DIY: Battery info for P2 cars (1998-2006 S80, 2000-2009 S60, 2000-2007 V70, 2002-2014 XC90)

[cn90]

In my 2004 V70, I was stuck in a small town with the only battery being 24F, it worked but too tall, lifting the trunk floor up. I made it worked, but people should avoid 24F battery for 2004 V70, XC90, if you can. In a pinch 24F works to get you home but the trunk floor of V70 was raised a bit. I had to modify the metal bracket a bit. XC90 might be more forgiving for 24F in terms of height.

So, ignore my 2004 V70 saga...

I decided to take some photos of P2 (S60 and XC90) and put together info for others to benefit from.

The bottom line: the XC90 came from the factory for 2 increments: L3 (H6) and L5 (H8).
The L4 (H7 or 94R) will work but you need to place a piece of cardboard or wood (about 1.5") on the left side so it fits nicely.

All info is in the photos below.

Pay attention to photo saying S60 vs XC90, minor minor differences but in XC90, holes #1 and #2 do NOT exist.

Even for S60, V70, you can ignore holes #1 and #2 anyway bc these holes are for tiny tiny batteries, which should be avoided.

Most of the time, for S60, V70 and XC90 you are dealing with holes #3 and #4 for batteries L3 (H6), L5 (H8); and L4 (H7 or 94R).

These batteries L3, L4 and L5 also fit BMW E39 (1997-2003 5-series), BMW E53 (2001-2006 X5 series), BMW E83 (2003-2010 X3 series), BMW E46 (1997-2006), among other Euro cars.

PS: Someone told me larger battery (such as H8) do not last as long bc the plates are thinner. Cannot comment on it bc I am not a chemist etc. Anyway, L3 (H6) or H7 (94R) will be fine. If I ever replace it again, probably 94R, which seems to be a compromise between small (L3) vs large (L5)...

We can take this opportunity to discuss brands too; such as Exide (Home Depot carries it), Walmart Everstart (made by Exide), NAPA Legend (Eastern Penn), Autozone Duralast, AC Delco (Menards hardware now carries AC Delco) etc.

The BEST bang for the BUCK is always Exide bc the markup is not big at Home Depot or Walmart...


---> Some photos and notes:

* 2004 V70 with acid vapor corrosion from a vacuum line that got disconnected accidentally because of too loose fitting.
From now on, for all my cars, I use masking tape to secure the vent barb fitting.

* Differences between S60 vs XC90 are very minor.

* Battery Cable bolts measurements are included. Volvo only sells the nut, not the bolt, for P2; the nut
is 987529. So use the bolt from P80 (987526): 1993-1997 850 or 1998-2000 S70 etc.
Or hardware bolts/nuts that are M6 as shown.

Exide-Batteries.png (28.62 KiB) Viewed 10297 times

[jonesg]

I bought 2 marine batteries for my boat at walmart, they lasted a year and were done.
I avoided Neverstart since then.

[EngineeringBloke]

Often batteries have a vent hole on both sides of the battery. There should be a cap on the side away from the vent hose to avoid vent fumes leaking.

[MoVolvos]

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Costco has the most reasonably priced batteries with 36 months 100% warranty policy. They give you the full price back under warranty and you just buy another at the current price. Their Kirkland Brand were the best in terms of longevity and warranty. Guess they lost too much money as I changed one out last winter that was 7 years old. Had to just start it one time and after that no problems but it was time.

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[ADent]

H8 fit nicely in my V70, didn't cost much more than H6. Starts getting close to the full size spare.

I put a LED cigarette lighter voltmeter in the power outlet in the rear area to keep an eye on voltage - esp if I don't drive it for awhile.

[reverend]

I'm so bummed they don't carry H8 batteries (where I live) or I would hands down go to Costco for batteries. It's only Interstate batteries locally, and no H8.

Costco has the most reasonably priced batteries with 36 months 100% warranty policy. They give you the full price back under warranty and you just buy another at the current price. Their Kirkland Brand were the best in terms of longevity and warranty.

[MoVolvos]

I'm so bummed they don't carry H8 batteries (where I live) or I would hands down go to Costco for batteries. It's only Interstate batteries locally, and no H8.

Costco has the most reasonably priced batteries with 36 months 100% warranty policy. They give you the full price back under warranty and you just buy another at the current price. Their Kirkland Brand were the best in terms of longevity and warranty.

My 03 S80 T6 trunk can accommodate various width batteries. Go to a couple of parts websites like CarID or RockAuto to see if there is another size battery that will fit. Verify the height also or just go to Costco with the current measurements and find another with the same depth, height, battery post position and minimum cranking amps.

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[MoVolvos]

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By the way, I forgot I changed my battery in the 03 S80 and here is mine. Check yours and compare dimensions?

https://costco.interstatebatteries.com/ ... Country=US

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[reverend]

YEah, that's an H6 battery. I use H8 in mine. With these cars being so sensitive to battery voltage, I want all the electrons I can get. That's why I swapped out the H6 with H8.

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By the way, I forgot I changed my battery in the 03 S80 and here is mine. Check yours and compare dimensions?

https://costco.interstatebatteries.com/ ... Country=US

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[StickyPocket]

Changed from a not very old H6 Exide that had lost a bunch of it's CCA. Currently running my 2004 S60 2.5T on:
Duralast Gold Battery H8-DLG Group Size 49 900 CCA
That cost the same as the H6 duralast gold. The vent holes on both sides were missing a cap when i got it so I had to pull the cap off the old battery before I returned it for the core refund.