here is the scenario. I have not driven my S70 much in the last 10 days. Our weather has been below freezing most nights and days but the car has been garaged, only moved from the garage once or twice to get at things stored in garage.

Yesterday the battery was dead (about 1.6 volts). Charged it up to 12.86, left out of car it was 12.6 when I installed it this morning. Car ran fine on a few errands.

With car running battery shows 13.69 volts with just headlights, add rear window heater - 13.49; turn on windshield defrost with AC and volts drop to 13.27.

Not a large drop but I'm wondering if there is a problem with the alternator or am I just being paranoid, that the battery just discharged due to inactivity & cold weather. I have only owned the car 18 months, battery is probably 4+ years old.

Thanks

Mike
1998 S70 GLT, Maple Valley, WA
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1988 245, 245K mi, 5 speed

Drive over to your nearest chain auto parts store such as Advance. They will test the alternator/battery system with a roll out tester, it's free.
--
David Hunter

The numbers sound good to me, the alt should be putting out just over 14V at idle, with the lights off. Too bad we don't know the battery voltage just before you parked the car for 10 days. It could have been a little low then.

Trun off the DRLs and headlights during your daytime runs and see if that helps. The radio and alarm system do drain the battery a little. An interior bulb would drain the battery flat within 48 hours.

A trickle charge for 24 hours would ensure a good battery for a long time, I used to do that for my V70 once in a while.

Klaus
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Volvoless. Sold the R. There is now a void...

I bought a multi-cycle trickle charger for my motorcycle, and it did wonders for a weak battery that came with my '05 V70 exactly one year to the day ago. The battery is now working fine.

pardon my ignorance, but what is a trickle charger? I currently live in an area where I do not need my car days on end..