2001 V70 2.4T with 150k miles. No elect. issues prior. Friday nite I parked the car and all was well. Sat. morning I start the car and get an "electrical system requires servicing" message. Battery light is on. By afternoon ac was off and on, abs, airbag, dstc lights on and getting weird sounds through the speakers. By evening, headlights dim, and engine stumbles quits and won't start. Obviously dead battery, but why. This morning replaced alt. and voltage reg. to the tune of $260. Started the car, it ran smooth for less than 1min, stumbled and quit. All previous warning lights still on.

Having battery tested, though it's less than 1yr old.

Any ideas?
Sean

 

Ok, new alternator, voltage regulator, and battery tested good. Reinstalled battery, started the car and seems to run fine, but still have the battery light and message saying "electrical system service needed".

Just another episode in this sad V70 saga, I guess.

If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it.

 

I would guess that the battery was drained. Maybe a code reader can reset it and it will stay off.

 

What does "tested good" mean? Do you have voltmeter? Did you test the battery voltage with and w/o the engine running?

 

I like my ScanGauge II. I hook it up and can watch the volts static, what they drop to while cranking, and what they read while running at all rpms.

 

Problem was a defective reman. alternator. Removed it, returned it and was given another reman. This one worked. Charging system fully functional again. Thanks for the advise.

(As for the removal and reinstall of the alternator - not sure what they use for design engineers in Sweden, but I think the cold temps have taken their toll on the brain cells.)

Sean

 

I'm glad I just found this post. We has a low voltage warning on the screen and the wife died along the freeway. Changed out the VR and the car ran fine for a day then started getting a different warning as you had about service el. system and charging light, intermittently.

I'm thinking I got a bad VR or need a whole rebuilt alternator.

I have to agree 100% on the removal of the alternator. One guy online told me he could do it in an hour but it took me 6 hours to get it out and in!