jump car to start every 3-4 days.

[chunji08]

Hi all,
I have some problem to start my car these days, and I really want to
pinpoint what the problem. So if you have some ideas, just left me
know, thanks a lot !

The car is a Volvo 850 wagon with 90K on it.
the car runs smoothly once it is started. But for the past 3 weeks, I
had quite a few times to have the car jump to start. Once it is
started, everything runs smoothly.

At first, it happened almost ever day, if I left car there for 4 hours,
I had to have it jumped. So I thought the battery was dead, and had it
replaced.
But somehow, it does not solve the problem completely. For every 3-4
day driving, I had to have it jumped once.

So I did some test on the battery.
If I turn on the engine, and have it running for 1-2 minutes, the
voltage number that I reads from the this battery is 13.6.
If I turned on all the head-lights, A/C, and radio, with the running
engine, the voltage reads as 13.4.
Right after the engine was turn off, the voltage was 12.3, and the
morning that I had problem to start the car, the voltage reads as: 4.

I notice on my dashboard there is bulb no longer works, the one for
the "clock" area. Other than that, all other bulbs works fine.

Another thing I want to ask is how to check the output from the
alternator. For this volvo, the alternator is under some other parts.
All I can see is a thin wire, and a group of wires joint together.

Btw, this car did some fender work about 5 weeks ago and I started to
have this battery problem 7 days after the car was delivered to me.


Thanks a lot for any tips !



CJ

 

[Gary Heston]

Hi all,
I have some problem to start my car these days, and I really want to
pinpoint what the problem. So if you have some ideas, just left me
know, thanks a lot ! [ ... ]
So I did some test on the battery.
If I turn on the engine, and have it running for 1-2 minutes, the
voltage number that I reads from the this battery is 13.6.
If I turned on all the head-lights, A/C, and radio, with the running
engine, the voltage reads as 13.4.
Right after the engine was turn off, the voltage was 12.3, and the
morning that I had problem to start the car, the voltage reads as: 4.

Sounds like a problem with the alternator or charging system. You
should be seeing more than 13.6V with the engine running or the battery
won't be getting charged.

I notice on my dashboard there is bulb no longer works, the one for
the "clock" area. Other than that, all other bulbs works fine.

Another thing I want to ask is how to check the output from the
alternator. For this volvo, the alternator is under some other parts.
All I can see is a thin wire, and a group of wires joint together.

Can't help you there, haven't been under the hood of an 850.

Btw, this car did some fender work about 5 weeks ago and I started to
have this battery problem 7 days after the car was delivered to me.

Could be related; was the fender work on the same side the alternator
is mounted on? A wire might have gotten damaged.

Thanks a lot for any tips !

Wouldn't hurt to disconnect the battery and clean the cables and terminals.

Also, hook up a battery charger and see if it requires several hours to
fully charge the battery; if so, you definantly have a problem with the
alternator or charging system.


Gary

 

[User]

Hi all,
I have some problem to start my car these days, and I really want to
pinpoint what the problem. So if you have some ideas, just left me
know, thanks a lot !

The car is a Volvo 850 wagon with 90K on it.
the car runs smoothly once it is started. But for the past 3 weeks, I
had quite a few times to have the car jump to start. Once it is
started, everything runs smoothly.

At first, it happened almost ever day, if I left car there for 4 hours,
I had to have it jumped. So I thought the battery was dead, and had it
replaced.
But somehow, it does not solve the problem completely. For every 3-4
day driving, I had to have it jumped once.

So I did some test on the battery.
If I turn on the engine, and have it running for 1-2 minutes, the
voltage number that I reads from the this battery is 13.6.
If I turned on all the head-lights, A/C, and radio, with the running
engine, the voltage reads as 13.4.
Right after the engine was turn off, the voltage was 12.3, and the
morning that I had problem to start the car, the voltage reads as: 4.

I notice on my dashboard there is bulb no longer works, the one for
the "clock" area. Other than that, all other bulbs works fine.

Another thing I want to ask is how to check the output from the
alternator. For this volvo, the alternator is under some other parts.
All I can see is a thin wire, and a group of wires joint together.

Btw, this car did some fender work about 5 weeks ago and I started to
have this battery problem 7 days after the car was delivered to me.


Thanks a lot for any tips !



CJ

Clean and repair the ground strip under the battery tray. Make sure all
the ground wires that go there are clean and tight.

Bob