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Battery problem

Help, Advice, Owners' Discussion and DIY Tutorials on all Volvo's "mid era" rear wheel drive Volvos.

1975 - 1993 240
1983 - 1992 740
1982 - 1991 760
1986 - 1991 780
1990 - 1998 940
1990 - 1998 960
1997 - 1998 V90/S90

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hheaton
Posts: 17
Joined: 24 August 2010
Year and Model: 2000 S80
Location: Denver

Battery problem

Post by hheaton »

Hi, I have a 1994 960 wagon with 235k on it. Has been a great car with little problems. The battery is 4.5 years old and is still under warranty. 48 months full replacement 100 months prorated. (Sears Diehard) The car wouldn't turn over, so I put it on a trickle charge and went to sears. It failed their first test , but they told me they had to do three additional tests over a period of several hours. (Code for don't want to warranty the battery.) They put in a "loaner battery". I called several hours later, they said the battery was fine. Mind you, when I brought the car in to begin with, they had to jump me in the parking lot to get it in the shop. The car is running fine with their loaner. How do I get them to replace the battery?

Thanks!!!!

lummert
Posts: 1381
Joined: 29 January 2008
Year and Model: 760 1988
Location: Portland Indiana, USA
Been thanked: 26 times

Post by lummert »

If they return the same battery, take it to an Autozone or such auto parts store for another test. If it passes their test your problem is probably somewhere else.
1988 Volvo 760 Turbo Wagon

Retired MVS Contributor

Post by Retired MVS Contributor »

I assume that you know that a trickle charger will not recharge a battery no matter how long you leave the battery on charge...A trickle charger is for maintaining a battery at it's present level, not for recharging it...If it is half dead when you put the trickle charger on it, it will still be half dead when you remove it, even if it is after a week...The trickle charger will merely keep it from getting "deader"...You need a regular charger and it needs 24 hours to get the battery up to full charge, providing it is a good battery...

The battery is 6 months over it's guarantee but that is no reason to assume that it needs replacement or they would have not given you a 100 month prorate...Like anything else, batteries do not automatically drop dead the instant the warranty runs out, there is no way they could plan that out...Your battery might be bad, but it might also be good and it needs a full charge and a chance to prove itself before it is condemned...If this is a car that is not driven every day, in cold weather it will run down normally due to parasitic drain and that would be a good reason to keep it on trickle...Batteries lasting 8 or 9 years is not unusual...

Jerry

hheaton
Posts: 17
Joined: 24 August 2010
Year and Model: 2000 S80
Location: Denver

Post by hheaton »

Thank you for the input!

Got it taken care of-

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