Trick to Jump Starting a Dead Battery?
 

I woke up this morning with a dead battery in my 2005 XC70. I don't know if a light was left on or a door open, but I tried to open the car with my keyless remote and nothing happened. I opened it with the key and had no power. When attempting to jump start it, the alarm briefly went off (approx. 3 seconds) as soon as I connected the cable to the positive terminal. I left the cables connected for a couple of minutes and could not get any power in my car. I would expect to at least get the radio or interior lights to turn on, but I am getting nothing. I read through the owner's manual and could not find anything that indicated something special needs to be done to jump start the car. Since the alarm briefly went off I know power is flowing from the auxilary battery to the dead one, but didn't understand why it would go off. Anyway, is there a trick to jump starting a dead battery in a Volvo?

RE: Trick to Jump Starting a Dead Battery?
 

Did you connect to the battery or the connections under the hood?

RE: Trick to Jump Starting a Dead Battery?
 

Connections under the hood. Should I be connecting directly to the battery?

RE: Trick to Jump Starting a Dead Battery?
 

That will work fine just make sure you have good connections. Sometimes when you go from under the hood it is hard to get good connections.

RE: Trick to Jump Starting a Dead Battery?
 

As Tech said, good connections are vital. Also, make sure that the two cars are not touching and that the jumper cables are good quality ones. The cheaper ones have thinner wire.

RE: Trick to Jump Starting a Dead Battery?
 

Hi there, the exact same thing happened to my 05 XC70 as well last year one night at about 15 degree Fahrenheit. I think my daughter left lights on before we went into a restaurant. An hour and a half later, it won't start. My brother-in-law and a very kind gentleman (he just passed by) attempted to jump start the car directly through the battery in the back. It was no use after about 20 minutes. I then called AAA. The AAA technician came over soon after and 1, 2, 3, bam. What he did was to connect the jumper cables through the front under the hood. I couldn't thank him enough.

But I now have this question hanging at the back of my mind ever since: How reliable is the car battery? Or maybe it's just the frigid cold temperature was enough to do that in 90 minutes.

Sorry, I don't have a real answer for you, but just thought I shared my experience since I have the same model car.