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700/900 Series General Forum for the Volvo 740, 760, 780, 940, 960 & S/V90 cars |
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Instantaneous, full battery dischargeViews : 951 Replies : 18Users Viewing This Thread : |
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Oct 9th, 2021, 22:35 | #1 |
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Instantaneous, full battery discharge
Dear friends, this is a real puzzle.
The car: Volvo 940 2.3i estate (1995), 210k mi. Regularly serviced. The problem: Twice now, the car has discharged its battery completely inside one minute, only to be rendered fine again with a jump start. Instance 1 happened in seriously heavy rain round a roundabout which made me think it must be water and electricity not making friends. Instance 2 dashes this theory as it was a beautifully warm day, car used 4x before the fault. Sat to listen to radio for fewer than 5 mins (no rain, engine not running) and it was dead to the point the radio reset itself etc. A jump and it was fine. Battery reads great voltages cold and running but whenever this problem surfaces, the car won't even click the starter solenoid it is that weak. I wondered if it was a loose earth so have been throwing it over speed bumps and round roundabouts and sharp corners to see if I can replicate the fault with cruel treatment; I can;t. There seems no commonality in instances where the car chooses to fall over. Fuel gauge only worls 2% of the time. Fresh plugs and bougicord leads fewer than 10k mi ago. https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=313229 The above thread is realy insightful and details the tracking of a similar electricity demon. I love this car and don't want to hear 'scrap it'. Any advice really appreciated. Stuff I've ruled out is fuel as it has happened once with the engine running, once with it just providing power to radio. Battery itself - this is healthy. Cheers, F |
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Oct 10th, 2021, 07:59 | #2 |
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To discharge a battery that quickly would create a hell of a lot of heat!!!
Battery voltage is not really a good check on its condition. Try to borrow a good known battery. |
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Oct 10th, 2021, 08:59 | #3 | |
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For your advice, I say thanks and will change the battery out to see what it does and report back. It is most annoying as the problem only surfaces occasionally and seems to have no particular reason for showing up. Cheers, F PS it doesn't mind being left for a few days, starts first crank etc. but has shown this fault once whilst driving and once whilst stationary with the ignition and radio on for less than 5 mins. Last edited by Foeux; Oct 10th, 2021 at 09:03. |
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Oct 10th, 2021, 10:58 | #4 |
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Possibly no capacity left in it, sulphated and charging ok but seriously depleted after initial starting.
When you fit the new battery, use a multimeter to check the alternator is charging at around 14 volts. James. |
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Oct 10th, 2021, 11:14 | #5 | |
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Oct 10th, 2021, 11:29 | #6 |
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Agree, check and/or remake battery leads and earth points.
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Oct 10th, 2021, 19:55 | #7 |
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OK chums.Thanks for all chiming in. I have done some things today:
1) Checked battery with car switched off. Good voltage. 2) chucked a Snap on Rapid discharger on it for 15 seconds (it gets f'kin hot) 3) Car started beautifully and voltage on batteryu running is a solid 14.01v 4) checked (visually) all earth straps and cables. All seem ok and unsnapped. Next up I will be: 1) flopping a new battery in 2) Redoing all the earth cables and maybe even adding a fresh one for good measure. I will report back. In the meanwhile I am carrying a spare battery, jump leads and one of those little boxes of devil technology that weigh as much as a vole and claim to be able to jump start the titanic; let's see. I do not begrudge the 210k mi car a wobbly. It is a venerable old thing, I like it and I want to see it carry on. What I do dislike is that at work, there is a fanatacism for brand new, financed, hybrids, electrics etc. Despite that, we all worship the volvo for its good reliability record and also its ability to deliver anything up to and including 0.5t of antique doors which none of the new metal can. This is an unsightly skidmark on what is an otherwise clean white y-fronted record. Cheers, F |
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