Good day

I am having trouble starting my Volvo. It was running fine this morning, but when I turned it off to fuel up, it wouldn't start again. All I could hear was what I would describe as the click-click-click of a solenoid.

Got a boost from a kind gentlemen, drove around for a bit to recharge, but when I got home it wouldn't start again.

The car is seemingly running fine, in fact I have driven it around for hours, but needs a boost to start - every time!

I put a multi-meter on the battery and (after scrapping some gunk off of the terminal tops) got a reading of 12V and with the engine running I get about 12.9V. I have also checked and topped up the distilled water levels in the battery.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Doug

re: "...I put a multi-meter on the battery and (after scrapping some gunk off of the terminal tops) got a reading of 12V and with the engine running I get about 12.9V. I have also checked and topped up the distilled water levels in the battery...."

On the face of it, this (not being able to restart the engine after even a brief shutdown) is typical of a battery dying from old age -- if your battery is original (your car is a 1999, right?), it's lived a long and fruitfull life -- and has died at a reasonable (if not better than) lifespan.

But let's consider that it's newer than 1999...

If your battery was fully charged, it would register about ~13 volts just after you shut down the engine, and about 12.6 volts (give or take a bit) a few hours later. I don't know if you were very roughly approximating your voltage when you wrote "12V", or you were being exact -- if exact, that battery is very run down, as 12.06 volts represents being only 25% charged (i.e., 75% empty)! (BTW, the best way to measure a battery's charge is with a hydrometer, but it seems you don't have one.)

On the other hand, most batteries, even bad ones, should have much more than 12.9 v when the engine is running. The right voltage when firt starting up in the morning (with everything cold) would be in the high 14's -- i.e., 14.6 v perhaps -- even higher (~15 v) in very cold mornings (the max. charge is inversely temperature-dependent). As the engine (alternator) and battery warm, it's OK to drop to low 14's, or even (in very, very hot weather) as low as high 13's (e.g., 13.8 v).
It is possible, though, that your battery is so bad that it can't even accept such a high charge (maybe it's developed an internal short), and that's why your alternator can't get it higher than 12.9 v when it's running.

What I'd do, unless the battery is very new, is to install a new battery, expecting that the problem was just old age. If then the voltage (with the engine running) climbs to around mid-14 v or more, then your charging system has probably been good all along and your battery was just dying of old age. Everything should be good from then on.

If your current battery was fairly new, however, then it died prematurely, so take the car to a reputable shop to check the charging system, because it shouldn't have gone bad unless the charging system wasn't working right.

Good luck.

It is (was) indeed the original battery.

I have installed a new battery and will see how it goes.

Thanks for your help!

Doug

Glad to hear that it was old -- most likely it will be nothing more than that.

And thanks very much for responding -- too often folks write to answer someone and we never hear back, not necessarily to get a Thanks but merely to hear whether we had been able to help or not (it sort of leaves everyone hanging). Your consideration is appreciated.

Regards,