Dead battery-again!

smithy · Post by **smithy** » 13 Jan 2005, 11:31

My '94 850 Wagon starts for me every crank without fail- unless the car has been sitting for three or four days. In this case, the battery has no juice when I get in to crank it up. I replaced the battery about a year ago and haven't had a problem since, but I guess I haven't taken many days off in that time because at Christmas the problem returned after the break.

I jumped the car off and drove around a bit to charge up for the next day. It started again when I got home, but not the following morning.

Is this from the alternator giving me only enough of a charge for my day to day needs? Or could it be another source draining the battery when the car is off? Any response is appreciated.

Post by **matthew1** » 13 Jan 2005, 11:33

Check things like the trunk light. They may be on. My trunk open/shut sensor switch has failed, so when the trunk light switch is set to "door" instead of OFF, it's on regardless of the trunk being open or shut -- it stays on 24/7. Caused me to get a new battery just 6 months ago.

Da' Moose · Post by **Da' Moose** » 14 Jan 2005, 01:04

I found I had the same kind of problem, after going though the starting system, and the ignition system, I found that my Alt. was giving me the problem. I looked at the system voltage and all looked well until I loaded it up by running all of the high power using acc. in the car. I went from 13.8v with no load to 12.6v and dropping when loaded down. After removing the Alt. from the car and taking it to a repair shop to have it tested I found out that the Voltage regulator / brush module was to fault. When the shop did the load test with just the alternator, it put out the full 100 amps. On inspection we found that the brushes were weak and wore. One of the brushes had worn a grove into the ring on the armature. We cleaned up the alternator and reassembled it, and I put it back into service with not a problem since. It was said by the repair shop that while moving the alternator around that it was jarred and that is what freed up the brushes before the test. I do have a replacement Voltage regulator on order and I will install it as soon as I receive it. Good luck I hope this helps, Da

smithy · Post by **smithy** » 14 Jan 2005, 11:40

Thanks for the tips fellas! I'm going to have a look at her this weekend. Hopefully I'll have the problem located and I can post a solution. Thanks again.

Volvo850Racer · Post by **Volvo850Racer** » 10 Mar 2006, 15:40

My battery went dead again after just 4 days of no use. The battery is 2 month old. Did you find the problem with yours? All lights are verified off on my 850 so I am wondering if it is the alt...

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 10 Mar 2006, 21:09

Similar issue by someone on another board finally discovered that the light in his glove box was not turning off when the door was latched. This was draining his battery over time. It would be worth checking along with the latch on the tail gate.

DC volvo · Post by **DC volvo** » 11 Mar 2006, 05:44

I have a 96 850 sedan. I went throught the same thing a couple years ago. I went through 3 batteries, had repair shops tell me it was the alternator, the wrong amps on the battery, the starter motor was draining the battery, etc.
Turns out it was the glove box light. The glove box wasn't seated properly, the dealer fixed it, and the trouble went away. I started having battery problems again about a year ago, and I pulled the fuse for the glove box light. I haven't had any trouble since.

Volvo850Racer · Post by **Volvo850Racer** » 13 Mar 2006, 08:45

Thanks for the advise. I will promtly disable the the glove box light and check my alt or just get a new one.