Single mom grateful for any ideas. Last 10 days new alternator and brand new battery. Was starting fine after battery replaced and then parked for 24 hours - wouldn't start without a jumpstart.

No electricity left - had to even reset the radio and clock. Not even electricity to pop the trunk. Got the orange ambient temperature light and no crank.

Problem is car didn't start today - any ideas? Jump started and drove to garage, alternator and battery checked out fine. They could not find a problem. Other ideas? Is there any way to check the starter? Thanks!

PS - If you S70 fan starts making strange noises - have them check the alternator. They spent a lot of time checking fan, could not find problem. But 2 weeks later the alternator and car died leaving me stranded on a hill. When car starts fan is now fine.

 

Have battery load tested and also alternators output, it can be done at autozone for free. It could be a bad battery. Goodluck with the fix.

 

recently, i had the same problem as you, however, not in my Volvo but my VW Jetta TDI. I had both my alternator and battery replaced, and now my interior light and headlights still go dim from time to time, which totally sucks, and I think twice about going anywhere. Alternator and Battery check out fine, but the dimming........errrrrrrrrrrr !

Back to my S70. We had the exact same starting problem atleast 3 times every week last year. In order to start the car, we had to stomp on the gas pedal and wait 5 seconds, and then start the car, and finally one day when that didn't work, We replaced the battery, still the problem persisted, and finally after a very frustrating 3 months, the problem turned out being a bad fuel pump. Have your mechanic take a look at the fuel pump. Cost us about $350CDN to get a new one installed.

 

From the symptoms presented you have a parasitic current draw on the battery. And it seems pretty significant if its killing a fully charged new battery in 24 hours.

You're going to need to take to take it someplace that is competent in auto electrical diagnosis; preferably a good indy volvo shop. This may be something as simple as the glove box light stuck ON or something much more difficult to find and repair. Good luck and report back w/more info and/or what you find.

BTW: Re other posts: sounds like they already ckd alt output and battery w/o finding the fault. And a bad fuel pump would not make the battery go dead.

 

Well they think it is a short in the new alternator. Does this happen often? They are going to pull out the first new alternator and put in the second new alternator. Hopefully that will do it. They said it was a short in the alternator NOT the car's electric system.

 

Am assuming you took it back to the same guys who put it in and already ckd it twice and said the alt was fine...?

Without a 2nd opinion you're at their mercy; sounds to me like they're covering their butt, but then I'm cynical anyway...

So what part of the alt is shorted now, but wasn't the first time they ckd it? I, for one, would like to know...

 

Sounds like they screwed something up first time.

 

Exact same thing happened to my S70. After two alternators (and 2 alternator refunds, thankfully) and a few battery replacements, It turns out that there was some module in the dash board that had shorted out and would draw current from the battery to kill it in about 2 days. I really wish I remembered what it was... but it took 2 weeks for a Volvo-only mechanic to figure it out.

 

Does anyone please know what module can kill out batteries and alternators on the S70 when it is shortened out? Thanks!!!!!

 

There are any number of "modules" that could do that. The problem needs to be properly diagnosed; otherwise you are just guessing and throwing parts at the issue.

Re-read my original post to this thread.

BTW: Does the alternator charging lite work? I.e. is it off with the key off, on when key is in run position, and off once the engine is running? If any one of these is not true, report back and we can go from there.

 

When I turned off the engine on the S70 last night with the headlight dial still turned on, the front yellow side lights stayed on. Could this be a sign of a parasitic draw? The front headlights were off but the yellow side lights were on. Once I turned the headlight dial off the yellow side lights went off. But usually on this S70 whenever the engine is turned off, all lights on the outside of the car go off. Is there any special module or portion of the electrical system which should especially be checked out? Thank you!

 

Your parking lights (the yellow lights in front corners and tail lights in rear) can be turned ON via the headlight switch even with key OFF; this is normal behavior. Pretty common; especially on Euro cars.

Re: parasitic current draw: It is normal for modern cars to draw some current from the battery, even with the key off and all the doors shut. But it should be fairly small; less than 100 mA or so. If you have a DVOM (digital volt/ohm meter) and some basic D.C. electrical knowledge, I could walk you through the test.

But if your battery is good, your charging system is working, and your battery doesn't go dead after several days of the car not being used, then your parasitic draw if likely within normal ranges. If the parasitic draw is normal, (and the battery is in good condition) the car should be able to sit unused for up to 2-3 weeks w/o the battery going dead.