hours.
By my calculations: .06amp x 48 hours = 2.88 amp hours
60 amp hours - 2.88 amp hours = 57.12 amp hours

57.12 amp hours is plenty of capacity to start a normal engine.

I see 3 possible situations:

1. Your parasitic draw is more than 60ma, more like 1amp + .
2. Your battery is not actually properly charged.
3. Your battery is damaged or defective (you said this is a new
battery so this seems like the least likely cause).

Many auto parts chains will test your battery for free so you
could charge it the way you normally do and then take it to
them to check the charge level and capacity. It kinda sounds
like you have more parasitic draw than your meter indicates.

Kanji how are you? I hope you are doing well. We haven't
had much rain here so I haven't gotten back to the trunk problem
yet. I had thought about condensation but there is 1 inch of water
in the spare tire well sometimes after a rain, and at other times
just a little. It's still a puzzle.
As always, I look forward to your wisdom, experience, and
guidance on my car problems. I know everyone on the forum
appreciates your generosity of time and assistance to all members
of the forum.

Best regards, John

 

LOL, I canĀ“t believe what I am reading. IĀ“d be really worried if I were you.

 

Hi Dit,

At this point, after reading John's suggestions I'm likely to think that the leaky diodes in the alternator could be the cause...it may be worth taking it out (though it's kinda pain as you have to remove many bolts & dislocate the PWS pump) and have it tested. Or, the new batterymight have beenlow on electrolyte in the first place, etc... If this isn't the case, visit the nearest church and confess all your evil deeds and plead for God's forgiveness...


Hi John,

I agree with pretty much everything you say, but when I had a new Interstate Battery installed, that little glove box light(yes, that little guy!) nearly drained it overnight. There was once it drained so bad that the starter cranked1 turn/second (though the engine did start). Or I might've had another very little parasitic drain somewhere at the same time, which I did not detect.

As to the water problem, I ran out of ideas and I have to say it's "Volvo Technology". The ultimate resort is to remove all interior trims in the trunk area and shove someone in there with a flashlight, while you dump a bucket full of water for him/her[8D]. If the problem still goes undetected, after a punch or two from him/her (in this case,something tells me that"him" would probably be safer, at least you only have to endure physical ordeal), visit the nearest church, confess all your evil deeds and plead for God's forgiveness... Or, visit Tech as he's in FL; problem solved.


Hi Axel,
>ThatĀ“s like asking Bush to mentor you on world peace and the fight against terrorism.
I would like to disagree with your opinion,becausethe honored President of the United States of America, Mr. George W. Bush is sincerely trying his best for safer and more friendly world where everyone appreciates each other, accept the differences among each other, helping the poor while working with the wealthy population to give up some of their assets for the society as a whole and share the wealth. This way, Mr. President is creating a better world for our children and their children, eliminating hatred and conflicts among different nations, races and governments. You can witness this by reduced number of warfare in the world, lessened securities at airports, equal opportunities for all, and the list does not seem to end. What's more, the U.S government is working closely with Mr. President's innovative ideas of reducing emissions, mostly CO2, NOx and other hazardous materials, while subsidising organic farms and other environmentally-friendly activities.....

....Axel, for some reason I have a feeling of an enormous guilt and my headaches terribly, even though I am writing the right things and the world is getting better and safer every day, with abundant wealth available to all.

...The edited paragraph now sounds like it's been written by a 10-year old, while it sounded more mature before, say, it seemed as though it were written by 21-year old. But thanks for the suggestion and saving my opportunities[8D].


Good day to All,


JPN

 

JPN,

Let's hope the alternator gets fixed...

Regards
Axel

 

Hi everyone,

LOL, I'm not going to comment on politics on here, but I think
axelm gives good advice.

Axelm, I have referred to your posts many times, they have been
very helpful.

Kanji, I like the idea of putting a friend in the trunk LOL, but
I think my friends would put me in the trunk first.

I can run my battery down by just leaving one of the car doors
open for 2 or 3 hours. But my battery is in bad shape.
The alternator in dit's car could be the problem. Someone
with more experience than me should address that issue.

