Greetings All,
I hope all is well.
All, my name is Oscar. I am asking for help with my 2012 XC60. About 3 years ago, I bought my wife a used 2012 Volvo XC60 3.2L FWD vehicle. She drove a little over a year without any issue. After this, I thought to do something nice a have remote start added to the vehicle. I went to a Volvo dealership and had the remote start installed. This was great for about 3 months, then the alternator died. I thought it was just time to replace it. Little did I know, this was only the beginning. I bought a replacement alternator from Auto Zone and installed it. This was good for another 3 months, then this alternator died. I had to tow the vehicle back to the dealership who installed the remote start. I explained what was going on and the dealership placed the vehicle on its machine and gave me a sheet with a few O2 codes. The dealership told me the battery was low but the alternator was ok. When I asked how this was possible, I was told I needed to use original Volvo parts then sent me on my way. Not a good thing to hear nor trust when these seemingly second rate mechanics put my vehicle in this state.
The alternator has been replaced about 4 times now with the same symptom: the voltage regulator is bad. My question - before I spend a crazy amount of money - do I actually need original Volvo parts? If so, why did the first one die after the "so called dealership" added remote start and this issue continues?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,

 

Greetings All,
Being that there has been a deal of help I have received, I thought to give back a little.
This issue was resolved by replacing my alternator with a used Volvo alternator I found on Ebay for about $85. Also, I had to turn off the "Low Battery" alarm with instructions from this video: .
I hope this is a help to others.

 

Hello, I went through the same issue with my daughters 2010 BMW 328xi. I replaced with brand new, not reman aftermarket alternators 3 times. Finally bought a used OEM from ebay and its been well over a year without a problem. I'm going through the same issue in my XC90. have no faith in aftermarket alternators anymore!

 

Greetings All,
I must apologize and retract my previous answer. After purchasing a Bosch (Volvo) alternator, my voltage regulators are still popping. I did purchase a VIDA DICE tool but the "Diagnostics" tab is greyed out; so I can not troubleshoot this issue until I get the crazy "Diagnostics" tab to display.
Does anyone know how to fix the "no Diagnostics" tab in the VIDA DICE program? It would be a great help if I could get this thing going. Or, does anyone have a number to reach the Volvo Corporate office? Please, I don't need the 800 number; they only give excuses and no results to any issue.

Thank you All.

 

This is a problem in Volvo with the low batt message. I also have it but never had a problem starting and driving the car.

 

any answers on this issue?

 

I read this and wonder if it is a legitimate alternator/voltage regulator issue or if it is failure to reset the battery management system causing a premature battery death.