I got myself a new battery as the old one went dead after 3 yrs of service. I checked the voltage across the terminals out of curiousity (the dead battery BTW measured 11.2V) and the reading was 12.37V. I also measured my other car's 3 yr old battery (not a volvo) and it too had the same voltage.

Is that the normal voltage? It thought it was supposed to be like 12.5 and above from what's written in Haynes. I had always assume the alternator would be able to fully charged a battery on a long drive. My dad has a batt charger (the overnight type) but I hesitate to use it. It doesn't specify the charge rate.

Want to hear what you guys have to say first instead of unnecessarily straining my back removing the heavy volvo battery.

Thanks to all