start/stop battery always charging on v60 diesel

[lobotuk]

hi there was wondering if any body else has the same problem
its been going on now for about two months i noticed that i wasn't getting the start/stop function even though i had just driven over 50 miles on the motorway, looking in the my car section it just said battery charging. i have taken it back to the dealer 3 times now and each time get a different answer from they reset the system, charged the battery to full, and now they say that its to do with the auxiliary heater that its drawing to much power and is not letting the battery charge and a software fix is on the way(but won't say when), i've got to say i'm getting a bit cheesed off with it all i do mainly motorway work so the battery should be getting charged really well any help would be appreciated
thanks

[Clan]

Originally Posted by lobotuk

hi there was wondering if any body else has the same problem
its been going on now for about two months i noticed that i wasn't getting the start/stop function even though i had just driven over 50 miles on the motorway, looking in the my car section it just said battery charging. i have taken it back to the dealer 3 times now and each time get a different answer from they reset the system, charged the battery to full, and now they say that its to do with the auxiliary heater that its drawing to much power and is not letting the battery charge and a software fix is on the way(but won't say when), i've got to say i'm getting a bit cheesed off with it all i do mainly motorway work so the battery should be getting charged really well any help would be appreciated
thanks

Ask them to do a swap of your battery with another of their similar cars , see how it goes for a few days , They can test the battery and it will show good , but deep down you know its not . They have to get a fail from their tester before volvo pay for a new battery .

[MCV60]

There are many topics on this subject and some very knowledgeable input from Clan (See below).< Maybe these threads could be merged?>
It would appear a common issue. One that I am disappointed that the start/stop function doesn’t appear to be working on my V60 even after driving over a 1500miles (long & short journeys)since purchase in vain to charge the battery with no addiditonal load i.e phone charging/headlights/heaters on the battery.
After speaking to three separate dealers all of the same franchise. I’m not confident that even they know what their looking for, based on some of the woolly information I got in response and cannot risk the car been off the road at the dealers for days whilst they investigate.

S60 Start /Stop

V60 D2 Powershift Auto start/stop not working

Stop/Start not working

[stobart volvo]

Motorway journey's are not the best for topping up the battery. Most stop/start systems use regenerative power systems, where braking takes the kinetic energy from the car and stores it directly to the battery. I've had long journeys where the stop/start has been "charging" then had shorter journey's with lots of braking and stopping where its always come on and continued to activate.

[Bob Murden]

I've given up on mine and just pay for the extra fuel its using. It's been back 4 times and each time I get more excuses about resets, software updates, and fixes. What they never tell me is it's a known issue and the batteries fail at about 2 years and as soon as the temperature drops below about 6C it can no longer cope. The dealer has told me about the battery being charged when driving in traffic, yet there is nothing to suggest anywhere that the S60 uses regenerative braking. Regenerative braking requires a large generator, much bigger than the alternator on the car and a large load to absorb the power to produce mechanical back-loading on the transmission. In electric cars all the hardware required to do this is already present and can be easily thrown into regenerate mode.
Basically its a crap battery, It fails early, and no one is picking up the tab.

[Flux]

I think you're correct. Current crop of Volvo cars do not have regenerative braking and no mention of it in the brochure (which would be a good selling point to shout about if they did). Some car manufacturers like VW (Touareg for example has it) but TBH would have thought Volvo would have added it by now to expand their eco credentials and all the other stuff they wax lyrical about.

Stop/start good for the official fuel economy test but probably no incentive to offer more powerful battery as it's probably seen as a 'nice to have' but not crucial - they fact that it appears so temperamental means there is some work to be done in that department.

[Craigy]

I don't believe there's regenerative braking on any stop start systems, that's for hybrids and electric cars only (they use the electric motor).
It really should charge the battery enough using the alternator, especially on the motorway.

[Considered1]

I know my 320d was advertised as having regenerative breaking but this was the "efficient dynamics" version. It wasnt a hybrid, if it had been I'd prob be still driving it. It was also way off the official mpg figs.

[tem]

After 12,000 miles my stop/start works perfectly, but I do not like it.
If I remember, as soon as I start the car, I switch it off.
If I forget, I only have to drive about 50 yds to a junction and the engine stops.
With stop/start I feel one is not in full control of the car and this is why I do not like it.

As a footnote, when I traded in my previous V60, the salesman seemed to be pleased that the car did not have stop/start?

tem.

[St Evelyn]

I posted a number of times on the S80 section around stop-start issues (http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...=193983&page=2 for example) as I had problems with mine for the first two and a half years of owning the car.

As per my last post in the above link, following a software update deployed at the end of last year this is now sorted - and boy, does it work well now!

Despite the dark, cold mornings, almost constant use of heated seats and blower, and constant charging of phones via USB, the only time the stop-start has failed to kick in has been when the DPF is regenerating.

I don't know what the software engineers have changed with this latest update, but fair play to them - I think that they've got it right this time.

May just be worth seeing if there's a similar update available for your car?