I have noticed that in the last year ive been changing my battery one to many times.
Why would this happen to me and my volvo.
As we speak the volvo is out of commission right now!
the battery was disconnected and the radio locked, in order to put the radio code into the car i had to leave the car on idle for 2 hours.
An hour and a half into my wait, my battery dies again! [:@] Like i said im changing batteries too much.
what could be the problem!?
thanks!

 

So what you are saying is that a good fully charged battery is dead after the car sits with the engine off for about an hour and a half?

 

I will suggest that a wire somewhere is touching something it shouldn't be.

 

What is the Alt. charging at?
Is there a parasitic draw?

 

I don't mean to jack the thread here but I have the same problem. Every couple of months I have to put a trickle charger on the battery overnight when I notice the car starting to crank pretty slowly. I put a voltmeter across the battery and started pulling fuses one by one to see if the meter went up. That should show any parasitic drains, right? I didn't have any. Fully charged battery is at 12.6V (after trickle charge) and with car running it is 13.3. I also checked the glove box light to make sure it goes out. I put my digital camera in the glove box in video mode and shut the door. Pretty geeky but it proved the light does indeed go out.

One last thing, I noticed the last idiot light to go out after I shut the car off is the battery light. It says on for about 1 sec after I turn the key to off.

 

I have a similar problem. We have had two new batteries over the last few months. Seems strange to go through them that fast.

 

Purchase a nice Multi-meter. Select Volts DC. Place leads on each circuit -- one at a time -- at the fuse box. With a little luck, you should be able to find the circuit that is draining the battery.

 

And after the problem has been corrected, you want to buy a name-brand, high-quality battery (I use Interstate Battery). Franchise/cheap batteriescould below on electrolyte and shortening the battery's life. In general, a battery should last from 3 to 5 years, depending on the use & care.

I wish you luck finding the parasite.

P.S: As for digital multimeter, a $50 (or more if you like to go fancy) Craftsman meter is more than sufficient. I use Fluke 112 and so far I love it, even though it's the entry-level model (2 models of automotive-use Flukes are very expensive).


JPN

 

If you have a friend with an clamp-style amperimeter, you can measure the current that is being used when the car is off without taking any wires off.

Or, you can use a multimeter in ADC - 10A mode (amps, direct current)and measure it in series with the negative wire at your battery. Put the scale as high as possible, otherwise you might blow the fuse inside or fry something.

 

I had a similar problem involving the cars exterior lights (I had the lights
turned on and didn't realize it-doh) and then the classic glovebox light
problem.
Just as a point of reference once I had corrected these problems the
parasitic draw on my car is now 29 milliamps DC ( .029 Amps).
This is measured with the meter in series with the negative battery
lead, doors and trunk all closed, radio and interior lights off,
and ignition switch off.
When everything is right your car should draw approximately
this amount of current or less.At that current drain (parasitic
draw) a good fully charged battery should last at least 4-6 weeks
without recharging-and probably longer.
I could not find a reference value for parasitic draw on the 850
so maybe this will help someone.

CAUTION- Automotive batteries can produce a lot of current if
shorted and can explode. I had an acquaintance that was disfigured and
permanently blinded when a car battery exploded in his face.
If you do not know how to test this safely, have it done by
someone who is qualified.

John

 

Was the alarm active when you measured the 29mA?

 

Hi axelm,

My car doesn't have an alarm (as far as I know). My car doesn't have keyless
entry. Tech probably knows what the current requirement is for the alarm. I don't
think it should raise the current draw too much. Even if it goes up to 50ma the battery
should last for 3 weeks at least.
My car also may have more parasitic draw than the average, I don't have any information
on this, I was hoping this would give others a ballpark figure.
If the battery on a car is good and is fully charged, it takes hundreds of ma or more
to run it down in a few hours.

John

 

Hello John,

As to one of your messages,

>CAUTION- Automotive batteries can produce a lot of current if
>shorted and can explode. I had an acquaintance that was disfigured and
>permanently blinded when a car battery exploded in his face.

↑This is so true, but most people I've encountered didn't seem to know much about this fact, a clear indication that they never read the owner's guide. Also, I noticed that 99.9% of people I've seen connected the negative jumper cable between one battery toanother battery directly, when jump-starting a dead car. As far as I know in my life, I'm the only one who seeks good ground in the engine compartment for the negative cable, as far away from the battery as possible. Some people even tried to "correct" me, when I had the negative cable on a good ground. To this day, I haven't founda reason why people do this.

Anyway, just wanted to share my soap box story.

Good night,

P.S: I too, had a parasitic drain once, and it was the glove box light. I removed the bulb and the drain stopped permanently.


JPN

 

This is how a friend and I made a battery explode back when (in high school) we worked at the neighborhood gas station...

1) Customer calls gas station requesting to jump start his car.

2) Friend and I drive service truck from gas station to customer. A heavy duty battery charger mounted in bed of truck.

3) Customer is sitting behind steering wheel and -- unknown to us -- with key in the "START" position.

EDIT-- In other words, he was so impatient that he couldn't wait a couple of seconds for my friend to finish connecting the jumper cables before trying to start the engine.

4) My friend powers up battery charger.

5) My friend carelessly attaches "NEG" cable from battery charger to dead battery's negative post.

6) My friend carelessly attaches "POS" cable from battery charger to dead battery's positive post. Immediately, Battery explodes into many pieces.

7) I immediately drive my friend back to gas station, where he washes battery acid off of his face. Fortunately, he was wearing a large coat and wore glasses instead of contacts. He was very lucky. I thought that I was going to go deaf from the ringing in my ears.

 

I also never use the negative on the battery to jump start it due to the risk of explosion caused by bateery acid vapor. The other day I explained that to my neighbour and he looked at me like "you're really paranoid, aren't you?"...

 

Hello All,

Thanks for sharing the horror stories regarding mishandling of the battery, I'm glad to know that at least enthusiasts are doing it right.

Axel,
Are Bilstein HD's really that harsh? I use Bilstein Touring and they are fine, except they seem to allow too much roll for a car like 850. I wonder how Koni Sport would behave.

Good day to All,


JPN

 

Well, every time I drive over irregular terrain, my dash vibrates very very much. Maybe the dash mounts are broken, I don't know. But I'd definitely like a softer ride where I don't feel every single tiny rock I drive over. Probably 15"tires with a higher wall would help. I'm using standard 215/55/16 right now (or is it 205/55/16, I don't remember).

 

Hello Axel,

Thank you for the impression on Bilstein HD's. I agree, that 850 seems to rattle around the dash. I recently drove a Mazda 6 (named "Atenza" in Japan), and loved the suspension. It did not impart small holes on the road, but the roll was well-controlled.

I apologize for diverting from the original topic. BTW, I wonder what batteries people are using. I wonder if I'm the only one using Interstate Batteries.

Cheers,


JPN

 

Why don't you create a separate thread or a poll?

 

Most folks agree that basic Koni Yellow (NOT FSD) is the definitive strut/shock of choice.

I have Interstate batteries in my Honda and Volvo.

http://www.ibsa.com/estore/view_prod...t_number=MT-47
http://www.ibsa.com/estore/view_prod...t_number=MT-48