Electrical Issues

scflorin · Post by **scflorin** » 24 Apr 2019, 11:22

I have scoured this site and the rest of the internet and I'm still not sure where to start.

2014 XC90 and the anti-skid light turned on about 10 days ago while driving, but went away after restarting the vehicle. On Monday morning, the anti-skid light comes back on after a couple of miles. A couple miles later, the power warning and battery light came on. Stayed at the office a couple hours and car drove perfectly home. No issues with driving the car that afternoon .

Yesterday morning, anti-skid light comes on immediately when starting the vehicle (drivers and rear driver' side doors were open). All 3 warnings stayed on for the 5 mile trip, as well as the dinging siren for an open door. Stayed at the office a couple and no issues driving home at all.

Same thing happened this morning!

About a year ago there was another electrical issue where the car battery would die every couple of days. The battery was tested several times at the local store (always came back fine) and I would recharge and repeat. Was never able to chase down any parasitic draw. After doing this for about 6 months, I finally purchased a new battery and there have been no issues until now.

The car does make a whining sound that is tied to RPM's and I believe it has gotten at least a little bit louder in the past couple of weeks. I've read that many issues can be tied back to an alternator and possible lack of power, but there have not been any associated battery issues. Other possible solutions I've reviewed are the sensor under the amplifier with potential corrosion issues, as well as steering angle sensor. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!!

Post by **SuperHerman** » 25 Apr 2019, 19:07

My original thought is the power/battery - you have a parasitic draw. I would focus on the door switch. Then move to the alternator. Then other circuits.

Reasoning - you had an issue and new battery appeared to solve the issue. Battery has enough power to handle the parasitic draw. Now the battery has aged some and it is not what it once was. Also your driving habits may not be long enough to get it fully charged to counter the draw.

The whine may be the alternator working harder to get the battery to charge, or it could be you are just more dialed in.

I would charge the battery with a charger and see what you get for volts. Also see if it starts out with any lights ... After this or at same time measure what your alternator is putting out and maybe have it tested. After this find the fuse that controls the door light and pull it - would not hurt to do a parasitic draw test on this fuse and all others. See if pulling the fuse for that circuit solves the problem. How deep you dig depends on how skilled and willing you are plus what you have for tools.

Most basic approach is measure the battery voltage with a VOM then fully charge the battery, measure the voltage and then pull the fuse. Watch and wait and measure. Keep track of Voltage when you leave and get home - change should not be too much.

scflorin · Post by **scflorin** » 26 Apr 2019, 09:45

Thanks for the reply SuperHerman! I didn't have any of the recent alarms/warnings with the earlier battery issues and discounted the correlation. I'll try as you suggested and keep the forum updated.