Car alarms going off...Dash lights blinking....Won`t start

foresthump · Post by **foresthump** » 12 Oct 2018, 20:56

Earlier today I drove my c70 coupe to run some errands. Came back home and parked the car as usual; locking it up with the key fob button.
Tonight around 9pm my neighbor knocks on my door to tell me my car alarm(the beeping is weak) and flashers are going off. I hit the button on my fob and everything quits. I go back in the house thinking who knows what set it off. 45 minutes later, the neighbor knocks on my door again. The same thing is happening. This time it will not respond to my key fob. I unlock the car door with my key and the alarms stop. I put the key in the ignition to start the car(thinking it may need to charge the battery some). It cranks but does not fire AND several unrelated idiot lights on the dash come on or begin to blink. I remove the key and raise the hood. I hear obvious clicking coming from somewhere under the hood but the clicking stops a few seconds later. Some of the dash lights are still on or blinking.
So I disconnected the battery cable and closed the hood for the night and came to my computer to type this note into Matthews Volvo Forum.
Anybody got any ideas of what the cause may be???? Weird.

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 12 Oct 2018, 21:16

Sounds like an electrical issue of some sort. Low charge or dying batteries and/or bad cables can cause really weird electrical issues with these cars. Could be something with the immobilizer system as well, but not sure.

I'd start with charging your battery fully and making sure the contacts are clean. Who knows, maybe the battery disconnect will help. When you re-attach the battery, try locking and unlocking the car several times in a row with the key fob before trying again.

foresthump · Post by **foresthump** » 13 Oct 2018, 12:50

Well, this morning I cleaned both terminals and clamps then reattached. The car fired up like nothing had happened. EXCEPT, a flashing amber arrow on the dash panel. Book says it is an indication of a fault in the transmission. But there were no faults indicators when I parked it earlier. I then drove the car and it operated like normal except for a tendency to not be in first when accelerating from a stop (automatic). Also if accelerating from a stop in D1, it would not shift from 1st into 2nd as it normally would(D1 uses just the first 2 gears). So, I guess I have a transmission problem. Odd that it would begin with a low battery and theft alarms with the car otherwise parked for the night.
Thank for your reply.

Post by **abscate** » 13 Oct 2018, 13:29

Clear codes and drive it some more. Low voltage will generate all kinds of spurious atuff

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 13 Oct 2018, 13:48

If you have a battery charger, I'd disconnect the battery again and use that to get it to full charge. The flashing arrow is the transmissions limp mode, and it's not great to drive it like that.

foresthump · Post by **foresthump** » 20 Oct 2018, 15:25

Problem solved. After cleaning and tightening both battery terminals and allowing the car to recharge over 2 days, driving some in spite of the flashing arrow, all idiot lights went out, transmission shifts as normal, car starts every time. All those cars alarms, horn blowing, parking lights flashing, engine turning over but not firing up, dash lights on and blinking STUFF went away when the battery was recharged.
Thank you for your suggestions.

Post by **scot850** » 20 Oct 2018, 17:25

What you might want to watch for is if there is a parasitic draw down going on as another current thread is looking for.

Do you know how to check for this?

Neil.

foresthump · Post by **foresthump** » 20 Oct 2018, 19:31