XC90 non-start

[Fika]

Hi all,

We've had an XC90 (2.5T, 2006) for only a month and have done 500 miles without any problems and our first issue has cropped up:

When turning the ignition switch:
-Dashboard lights up as normal (everything lit up). When trying to start car, only lights left on are handbrake and oil lamp (it's been off when I last drove the car otherwise).
-12v socket works- gizmo/transmitter connected to socket reads 12v before trying to turn on the car completely, 11.8v after a few attempts after
-No cranking sound heard
-I can hear clicking near the ignition switch
-I have tried to jump start the vehicle by using the engine bay terminals (negative lead to suspension mount nut), unsuccessful

The last time I successfully turned on the car was 2 days ago when I had to reorient the car. I don't have the DICE dongle to connect and diagnose anything but I do have the VIDA VM running on a PC and can migrate that to a laptop. Would appreciate any feedback on what the issue could be.

[gmonag]

Clearly the issue is electrical.

Looks like the battery is flat, or
one of a million other things electrical.

Methodical diagnosis required.

[reggit]

Try and use something on the engine to connect the negative lead - there's a handy bracket on the alternator on the D5 engine - don't know the layout of the 2.5T accessories though. Or use the earthing strip on the inner wing if you and get the jump lead to it.

If you are only seeing 12v, I'd be thinking the battery is guffed, do you have a multimeter that you can directly read the voltage from the battery?

[Fika]

The 12v sockets, are they meant to go above 12v, I'm not as familiar with the electrical system but I would've thought the battery would be higher voltage that was output as 12v to the cigarette lighter wocket

[Harley Dave]

AFAIK the 12v socket in the rear cargo area is effectively connected directly to the battery (through protective fuses obv) so it will show battery voltage but this is just introducing another variable in the fault finding.

Put a meter across the jump start terminals under the bonnet and go from there.

Connecting a battery charger across same terminals for 24hrs ought to give you a known starting point.

Sounds like your jump start connection wasn't too good as, if it is a low battery, that ought to have got you started.

As others have said you need to use the earthing strip on the passenger side inner wing for the negative.

Cheers

Dave

[StevieH]

Sounds similar to a problem we are having at the moment.

If your battery is reading 12V or so, I'd be surprised that you can't hear any kind of attempt for the engine to turn over, even a pathetic whirr or so!

If there is nothing at all other than a click around the ignition switch, it defo sounds like the one we've got. It probably will be a good thing to give the battery a charge as suggested, that's what I did. If you have meters, the volts/current while charging should be an idicator of the state of the battery.

If you get nowhere, there are things to try.

[Fika]

Please forgive me, I did not follow through on this! The car has been starting up fine for teh past three months- no issues...It was the autobox. Always read the manual

[Harley Dave]

"Autobox" as in, not in P or N or whatever?

Cheers

Dave

[Fika]

Yes that's the one

[Harley Dave]

Well done for coming back on and "fessing up"

I had a Moto Guzzi motorbike, back in the day, which had a side-stand cut-out switch so you couldn't start it up (and thus drive off) with the side stand down.

That used to catch me out from time to time...

Cheers

Dave