I am trying to diagnose some starting problems on my parent's 2000 Volvo V70. It has a 2 month old alternator and 1 month old battery on it. Recently the car has not been starting without a jump start or a charger being put on the battery. When it doesn't start, there is a single clicking sound coming from the general area of the starter or a series of rapid fire clicking sounds from the same spot. Tested the alternator and it is putting out about 14 volts when running. The battery was at about 11.8 volts when i checked it after it would not start. I was thinking this could need either a new starter or a new ignition switch. Anyone here have any ideas on which way i should head on this?

 

When checking for voltage output is that hot or cold?

If it is cold let it get hot drive for a little bit and check again. I have seen these alternator's charge when cold then stop when hot.

 

thanks for the quick response. i will check the voltage output from the alternator both warm and cold.

 

got it started again using battery charger. runs ok when idling. i took it for a drive around the block and it is really hesitating when i step on the accelerator.got the engine warmed up to operating temperature and returned home. let the car idle and tried to take a reading of the alternator's output. could not get a consistent reading on the multimeter. mostly it registered 0. i noticed that there is sort of a glow coming from inside the alternator once in a while. i also noticed an occasional spark coming from where the alternator cable connects to the alternator.turned the vehicle off and measured the battery voltage. comes up at about 11.7 volts. anyone have any ideas of what the problem could be?

 

Sounds like a bad connection on the alternator. It should not be arcing. I wouldtake it off, clean the surfaces then reinstall it making sure it is tight.

 

If all is tight I would look at a new regulator.

 

could a faulty alternator/voltage regulator be the cause of hesitation and poor acceleration? i guess i just can't believe that a new (remanufactured) bosch alternator would go bad after only two months. i guess there is a 2 year warranty on it so it should be covered, so it looks like i'll be removing the alternator and having it bench tested. i will be removing this and reporting back with the results soon hopefully, unless someone has any other ideas of what the problem could be...

 

It will mess with the car if the output is very low to nothing. The car will totally be running on battery voltage and if it is low it will cause many problems.

 

It was running very poorly and the headlight brightness was fluctuating. I took the alternator out and had it tested at two auto parts stores and it tested bad at both places. Now i regret buying this from an internet retailer, because it will take me at least a week to get a replacement shipped to me...

 

Glad you atleast figured out it was a bad part.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded so far! I just need a bit more help with getting the new (from the junkyard) alternator installed. First of all, for whatever reason there is no metal cap on the end of the pulley. You can see all the inner workings of the pulley. I am thinking this could be somewhat important to protect the bearings in there, but it isn't there and I didn't notice it until i got home with it. The next thing is i can't figure out how to put the top alternator bolt in place to mount the alternator to the engine. The bolts I have are too short to hold the alternator to the engine from the pulley side, or from either side for that matter. I shouldmentionthat when I had the alternator out of the vehicle a couple months ago, Ihad the same problem, so i justmounted the bottom two bolts and figured it was good enough since it seemed nice and tight. Could this have been what caused the alternator to fail prematurely?Your comments/suggestions are greatlyappreciated.

 

I would find a longer bolt you need all 3.

 

i ended up putting a junkyard alternator in the vehicle a couple weeks ago and after finally getting it in, it ran okay until yesterday. it would not start yesterday, so i jumpstarted it and drove it back home, turned it off and restarted it three times. it started with no trouble all three times. today it would not start again so i took the battery out and had it tested at an auto parts store and it tested as bad. it seems to be a vicious cycle of replacing alternators and batteries with this car. the charging light does not come on when the car is running. what else could be going on here to cause this? i am thinking of possibly replacing the alternator cable when i install the new battery tomorrow. your comments/suggestions are appreciated as always.

 

Have you tested to see how much of a voltage drop you get between the Alt. and battery?

To do this check voltage at the stud on the Alt. with the car running. Then check voltage at the battery and see what it is.
If it is around a 1/2 volt difference then probe the positive lead before the battery terminal and see what the voltage is.

Alot of times the battery terminal goes bad and causes low voltage charging.

 

i did check the voltage at the alternator and it is 13.9-14.05 volts. i checked it both cold and after it reached operating temperature. i checked voltage on cable before pos. terminal on battery and there was only a slight (.1 volt) drop. i guess the cable is ok, because there is not too much resistance in it. the battery has been tested and it failed. the next step will be trying to get a replacement battery under warranty from ac delco. from there i will try to check if there is any parasitic drain in the system. thanks tech and everyone else for all the help so far

 

apparently it was the battery. got a replacement under warranty after the guy at the ac delco dealer tested it and told me it had a bad "cell". he said he hoped i had better luck with the new one. i sure hope so.