Low Battery Message

[suddone]

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the message low battery and also the stop start not working. I disconnected the positive side of the battery and left it overnight this worked for a couple of days and the stop start worked again now it’s reverted back to not working. Do I need a new battery? Have seen Halfords adverts for new battery fitting for £180 I think this is a bit steep

[cheshired5]

Investing in a decent smart charger can often be more cost effective than battery replacement.

It depends on your circumstances. Where your car is parked, access to a power point etc.

[Zebster]

It's an issue that has affected many of us, especially during the lockdown. As suggested above, I've been using a charger every now and again plus I did also reset the battery monitoring system a while ago which seemed to make a big difference. I decided that the system expects to see the performance of a new battery and - after 3 or 4 years - the performance of an older battery will cause the odd 'low charge' message and periods of stop/start unavailability, nevertheless the car always cranks OK and starts fine even in the depths of winter. No doubt a new battery would completely 'fix' the issue, but it's a bit of an unwanted overhead to have to buy a new one every 3 years!

There's lots of forum threads on this 'problem' with a fair bit of useful advice in this other currently active thread...
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=308958

[Dibble]

Originally Posted by suddone

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the message low battery and also the stop start not working. I disconnected the positive side of the battery and left it overnight this worked for a couple of days and the stop start worked again now it’s reverted back to not working. Do I need a new battery? Have seen Halfords adverts for new battery fitting for £180 I think this is a bit steep

I bought an XC60 end of last year and got the Low Battery on a number of occasions. It is quite a nuisance getting into the battery to charge it up but I discovered on here about CTEK whereby I got a different lead which allowed me to plug my CTEK into my towbar 13 pin plug. Great if you have a towbar but failing that splash out and buy a CTEK and plug it in when the car is parked up. Only about the £60 mark and great value.

[Agro]

I spoke to a technical rep of a battery manufacturer a little while back about regularly topping up an AGM stop/start battery. Was told that constant charging or regular maintenance charging will reduce battery life. Never heard of this before and he may have been trying to promote the sale of a new battery so can anyone debunk or confirm this?

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Dibble

I bought an XC60 end of last year and got the Low Battery on a number of occasions. It is quite a nuisance getting into the battery to charge it up but I discovered on here about CTEK whereby I got a different lead which allowed me to plug my CTEK into my towbar 13 pin plug. Great if you have a towbar but failing that splash out and buy a CTEK and plug it in when the car is parked up. Only about the £60 mark and great value.

It takes me about 10 seconds to remove the cover over my main battery positive terminal... were you removing further panels to also access the negative terminal, rather than clip the negative battery lead onto the engine/bodywork?

Originally Posted by Agro

I spoke to a technical rep of a battery manufacturer a little while back about regularly topping up an AGM stop/start battery. Was told that constant charging or regular maintenance charging will reduce battery life. Never heard of this before and he may have been trying to promote the sale of a new battery so can anyone debunk or confirm this?

So long as the correct (smart) charger is used then surely this must be at least as good for the battery as being charged by the vehicle alternator? Especially on a modern car where the alternator output is further managed to only provide output during periods of deacceleration in the interests of fuel economy (which may not be the kindest charging method for the battery) and - at least on our Volvo cars - limits the normal charge level to only 80 - 85% (which again is not necessarily in the best interests of the battery).

[Dibble]

Originally Posted by Zebster

It takes me about 10 seconds to remove the cover over my main battery positive terminal... were you removing further panels to also access the negative terminal, rather than clip the negative battery lead onto the engine/bodywork?


So long as the correct (smart) charger is used then surely this must be at least as good for the battery as being charged by the vehicle alternator? Especially on a modern car where the alternator output is further managed to only provide output during periods of deacceleration in the interests of fuel economy (which may not be the kindest charging method for the battery) and - at least on our Volvo cars - limits the normal charge level to only 80 - 85% (which again is not necessarily in the best interests of the battery).

Yes I probably was. Certainly took me longer than 10 seconds. I was always concerned I was going to break the battery cover clips. Anyway, using my CTEK on the towbar removes all concerns.

[moosehead74]

Originally Posted by Dibble

Yes I probably was. Certainly took me longer than 10 seconds. I was always concerned I was going to break the battery cover clips. Anyway, using my CTEK on the towbar removes all concerns.

I'd highly recommend the 13 pin socket method if you have a tow bar. It's great this time of year in wind and rain. When used in combination with the CTEK extension lead I can just back the car up to the garage, plug in and leave it.

[Miyo360]

Hi, My XC60 '64 plate with 120,000 miles also has occasional low battery messages. The stop/start has not worked for a few months.

I had a service last month and asked Volvo to look at the battery. They confirmed it wasn't holding a good charge, so suggested I change the battery plus auxiliary battery.

The service was costing me enough, so I said I would bring it back the following month. Having called today for a price I was quoted £384 to supply and fit both batteries!

Seems pretty steep. I think I'll try the advice in this thread first - get a charger and leave it on for a few days, then try resetting the BMS as mentioned in this thread. https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=308958

[Clan]

Originally Posted by suddone

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the message low battery and also the stop start not working. I disconnected the positive side of the battery and left it overnight this worked for a couple of days and the stop start worked again now it’s reverted back to not working. Do I need a new battery? Have seen Halfords adverts for new battery fitting for £180 I think this is a bit steep

you need to charge the battery for at LEAST 48 hours to recover it .
Volvo recommend charging it every 2 weeks in current conditions where cars are not being used as much as usual .

ALWAYS get a quote from volvo if you need a battery they are competitively priced .