I didn't know tech is in Florida, where is he located?

Best regards, John

 

Hi Axel,

>Let's hope the alternator gets fixed...
Agreed[8D].


Hi John,

Yes, Axel has given me an awakening ideas as to my potential abilities[8D].

>I like the idea of putting a friend in the trunk LOL, but I think my friends would put me in the trunk first.
Agreed, be careful with your friends.

I believe Tech lives about 5 minutes away from the Disney World, so perhaps somewhere in Orlando or neighboring towns?

I also posted a thread in regard to the leaky trunk, and so far only RedTurbo850 has replied. I guess I went overboard in that post as well[8D].

Anyway, have a good Friday All.


JPN

 

Hi Kanji and axelm,

I posted on the other thread regarding the trunk.

I didn't know tech is in the Disney World area, that puts
him about 15 miles from me.Wow, small world.

Best regards, John

 

Good morning John,

>I didn't know tech is in the Disney World area, that puts him about 15 miles from me.Wow, small world.

That is not fair!


Kanji

 

Finally figured this one out. Bad brand new battery, took it back they claimed it tested fine, but I opened up the cells and one was dry, they replaced it for me.
I will also say I found that out of the 6 small wires on the positive side of the battery 3 of them run the "always hot" side of the fuse box, all go to the same place apparently. The other 3 didn't have a constant draw so I don't know where they go.....Just in case this helps anyone.

 

After 4dead battery incidents and a lot of complaints from my wife (aka fix the starter problem or get rid of this old black coffin), I had to troubleshoot the electrical system. The alterator was charging at 13.8V while the multimeter reading at the battery was 12.5V. A 1.3V drop on such a short thick cable made no sense unless the cable had a very high impedance, a bad groundor the battery was bad. I went tomy favoritebattery store where they simulated an engine crank on the battery and the voltage was dropping to 6V after 3 seconds. I changed the battery and now I have tested 10 cranks in row without a single glitch. Now my wife is complaining about fume smell coming into the cabin, but thatĀ“s the clogged PCV system which I have been to lazy/busy to clean.

 

Also figured out that my old analog meter was accurate...probably a 10 year old Radio Shack piece of junk. Didn't trust it but should have.
And YES the wife is really happy that she can drive the car now... worth every penny, she just loves it.
No offense but I have 3 other vehicles..well 4 that I prefer.
2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi SLT.
1989 Jeep Wrangler.
And my hopped up 83 Mustang Vert.
But the Volvo is now our daily driver, and it's growing on me. I am lucky and don't commute (work from home)so it's pretty wide open as to what to drive. The jeep never leaves the propery except to get gas(stuck in 4wd), will likely drop the insurance etc.. pretty soon. The Dodge just plain sucks gas and is only used to haul stuff (40K dumpster), and the mustang is for good weather cruzin.
I am happy with the volvo and I could not have done anything better for the wife, she is out now detailing it in 90 degree heat.

 

Hi dit and axelm,

Wow, axelm you had some major charging current with your old
battery. At least you know your alternator is working ;-)

Dit, glad you figured out your problem. I actually prefer an analog
meter in some cases, for me it's easier to interpret the needle
movement versus a bouncing bar graph or jumping digits on a
digital meter. I have an old Radio Shack analog meter that has
been working for about 25 years. Pretty amazing when you look
at the cheap construction- they even used moveable contacts
that wipe on the back of the circuit board instead of a real switch
in the input/divider circuit.

Best regards, John

 

Yeah, luckily it is working fine. I had it checked by an alternator specialist. The guy fixes any and all kinds of alternators and the said it was fine. There must have been about 70 alternators in his store waiting to get fixed. He has 5 people working with him, and all they do is troubleshoot electrical issues and repair/refurb used alternators (trucks, cars, vans, tractors, agriculture machinery, etc).

A new Bosch alternator here for my 854 costs a small fortune, so I probably would have had it refurbed.

Regards
Axel