I've seen this posted a couple of times in brickboard and it's also happened to me. The 850 glove compartment door has a hadit of warping and when this happens it no longer turns off the lamp. It used to drain the battery if my wife only drove a few short trips each day. Drove me nuts until the light finally burned out. I replaced it and the problem started all over again!! Use some double back tape and stick a spacer in the corner of the door in front of the switch post. A penny works fine most of the time.

My 96 850 Turbo had a Die Hard in it when I bought it two years ago. Three times since then, the battery has died. First symptom each time was that if the car sat for more than a couple of days, it would have to be jump started.

The first two times this happened, Sears automatically replaced the battery free of charge. The third time, they were about to replace it again and I asked them to check the alternator. Upon checking, they told me the alternator was bad and offered to replace it for nearly $300 parts and labor (they were going to buy the part from Advanced Auto). I told them I wanted a second opinion.

After some research and testing, I was suspecting the battery to be the problem. So, I took the Wal-Mart battery out of my 92 940 and put it in the 850 and it's worked fine ever since (more than a month now - even on cold mornings).

Now I'll have to say that I put the Die Hard in the 940 and it's doing OK in that car. My theory is that the Die Hard is just not up to the demands placed on it by the 850. While this may or may not be true, all I know is that I have had Die Hards twice and BOTH times (the other was in a 70 something Olds 98) Sears ended up replacing it multiple times. I never had to pay out more, but it was a major inconvenience!

BTW, glad to hear you got the ABS controller out and sent off to Vic. Kind of like the Home Depot commercial - "You can do it, we (Brickboard) can help."

If it still won't start with a new battery, don't blame the starter or altenator yet. Sounds like your old battery died and will not hold more than 10 amps.
Your kick switch in the charger should have had the engine turning over rapidly. I still suspect bad battery.
Let the new one trickle charge over night. It is not fully charged when you pick it up at Sears.
Klaus
--
98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 88 245(165K mi)

Hello Little Horse,
NEVER/EVER use the jump mode of the battery recharger!!! I did this a few years ago on my old 760 and fried the ballast resistor and light control module.
The most likely problem for "no go" is due to your battery. When they start to age some will charge fully but drain after a few attempts to start the car.
p.s. - do you have a cd changer in your 850? I just bought a T-5 wagon and don't know where/if it is located.
Tks,
Armie