2001 S60 2.4T Starting issue - alternator? Immobilizer?

mseronde · Post by **mseronde** » 06 Jun 2015, 17:57

Hey all!

New to the forum, hoping to find some answers!

My little lady is having starting issues. about a week ago starting was sluggish... pretty typical low battery sounding start up. After driving around all day, she was starting fine. So I just though maybe I left the lights on, or something. A few days ago the same thing, but it wouldn't start at all, I got a jump and drove over to the auto store to get my batery tested. Seemed to be fine - voltage was ok. (It is a fairly new battery, maybe 3 years) I know batteries fail in our Tucson summer heat quickly, but the guy at the shop said it was fine.
So then I thought I had alternator issues - the drive home was fine, then next few days she started just fine. THen yesterday she didn't start again, jumped again, started and I let her run for a while. I received the "Immobilizer - see manuel" message. I don't have a beeper. Never had an issue with my key, and never saw that message before.

THe next day it also had issues starting - but was fine with a jump. Today, she started fine, no immobilizer message.

What do yall think? Seems like it is probably the alternator? though, if the battery was dead, and the alternator was not working - driving after a jump would not charge the battery right? or perhaps just not well? Any way to test if the issue is with the alternator short of pulling it out and having the guys at the auto part store test it?

Any ideas would be awesome! I am pretty new to DIY auto stuff, but am broke and wanting to learn about my chitty.

Post by **GBS** » 08 Jun 2015, 09:35

Hello, last year I had some issues with the alternator on my 02 V70 and from what you're describing that does sound like a possibility. Try checking the voltage when the car is running, on mine it was 13.2 which is too low, if I remember right it should be around 14. Also try turning on high beams and any electronic gear such as heaters (sear and window) and see if it stays the same or drops, on mine it dropped further.

I took my alternator to get tested, I went to 3 places, 2 of which are nation wide, and they all said it spins the wrong way and they had no testing bracket/gear for it so I won't bother doing that again.

If I was you, I'd check the voltage, get a new brush pack voltage regulator from your favorite Volvo parts (I got this part from IPD), take the alternator off and replace the regulator. The bummer about alternator is that quite a few parts have to come out or be moved out of the way to get it out... maybe it's possible to replace the regulator with it installed, I seem to remember reading someone did that. here is a video on how to remove:

mseronde · Post by **mseronde** » 08 Jun 2015, 22:34

Thank you so much for replying!

I apologize for not quite understanding, I am very new to home repair of my volvo. Are you suggesting that if the voltage indicates that there is an issue with the alternator, to pull it out, and simply replace the voltage regulator? not the entire alternator?

Post by **vtl** » 09 Jun 2015, 06:18

Voltage regulator is a common wear item: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... ch-8637851

Do you have alarm siren working? Failed siren drains battery. Try to pull siren's fuse and see how it goes.

Post by **GBS** » 09 Jun 2015, 09:17

No worries, I'm by no means an expert either but I've done this with good result so I feel comfortable explaining what I did. We were not experiencing the same symptoms so I can't speak to whether this will actually fix your car or not. Now if you want to do the work yourself the video is great in removing the alternator, it's really not as hard as it looks, once alternator is out, replacing the regulator is piece of cake.

Here is my story: I went thru every step of video to get my alternator out then I took it for testing, that's when the trouble started, they couldn't find the connectors and it was spinning the wrong way and there was no mounting for it... one guy made it work but it failed, but it could be because of the way it was configured. Now keep in mind I went to regular shops here in US, perhaps special Volvo or alternator shops could have done it but I wanted my car back in working order by Monday (at the time). The parts place sold me a alternator that supposedly fit my Volvo, I installed this and as soon as I fire up the car says "charging issue" or something like that as a message, obviously not a fit so uninstall again and take it back for full refund but out the 2 hours to do the work....

that's when I learned about the regulator, $40 bucks and with the alternator off its VERY simple to install this, 3-4 screws is all it takes. The metal connectors on the regulator was about 4 times longer on the new compared to old, so these definitely wear out. Again, reinstalled, fired up and everything AOK.

I'd definitely order a regulator first and try installing that over getting a new alternator, it's pretty enticing to spend $200 on a "new" and not the $600 for a original Volvo alternator but in many cases this can be fixed by spending $40. Also my experience with rebuilds, I've done alternator and axle, is they are definitely not worth it....

You decide if you want to tackle this yourself, I'd certainly recommend it, but I think either way I'd go regulator over alternator replacement.