My wife's 2006 Volvo S60 T5 is showing Check Engine light.
First thing I tried was reseating the gas cap. No change.
All fluids look correct.
Went to O'Reilly's and hooked up their Innova 5300LaT OBD2 scanner. Came back with "No Powertrain DTCs or Freeze Frame Data is presently stored in the vehicle's computer".
When through the "Hidden Menu" on the car with it running there are a several of them set. Codes were:The car drives fine (only drove for 2 miles to O'Reilly's). Two things of note:
1. About 6 months ago I put HID headlights in. Ever since, the Low Bulb Failure warning is shown.
2. The left turn signal seems "sporadic". Meaning the pattern goes normal for a few clicks, then a longer pause or a faster click, and then back to normal.

Could this be the alternator not putting out enough? I'm at a loss.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Hugh

 

Have you measured the system voltage both with the engine off (across the battery terminals) and with the engine running at idle with a full load (headlights, blower, rear defroster etc) to see what you can read? As to the turn signals, the relay has a capacitor circuit in it which charge up time determines the frequency the directions click. The circuit charge time is a function of both voltage and resistance so yeah a lower than normal voltage or a resistance change (like a bulb being out or a suspect connection or ground) would cause a change.

 

Is there a spec for alternator output vs load? My suspicion is that Volvo has deliberately "under specced" the alternator to minimize load and improve fuel mileage. Reason - I have a relatively new (18 mos) Volvo battery in my 2015 V60. After a few weeks of stop and go city driving, the start/stop function goes dead and is only revived by a +/- 100 mile road trip.

 

https://www.volvocars.com/sg/support...y---start-stop

some handy insights. How old is the start-stop battery?

 

Finally got a chance to test. Battery voltage is 12.5 at rest. 13.3 with everything running. The 13.3 seems low. Shouldn't that be closer to 14?

 

Took it to the local shop (in a hurry with 4th of July coming up). They used their diagnostics and it came back with the Vapor Pump Sensor was bad. They are going to put a new one in for around $500.

Thanks.