Low Battery Message

[Miyo360]

Originally Posted by krzemien

Are you able to spill the beans and let us know which dealer exactly gave you this piece of advice (and quote)?

It was MKG3000 in Twickenham. I will say I have used them for all servicing of my XC60 in the 2.5 years of ownership and they have been fantastic. As well as servicing, etc, I have twice had the EGR fix and twice they championed my case to Volvo to get them to foot the bill (2nd time round Volvo refused to pay, so they escalated it and made further appeals and won another "good will gesture" from Volvo). I have bench-marked their pricing for all the services I have booked (including the one last month, which was major + timing belts) and their prices have always been in line with what is advertised on the Volvo website. They have been brilliant and I will continue to use them.

On this occasion, perhaps it's my misunderstanding. When I took it in for the service last month and mentioned the "Low Battery" warnings on the dashboard, they said they did run the diagnostics and the battery was not holding a good charge and recommended it be replaced. From my (poor) memory, I recall them quoting around £180.

When I called yesterday to book in the battery replacement I simply said I needed a new battery, the stop/start isn't working, diagnostic message, etc. It was me that suggested that both batteries needed replacing, not the chap on the phone, so perhaps he was just quoting what I'd asked for, not what actually needs replacing. Although he did ask if stop/start wasn't working and seemed to agree both batteries would need replacing.

Now reflecting on that call, the service history should show the results of the battery diagnostics and from that they should be able to see what needs replacing. I will add that I didn't recognise the guy who I spoke to on the two calls yesterday - the servicing department is usually manned by <name respectfully withheld> who has knowledge of my car and its history and might have been more thorough dealing with my call.

However, having now learned I can likely fix this with a good quality charger and a BMS reset, I'm now willing to try to fix this myself.

[samball]

Originally Posted by Moose Test

Why? If you're connecting the charger to the battery positive terminal anyway, why wouldn't you connect to the negative one directly too?

Volvo specifically state that the earth should be attached to the chassis and not the battery.
https://www.youcanic.com/guide/charge-volvo-car-battery

[jasmith44]

Yes it does but if you are charging it in the house it will be a bit awkward.

[Moose Test]

Also out of interest, does it matter that in "reconditioning" modes these kinds of chargers have an output voltage quite a bit higher than encountered during normal charging? IIRC the Noco I have operates at around 16v in that mode and the manual suggests removing it from the vehicle to "prevent damage to electronics".

Is that really likely to be a problem? I did remove mine but it wasn't in a Volvo and was easily extracted.

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Moose Test

Also out of interest, does it matter that in "reconditioning" modes these kinds of chargers have an output voltage quite a bit higher than encountered during normal charging? IIRC the Noco I have operates at around 16v in that mode and the manual suggests removing it from the vehicle to "prevent damage to electronics".

Is that really likely to be a problem? I did remove mine but it wasn't in a Volvo and was easily extracted.

I would simply remove the readily-accessible positive connection. The electrons won't know the battery is still in the vehicle and the negative connection alone cannot conduct into the car.

[Miyo360]

So, I plan on leaving the battery in the car.

Originally Posted by Zebster

I would simply remove the readily-accessible positive connection. The electrons won't know the battery is still in the vehicle and the negative connection alone cannot conduct into the car.

Thanks Zebster. Dumb question time... By "readily-accessible positive connection" I presume you mean just loosen and remove the connection shown in yellow here https://i.imgur.com/CiU2ZbC.png

Once that's done

1. I hook up the + clip to the + on the battery
2. I hook up the - clip to a nearby unpainted bolt or strut
3. I plug in the CTEK, set mode to 'recond'
4. wait

Have I got that right?

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Miyo360

So, I plan on leaving the battery in the car.



Thanks Zebster. Dumb question time... By "readily-accessible positive connection" I presume you mean just loosen and remove the connection shown in yellow here https://i.imgur.com/CiU2ZbC.png

Once that's done

1. I hook up the + clip to the + on the battery
2. I hook up the - clip to a nearby unpainted bolt or strut
3. I plug in the CTEK, set mode to 'recond'
4. wait

Have I got that right?

Ah, yours looks very different to mine! On mine I can only easily access the positive battery terminal (and I have to remove a cover to do even that!). But yes, remove the connection on yours under the red cover that the yellow arrow is pointing at.

*Yes, the charger positive clip then goes to the battery.
*Actually I'd then put the charger negative clip onto the battery negative (seeing as how we're discussing battery reconditioning)
*I'm not sure how the CTEK is then used (I have a Hyundai smart charger, which also has a reconditioning mode)

[Miyo360]

Originally Posted by Zebster

Ah, yours looks very different to mine!

Apologies, I used a stock "car battery" photo from google - it isn't a photo of my battery!

Originally Posted by Zebster

*Actually I'd then put the charger negative clip onto the battery negative (seeing as how we're discussing battery reconditioning)

Ah, now I'm confused. The earlier advice was to connect the negative to the chassis. Your saying connect negative to battery.

Even the CTEK manual is confusing [link]. The basic instructions on page 1, step 1 simply says "connect the charger to the battery". However, page 6 says for batteries still inside the vehicle, connect the negative to the chassis. I'm inclined to follow that.

A funny observation, page 7, safety notes say "Always check that the charger has switched to STEP 7 before leaving the charger unattended and connected for long periods. If the charger has not switched to STEP 7 within 50 hours, this is an indication of an error" - So I gotta sit with the charger for 50 hours, before leaving it...!?

[Zebster]

I've honestly got no idea why you imagined it would be helpful to attach a stock photo of a car battery that has no relation to your own, but I can't be bothered to now unravel the advice I gave after looking at it!

Just be aware that 'reconditioning' is NOT the same as routine charging and so it may not be a good idea to run this process via the BMS sensor; that was the point I was making. But following the instructions given for your charger is probably the best plan.

Have you identified whether your battery is an EFB or AGM type? My charger requires a different setting.

[Tannaton]

That ^^^^^ if you are doing a reconditioning procedure and not just re-charging partially discharged battery and therefore need to disconnect the battery - it doesn't matter which lead you disconnect - and if you disconnect the positive lead you should attach the -ve lead from the charger direct to the battery terminal in these circumstances.