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My red battery symbol warning light came on and a message said something like urgent- power system (needs service). What conditions trigger this? Also - are there other similar messages which, if I do not see them, would help troubleshoot. I can easily just drop in a new battery but I am thinking that it could be the charging system. I hope there is an cheap fix if so!
Lastly, I am thinking this might just a small problem created by my not driving the car much for 3 weeks - just a few short trips at low speeds - city driving.
Can that alone cause this red light due to battery discharge.
Also, on my other cars I used to just put an ammeter between the positive post of the battery and the positive (red) battery cable to observe the current draw when the car is off and sitting with nothing intentionally 'on'. I am wondering if, on a v70 this procedure could cause some sort of a problem with all the fancy electronic contrivances that afflict modern vehicles.
Also - do folks install better instruments to monitor current draw - is that still done? Or do they just read codes now? Would just a voltmeter on my cigarette lighter tell me anything. I happen to be going on a 1000 mile trip tomorrow so I will try to diagnose today.
Lastly, yesterday I drove at higher speed and with the lights off and now the red battery symbol is off. I think my next move is to just check the voltage at the battery at different RPMs - can I do that at the cigarette lighter or only at the battery itself? Thanks.
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