Now that winter is here I am concerned about my battery. I have a 1995 850 GLT. I bought it in July 2009. The battery in the car is a Volvo battery, but I have no idea how old it is. I cannot find a year and month indicated on the battery as I found on my previous car batteries.
1) Where is the date indicated on the battery ?
2) What is the life expectancy of the Volvo brand batteries ?
3) I have new 'smart' battery charger. Can I charge the battery without disconnecting the cables connected to the car. I do not want to have to reset my radio code, and I am afraid that I might lose other codes already programmed into the car.

 

#1 - Usually a sticker or branded on the side.
#2 - Does anyone know exactly when a battery will die? I have seen a gallon of milk go way before its time. There just isnt a way to know when it will give up.
#3 - Connect to the battery in the car.

 

Thank you Boxpin ! I shall check the sides of the battery tomorrow.

 

Hello Boxpin,
I did find a white sticker on the left side, but was unable to read it. I will look more closely at another time
I connected my Schumacher 'smart' charger to the battery and frame. The diagnosis read the battery at 80% capacity. The instructions state that a good battery should be at least 77% to start the average car. Within ten minutes the battery charged up to 88% and within one hour the battery charged up to 100%. This seemed pretty good to me. I was relieved, but I will repeat this process in four days to see how much might be lost. The temperature here was down to 16 degrees this morning. I will NOT allow myself to get stuck somewhere due to a bad battery.
Thank you for your help !

 

also, if you are taking a lot of short trips, your battery is gonna wear down. You use a given amount of energy from the battery in starting it (especially in cold weather) and it may not gert replenished by the alternator in a 3 minute drive.

 

Hello Ibified,
Thank you ! Unfortunately, taking short trips is exactly what I do. I always thought that a car should run for 30 minutes to replenish the charge. I live in rural North Carolina. The trip to my former job, or my wife's job, or to all of the stores is only 3 miles or less. I start the car and let it idle for fifteen minutes in this cold weather to let it warm up and give it more charge time. On some weekends I will take it on a longer drive up to Virginia. The summer is kind to batteries, but cold weather will kill a battery that is used like this. I am just going to have to use my 'smart' charger on it more often.