Engine: D5: what could be draining my power?

[JoeNinety]

"bang on 12 volts"

Not enough - should be +12.7v for a fully charged battery.

Do your drain test again, watching and recording from lockup to asleep.

"click, then nothing"

Is this a starter motor click or another click?

[oragex]

Any changes to the audio unit in the past? Some people install Grom units so the wires behind may have been modified. Also, assuming the car was never wrecked because this may cause singular power drains at the damage location. From what I've found, these are the things that can drain the battery: the rear plate lights, the alarm siren unit, the door switches (get wet and rust when the door is opened in rain). The A/C clutch plate on some cars can also get stuck engaged - not sure if this happens on the S60. Also make sure you got the right alternator regulator for your year - you can verify the numbers on the Fcpeuro.com site. There are two models of regulators: one for 01-04 and second for 05-09 - NOT interchangeable: they will still appear to be working but they will put out a lower voltage, not enough to fully charge the battery. Upon starting the engine in the morning, the voltage from the alternator should read a good 14.6V for the first minutes, as the battery is being charged (it always gets discharged a little bit over night). If you only see 13.5V after starting the engine - not good, such low voltage can't fully charge the battery and this will damage the battery in the long term. Use only the Bosch regulator.

[Simmy]

get your battery checked with a load meter at halford or any battery supplier they usualy do it free to rule out a weak battery .voltage is missleading you need the amps to throw out the starter motor gear

[reggit]

Not read all 5 pages of the thread, but it sounds like you’ve a shorted cell in the battery.
Have you had a load test done on it?

[totalguy]

Originally Posted by JoeNinety

"bang on 12 volts"

Not enough - should be +12.7v for a fully charged battery.

Do your drain test again, watching and recording from lockup to asleep.

"click, then nothing"

Is this a starter motor click or another click?

It wasn't full

It's not starter click I don't think sounds closer.

[totalguy]

Originally Posted by oragex

Any changes to the audio unit in the past? Some people install Grom units so the wires behind may have been modified. Also, assuming the car was never wrecked because this may cause singular power drains at the damage location. From what I've found, these are the things that can drain the battery: the rear plate lights, the alarm siren unit, the door switches (get wet and rust when the door is opened in rain). The A/C clutch plate on some cars can also get stuck engaged - not sure if this happens on the S60. Also make sure you got the right alternator regulator for your year - you can verify the numbers on the Fcpeuro.com site. There are two models of regulators: one for 01-04 and second for 05-09 - NOT interchangeable: they will still appear to be working but they will put out a lower voltage, not enough to fully charge the battery. Upon starting the engine in the morning, the voltage from the alternator should read a good 14.6V for the first minutes, as the battery is being charged (it always gets discharged a little bit over night). If you only see 13.5V after starting the engine - not good, such low voltage can't fully charge the battery and this will damage the battery in the long term. Use only the Bosch regulator.

Audio wiring hasn't been modified I've been in there and checked one of the first things I checked.

Would the AC clutch cause the car not to start?

I bought a new regulator for the alternator it was correct because I don't listen to people about what parts fit as when it first got another Volvo people were all like yeah that will fit and I sent parts back a few times and I got ****ed off with that so now all I deal with is part numbers they are always the best way.

I bought a Bosch regulator and after that I bought a new alternator so kind of wasted money on a regulator because I found a small problem and wasted again replacing the whole alternator after Volvo owners telling me to do so

I understand it should be 14 volts but if you read the whole thing when I said the voltage was 13.5 the battery had literally been fully charged before I started the car so are you saying it should be 14 volts when the battery is completely full? I measured it about 10 mins after I got it started

[totalguy]

Originally Posted by Simmy

get your battery checked with a load meter at halford or any battery supplier they usualy do it free to rule out a weak battery .voltage is missleading you need the amps to throw out the starter motor gear

Well considering we have tried 3 different 019 batteries not including the original and came up with the same problem the next day still get it checked?

I've a meter that reads DC amps how do I use that I put the clamp on the positive and set the amps to the highest ? And is that done when starting? Or while running?

[totalguy]

Originally Posted by reggit

Not read all 5 pages of the thread, but it sounds like you’ve a shorted cell in the battery.
Have you had a load test done on it?

No how?

Also I've mentioned probably 6 times we tried 3 batteries. Left on overnight and same thing happened every morning after.

[JoeNinety]

Originally Posted by totalguy

Well considering we have tried 3 different 019 batteries not including the original and came up with the same problem the next day still get it checked?

I've a meter that reads DC amps how do I use that I put the clamp on the positive and set the amps to the highest ? And is that done when starting? Or while running?

If you have lost the instructions, see attached.

You put the clamp on the negative/earth cable to measure drain. The device complains if your setting is out of range.

[Brendan W]

Originally Posted by totalguy

I understand it should be 14 volts but if you read the whole thing when I said the voltage was 13.5 the battery had literally been fully charged before I started the car so are you saying it should be 14 volts when the battery is completely full? I measured it about 10 mins after I got it started

A fully charged cold battery a few hours after the motor was stopped or charger was disconnected, should be 12.6/7 Volts.
To drive new charge in, the alternator must supply at more than that to overcome internal resistance in the battery. Regulators are set to cut off at 14.4 Volts approximately. Much more than that will cook the battery.
Immediately after a run or charging the battery will have a 'memory' of that higher voltage and measure in the high 13s or low 14s. Over the next few hours that terminal voltage will fall back to the level appropriate for it's state of charge. That being 12.6 ish if full.