Hello all,

I have a 1997 850 with a starting issue. THis has been going on for about 3 weeks now, and it began with the engine starting very rough and having trouble with idle, but eventually running ok.

The car only drives 2 miles a day, and the gas tends to sit in it, plus I had been using it to jump start my lawn tractor, so I figured it just had some old gas and maybe the batery was getting old.

But then, after a refill of nice clean gas and a battery charging, the starter cranked once and it wouldnt start. I waited a few seconds and it did start, but had a check engine light on.

I brought the car to my local mechanic to have inspection done, and asked him to check the error codes. He told me the issue was a bad temperature sensor, charged me 57 dollars for the sensor,42 for the labor, and 42 to run the scan test.

Well a week of more driving then usual. I started up the car and drove to drop my son off at daycare without a hitch. But when I got back into the car 5 minutes later and turned the key, I heard the starter crank once and then quit. I waited for a few seconds, said a silent prayer and tried again. Engine cranked weakly but caught. So I took it to the train station and went to work. Eight hours later, and the same thing happened. A couple of weak cranks, then finally it started.

I charged the battery over night, checked the voltage with a multimeter, and it seemed kosher, then I checked the votage with the ingintion on to see if it was maybe the alternator, but that did not seem to be the issue wither as it was reading right around 14v at idle. Besides, it wasn't behaving like a battery probelm or an alternator problem to me.

I checked the forum and the closest thing I could find was this one:

https://volvoforums.com/archive/thre...t-71625-1.html

the comment by "Beardog" seems closest to my own issue, but I am not really sure where to go from here. I spend my days fixing computers, but I am not much of a car guy. Any thought or advice someone could give would be most welcome, since I would like to learn and really need to save some money now if I can.

The car seems to work fine after a fresh charge, but not so great if it has been sitting. Tonight I wont charge the battery, and will test with the multimeter first thing in the morning, but I really suspect something else is going on here.

thanks in advance for the help!!!

 

Hello Bmasub,

It may be that youve driained the battery below a level that it can fullyrecover from.

How old is the battery?

A charger is no replacement for actually driving the car. Good as a supplement, not a replacement.

A car starter uses an incredible amount of energy initially to turn an engine over and if the charge is low, you will know as soon as you turn the key.

You say that you take a lot of short trips and this may be one of the reasons for the lack of proper or low charge. Also, using the car to boost other vehicles/toys/tools without somegood driving for the recharging process will kill a battery fairly fast.

It just may be time for a new battery.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

Yep, it sounds like the battery, despite recharging may be on its last legs. A good auto parts store can test/load test the battery for you in the car. Might want to give it a shot.

 

Hello all,

Thanks so much. the results of my test last night was that, this morning, the battery was only showing 10v on the multimeter, and the car did not want to start without using the charger. I picked up a new battery at Walmart but have not had a chance to put it in yet. I will certainly get back to the forum once I find out if this has worked.

You can bet I will be getting a new battery for my tractor too, as soon as I have a chance.

 

Glad to hear it seems to be working out