1998 V70 battery or alternator or both?

rhschumaker · Post by **rhschumaker** » 04 Mar 2014, 12:26

I was driving home and noticed the battery/generator light had come on. About 15 minutes later the SRS light came on. As I pull up my driveway the up arrow light comes on. Pull into the garage, turn off the car, go to restart and just the clicking sound. What is the best way to determine if it's just the battery or the battery and the alternator? Or just the alternator? Any help greatly appreciated!!

Post by **rmmagow** » 04 Mar 2014, 12:59

Take the battery to autozone have them test it. Jump start the car and measure voltage at the terminals, running should be 14.1 volts, too low, alternator issue. Alternator issue is an easy and fairly cheap fix. Look in today's postings, lots of info about replacing the brushes and voltage regulator. Sounds like the alternator though.

rhschumaker · Post by **rhschumaker** » 04 Mar 2014, 13:02

Okay - will let my husband know. He's very handy with cars and knows his way around. Has replaced alternators in other makes but not a volvo. Is it fairly straightforward?

Post by **rmmagow** » 04 Mar 2014, 13:13

The regulator can be replaced with the alternator in the car. I've not done it myself, but there is a good description with pictures here I think. You-tube's got something too. The alternator itself isn't too bad to pull either, just more work.

Post by **rmmagow** » 04 Mar 2014, 13:44

Be careful about replacing the voltage regulator. I see there's a bit of confusion related to which part is correct, one is about $35.00 the other is near $200.00 It would be great if he could pull the old one out and get numbers off it before ordering anything.

rhschumaker · Post by **rhschumaker** » 04 Mar 2014, 13:48

Okay this could very well be a stupid question but is there a way to know if it's just the regulator versus the alternator?

rhschumaker · Post by **rhschumaker** » 04 Mar 2014, 16:27

Okay - pretty sure that it is the regulator. One prong was barely sticking out the other semi sticking out. Found the exact part on ebay for $40. Question now is do we replace the battery as well or just the regulator brush holder?

Post by **scot850** » 04 Mar 2014, 19:25

Did you have the battery tested? If not take it to your local parts supplier and ask them to check it.
I'd charge it first and then get it checked. Hopefully you are lucky and it was just the regulator not charging rather than over-charging.

Good luck!

Neil.

rhschumaker · Post by **rhschumaker** » 05 Mar 2014, 04:56

Another question - our part number matches this part number on ebay. (ending in 520) when my husband pulled out the regulator one of those prongs you could barely see - he said the spring was gone. So we ordered this part to replace what he took out of the alternator. I don't understand the whole brushes thing - does this include brushes? Is this all we need to buy? I'm trying to avoid buying the whole alternator.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/REGULATOR-BRUSH ... 32&vxp=mtr

Post by **rmmagow** » 05 Mar 2014, 06:45

Yeah, that's the whole thing, regulator and brushes. Might be worth getting a can of spray electrical cleaner to squirt on the alternator where the brushes ride. When you say prongs, are you referring to the brushes? The part at the bottom of the main ebay picture? If so, there is a real good chance your battery is fine. Do like scot850 mentioned, charge the battery and let autozone test it for you. They'll charge it and test it too if you don't have a charger handy.