XC70: Electrical 2013 xc70 chaos after battery replacement

[Olaf Els]

Originally Posted by monkeh

I've never had issues with battery disconnection, It's always been, Negative off, Positive off, Battery out, Battery in, Positive on, Negative on. I've NEVER had any issues, regardless of any car that supposedly loses its mind everytime a battery gets disconnected. My Chrysler, Dodge, Dads 03 v70 and this '09 xc70. All of which have had batteries changed/disconnected/charged.

When I purchased the first pair of batteries for my Mitsubishi 4x4, I hadn't noticed that the battery posts were in the opposite positions to European standards. Very strange things happened when I connected them up, but fortunately no harm was done. I dread to think what damage this might have done to a more modern vehicle!

[tonys1966]

Originally Posted by Familyman 90

12.4 is a touch on the low side for a new battery in good health. May be worth a proper drop test, see how the battery responds. It's not super common, but also not unknown for new batteries to be faulty.

yup-its been on a battery conditioner overnight[optimate] will see what it reads-but i did re-try removed battery which was good,but same symptoms

[tonys1966]

Originally Posted by monkeh

I've never had issues with battery disconnection, It's always been, Negative off, Positive off, Battery out, Battery in, Positive on, Negative on. I've NEVER had any issues, regardless of any car that supposedly loses its mind everytime a battery gets disconnected. My Chrysler, Dodge, Dads 03 v70 and this '09 xc70. All of which have had batteries changed/disconnected/charged.

same here=working on cars 40 yrs or so
However this car was bought with issues -which had seem to vanish for the 200 or so miles ihave done in it scince bought start of month
i think its something related to the cables and attachments-positive side to fuse/distribution box

[Simmy]

it might also be worth checking for any water ingress and also cecking the cem connections is there any history of it being a flood damaged car?

[tonys1966]

no history of flood damage
sunroof drains been cleaned[seemed ok anyway and running clear]
carpets dry

checked hidden fuse box at front and positive connections
will check all the fuses for continuity later

also noticed engine earth is poor looking along with the one on the bulkhead

car started giving trouble appx mid feb with previous owner during monsoon season-until recently its been a southern car
earths under airbox look fine

scuttle off later once i put a bit of tape on to mark wiper park position and remake earths

[tonys1966]

Originally Posted by Olaf Els

When I purchased the first pair of batteries for my Mitsubishi 4x4, I hadn't noticed that the battery posts were in the opposite positions to European standards. Very strange things happened when I connected them up, but fortunately no harm was done. I dread to think what damage this might have done to a more modern vehicle!

probs have fried it lol

[tonys1966]

well.... redid some slightly poor looking earths
checked all fuses in underbonnet fuse box-some crusty looking terminals on the little block of small fuses nearest the wing-replaced all fuses with new[checked all were good before fitting]

re-assembled car-still the same
re-set smart battery system and it allowed me to reset/erase the many faults and they seemed to stay erased...
left car 4 hrs as it says[locked etc]

started allowed to idle for 20 mins or so-went for 5-6 mile drive all fine
car still ran fine for an hour until i was farting about with vida[got an intermittant issue with climate fan not working-old issue] and the warning lights for dtsc etc came back-so i have done another battery re-set and left it overnight to settle...not sure if the vida has upset the applecart or its maybe alternator-battery showing 96% 13.3v steady on vida...
car is on original alternator at 144k so maybe bit suspect vida says its ok but.... will maybe pull alternator off and get it checked over or replace it should i continue to get issues

[Simmy]

re scan with vida to reset initial state drive the car and see which codes come back double click on each fault for more info and possible causes of said fault then use live data function

[Tannaton]

The volvo procedure for reconnecting the battery with the key in pos II (on p2 cars that actually had a key) was simply so when the airbag system was re-powered, you were not sat behind one (I.e. in drivers seat). The sequence of terminal disconnection is -ve first simply so that if you catch your spanner on any bodywork when undoing the +ve terminal you won’t short the battery. There is no impact on ECUs etc.

Back to the OP - very unusual, I would be suspecting intermittent charging fault as well. As the OP has VIDA I would go for a drive using the logging function to monitor voltage.

[tonys1966]

Back to the OP - very unusual, I would be suspecting intermittent charging fault as well. As the OP has VIDA I would go for a drive using the logging function to monitor voltage.[/QUOTE]

does anybody know if the smart charge system triggers the alternator to provide charge when needed or simply deals with the charge at the battery end? normal diagnosis would be to measure amps with a clamp meter on battery cable-but if the car controls the alternator triggering the charging pulse its probably not gonna be a great method.

Will try the vida logging feature should i get more issues-still finding my way around the vida,more used to vagcom,inpa,delphi etc-it has been great so far