posted by
someone claiming to be {-_-}
on
Wed Sep 10 21:27 CST 2003 [ RELATED]
|
|
Hello,
I went to go out tonite and to my suprise, I found that my volvo wouldn't start.
It appears that the battery is dead, but I do not understand how this could be since there was nothing to drain the battery power. I called a friend over with a firebird to give her a jump, but no luck. What could have caused this ? I checked all the fuses and made sure my distributor cap wasn't loose or anything like that. Can I get some pointers on where to start looking for what would cause such a thing to happen or what I can do to fix it ?
Thanks
|
|
-
|
|
|
"Update:
We ran a multimeter on the battery and it showed a 11-12 volt charge. Friend suggested that the altinator could be bad but I'd like to know is there any way I can verify this without taking it out ? "
First get your car started. The alternator isn't needed to start the car. If your battery is reading above 11 it should be able to still turn the engine over slowly.
You mentioned when you were given a boost, the headlights came on. Whereas before they didn't. This would indicate a bad battery or maybe a poor connection at the battery posts. Try cleaning the posts and tightening the cables.
A previous poster mentioned that a bad battery may adversly effect boosting. So disconnect your battery while boosting, eg. remove neg. cable from battery and hook it up to neg on booster cable. To be one the safe side, don't have the booster car running. This is just a check to see if the engine will turn over with another battery. BUT, if the car starts, DON'T disconnect the cable as your alternator may get overloaded. Turn the engine off first. Then disconnect.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans
|
|
-
posted by
someone claiming to be a volvo gal
on
Thu Sep 11 17:47 CST 2003 [ RELATED]
|
|
When I had some trouble with a battery, I drove the car to Advance or some such auto store, and they wheeled a little cart into the parking lot and checked my battery, alternator and starter. I assume such tests are valid, so you could try that.
|
|
-
|
|
|
Does your car have central locks (ie: power locks)?? If so have you had any problems with them at all?
There are two relays behind/under the center vents just above your coin tray that might be getting stuck in the "on" position. One is for "lock" the other for "unlock". Mine happened with no warning but thankfully it drained slowly overnight in my garage. It was annoying but at least it didn't leave me stranded!
These two relays are about 1" square. They are somewhat of a PITA to get to, I would recommend trying other things that everyone else has mentioned first.
Good luck,
Bean
--
'80 242GT 91k, '94 945T 110k
|
|
-
|
|
|
How old is your battery? If it's over 4 years old, try a new battery. When batteries die, they usually die without warning and it is usually very difficult to jump start the car with a dead battery because a dead battery (dead from age, that is) has a very high internal resistance, which makes it hard to start even if you connect a perfectly good battery in parallel with it. If your battery is old, try a known good battery in the car before doing more complicated troubleshooting. When batteries die of age they behave very funny and make you go chasing problems that don't exist. If there was nothing to drain the battery and it just died, chances are the battery is old and tired and should be replaced.
Good luck!
--
Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual,
|
|
-
|
|
Your comment:
"I called a friend over with a firebird to give her a jump, but no luck "
Trev29:
"If a jump from another battery didn't work, then it isn't your battery (This assuming decent jumper cables were used)...."
It's more likely to be a connection at the starter (either the heavy lead from the battery, or the small one for the solenoi), or the "Safety" switch in the gear selector, as mentioned in another post
Voltmeter readings at the battery can be misleading. The 12 volts could just be a "surface charge" equal to 6 D-Cells. Enough to peg a meter or light a 12 volt bulb, but not much more.
--
Bruce Young,
940-NA (current)
'80 GLE V8 (Now gone)
'83 Turbo 245
'73 142 (98K)
'71 144 (track modified--and still here)
New 144 from '67 to '78
Used '62 122 from '63 to '67
|
|
-
|
|
|
I don't know the age of the battery but I can find that info out later on. In the event that I do have to buy a new battery, do you have any recommendations or guidelines to go by ?
Thanks
|
|
-
|
|
|
Nothing fancy, just go to Sears or something like that and get something around $60 to $80 in the DieHard and you should be trucking for at least 4 years.
Hope that helps.
--
Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual,
|
|
-
|
|
|
"I called a friend over with a firebird to give her a jump, but no luck. "
If a jump from another battery didn't work, then it isn't your battery (This assuming decent jumper cables were used). Your headlights still working?
Is it an automatic? If you don't get a click when you turn the key it could be the lockout switch on your gear shift. Try starting the car in neutral. Try using another name.
At the starter, try shorting, with a screwdriver, the post with the lead from the battery and the other post. (You bypass the ignition switches.) Engine should turn over.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans
|
|
-
posted by
someone claiming to be {-_-}
on
Thu Sep 11 03:05 CST 2003 [ RELATED]
|
|
Its an automatic:
Could you give a more detailed explanation of this hack you have for bypassing the ignition switch ?
Thanks.
|
|
-
|
|
|
Try wiggling the shifter while you hold the key to start....
What the other fellow suggested might well work too.. with a screw driver or a jumper lead touch the small clip at the starter motor to the big terminal...
Key On and in Park..... Mac
PS this can only work IF you lights still work.... have them off however at the time... They are just being used as a meter... to show the battery ain't DOA..
|
|
-
posted by
someone claiming to be {-_-}
on
Thu Sep 11 03:52 CST 2003 [ RELATED]
|
|
Well, the inside car lights came on but they were extremely dim and the headlamps came on while we were jumping the car. Hopefully this rules out the DOA battery theory.
|
|
-
posted by
someone claiming to be {-_-}
on
Thu Sep 11 04:08 CST 2003 [ RELATED]
|
|
Also, we had that issue earlier where the car did not start properlly unless the shifter was wiggled a bit, but that has been fixed and the car did not lose all of its power whenever we had that issue.
|
|
-
|
|
|
Well are the head loight s bright? The inside light being dim is either a bad ground or a bad battery... Mac
|
|
-
|
|
|
Ok, I'll look for that today
|
|
-
|
|
|
Update:
We ran a multimeter on the battery and it showed a 11-12 volt charge. Friend suggested that the altinator could be bad but I'd like to know is there any way I can verify this without taking it out ?
thanks
|
|
-
|
|
|
Old batteries just short and then die suddenly. Not at all uncommon.
|
|
|
|
|
