Hi, all--

My daughter's '96 850 (non-turbo, no alarm) is now on its fourth new battery since fall. I've read through the many threads here on electrical problems that seem to be common, and I want to make sure I'm on the right track before I send hubby out into the cold to mess with it this afternoon!

Situation: First no-start: nothing unusual; she'd been driving it across town and back to school every day all fall. Went out the next morning, no start--husband and our mechanic checked, battery read zero. It'd been new when we bought the car used at Labor Day, but sometimes you get a bad one, whatever, so they replaced it.

Next no-start: She didn't drive it during Christmas week, then went to go to school in January, and no start. Back to the mechanic--no evident signs of a drain; another new battery.

Last no-start: After driving just fine from early Jan. on (again, just around town), last Monday as she tried to go to school, again, no start. Husband jumped it, took to mechanic--battery was low, alternator putting out 12.5. Mechanic kept it a couple of days on a meter to check for/record drain, and none showed. He exchanged for a new battery.

Today: She hasn't driven in the ice/snow this week, so I don't know if it will start or not, but I've hounded hubby enough to check it out--no way should 3 brand new batteries shoot craps this quick unless something is wrong. It's never given her any trouble while driving; the only thing was a check engine light that came on after replacing the battery after the second no-start--took it right back to the shop, and the mechanic said it was just a routine maintenance check light (found another thread here and will try the reset of that today as well).

SO.....

After having him check the glove box light, I gather the next obvious step is to check the alternator, both at the alternator and at the battery, and if the numbers are substantially different, it's the alternator/regulator? What other relatively easy/quick checks can we make?

Luckily, she's close to school and doesn't have a job yet, so friends or Dad can help out when it doesn't start, but she and I are both getting aggravated! And she might be taking the car to college in the fall, so I want to know it's taken care of long before she might leave with it. It's a 96 but has only about 100,000 +/- on it and is in great shape otherwise, so I'd like to keep it that way. (BTW--in terms of weather: we're near St. Louis, so it's been anywhere from the 10s to the 60s during this whole period, but we haven't really had any unusually cold/severe weather that seems to be linked to the problem. There have been a couple of single-digit/zero nights, but the dumb thing has started and run just fine then!)

THANKS for any suggestions/advice/input! I've driven Volvos off and on for about 15 years and love them, but sometimes they drive me nuts!

 

Your symptoms indicate a classic case of some type of parasitic drain on the battery, but you have had at least one mechanic check for that, and you have also checked the glove box light (the usual culprit!).

So barring that i am leaning toward the alternator. You said the mechanic ckd it when the battery was low and it was only putting out 12.5 volts; i would expect closer to 14 volts under those conditions.

Did the car sit for long periods of time; maybe before you bought it? That seems like low mileage for a 96 model. Maybe the alternator brushes are sticking in their holders causing marginal or intermittent charging. Also this is about the mileage where the alternator brushes are nearing the end of their life anyway; be worth looking at them.

If that's not it, I would look for corroded or loose battery and/or ground cables; including the straps between chassis to body and chassis to engine. The best way to ck for this is look for voltage drops between the two contact points.

Let us know what you find...

 

+1 to gdog.
12.5 volts with car running is definately a bet on Alternator. Also do the saem test with all lights and blower ON. If all is good it should still read close to 14 Volts