I'll preface this whole thing with this: I'm not completely hopeless with cars, but I'm close. Lol. There's a TLDR at the bottom.

Okay, so I have a 2000 S40 with 188,000 miles on it. I've put ~30,000 on there myself, and have owned it 3 and a half years.

The first two years of owning it were great, never had a single problem. It was handed down to me from my mother and then it started misbehaving. Starter went out with no warning at all, ended up costing hundreds of dollars to replace but I got it done.

Then, it sat in the driveway for about six months with me driving it to the store about every two weeks. Understandably, the battery was dead each time I attempted to start the car. I have a portable jumpstarter and I'd just use that to start it up. I took it on a few longer trips and, in the beginning, after a long trip it would start once or twice of its own volition.

Fast forward to now--I had to get it smogged and figured I'd ask about the battery, because by now it wasn't really starting even after a good freeway run. The guys who smogged it told me it's not my battery, it's my alternator "kind of" not working. I'd normally be inclined to trust them, but I am so broke that I would LOVE it if it were just the battery.

It's even died at lights before, but only if it hasn't been driven in a while and it hits a long light before it drives for a while. This fits in my mind with the minimal-efficiency alternator idea but could it be something else? I've been driving it every day and, even after a 120-mile freeway drive, it *usually* won't start. Jump start it and it goes along fine.

Lights come on, normal pump noise when you put the key in position 1 (fuel pump? brake pump? idk) is quieter than normal, crank and the common noise is a clicking-machine gun sound. I've not tried cranking it multiple times for fear of damaging it, and since I have my jump starter with me at all times I don't need to.

It's an old car, and I don't really care if I have to jump it all the time, but it's going to be getting cold here this winter and I've heard the horror stories about jumping frozen batteries. Plus, the looks you get when you jump a car at a gas pump...yeah, not too keen on them.

TL;DR: Car sat for a while, battery died, jumped it, no problem, now will hardly ever start without a jump. Never had any problems before it sat.

Has anyone else had this problem? What was it? &How much did it cost you to fix it?

 

You can remove your old battery and take it to Autozone or Advance or O'Reilly's (and others) and have them test your battery for free. While the battery is out, clean the positive and negative cable ends. Corrosion can cause the same low voltage as a bad battery. The rapid clicking while starting the engine is the classic symptom of low voltage to the starter solenoid.

The same auto parts places can test your alternator in the car. The car needs to be running though.

When the engine was running did you see any lights on the instrument cluster? A bad alternator should light the symbol that looks like a battery.

Cost will depend on the underlying problem. I'm betting you have a dead battery and maybe some slightly corroded battery cables that need cleaning. Costs will be for a new battery. Normally the auto parts places will install the new one for free.

BUT, you cannot let the battery go dead! Ever. Lead Acid batteries will suffer a tiny bit of permanent damage every time they are allowed to fully discharge. Each time it happens the battery gradually degrades until you can no longer charge it. Your alternator could be perfectly fine but the battery is damaged enough that no amount of charging will help.

If you plan on letting your car sit for long periods you need to get a battery maintainer. This is a little trickle charger (1.5 - 2 amps) that keeps the battery fully charged. I have one on my truck and one on my project car as I'm in China for 6 weeks at a time. You can buy them at Walmart or any auto parts store. Wire it to the battery and plug it in to your house.

 

I would buy a new battery and call it a day. See how you fair. Sounds like it's been through hell so would require a change out anyhow. Have been on a few V40 forums for a couple of years now and I don't think I've seen much action on the alternator front i.e. they appear to be trouble free.

 

Okay, this seems like awesome news. I'll take it in when I have a little time and some cash. Does anyone have a low cost battery recommendation?
Thanks!
&no, I never saw the battery light come on, which I did think was weird (since my car has noooo problem informing me of when things are wrong).

 

I like the Interstate brand myself. It's significantly cheaper than oem but just as good if not better.