Re: Dead Battery? (eurotrash)

Quote, originally posted by eurotrash »

I have a '05 S40 T5 AWD with 14,500mi Today I unlock the doors, get in and start the engine. The dash lights up and then dies out. So I try again. I get this odd clicking noise and the key is stuck in the "I" position. I finally get it to the "0" position. I try to start the car again and this time there is a louder clicking sound from the ignition. Everything is dead- locks, lights, nothing works. But the lights on the geartronic are working. Anybody encounter a dead battery early on like this? Or could this be something besides the battery?

Sounds dumb but try opening the hood.

I had this problem a couple of times and found that opening the hood somehow reset things and had me up and running again.

Let me know if that works - I thought I was going mad at the time.

UKMatt

 

Re: Dead Battery? (ukmatt)

Hell, why not?

I'll give it a try, thanks man!

 

Re: Dead Battery? (eurotrash)

Still no power. I'll get it towed in the morning.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (eurotrash)

I have found that my lights where on a couple of times even though they are suppose to turn off when the engine is shutdown, maybe you had the same problem?

 

Re: Dead Battery? (nepats555)

i don't think I've ever had that problem.

Oh well, I always have had problems with the battery. My Camry's battery blew up on start-up once, my Accord's alternator failed (at first, the dealer thought it was the battery), and now this. Hopefully it's just a duff battery.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (eurotrash)

Hmmm...

That really sounds like dead battery OR loose battery contacts. Why not check them (I suspect that you did that already), measure voltage with multimeter and try to charge it? Much less hassle than towing. Of course, it might be one of the car's computers going completely haywire.

Even if the battery is failing you should be able to drive to the dealer once you get the car running. Just leave everything off (stereo, headlights). If the alternator has failed, you should have seen a code and warning light but still charging the battery would give it enough energy that you can get to the dealer.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (nepats555)

Monday my lights didn't go off after I shut the car down. I waited about 2 minutes to see if they'd go off by themselves. They didn't. I tried playing with the switch but that didn't do anything. I had to restart the car and shut it down again to get them to go off. They've worked fine since.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (v50t5black)

yeah that's the same thing I did and didn't have a problem for several weeks. I am a little worried becuase I parked in the sun the other day and didn't notice they were on until I came back a couple of hours later, I don't want to get stuck with a dead battery.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (nepats555)

I got it jump started and drove it to the dealer. Once there, I shut it off and started the car up again without any problems. They suggested to keep the DRLs on the 12 o'clock position and decided to test the battery- and it turned out to be a bad battery.

So it seems like I just got a bad battery. Which is a bit odd, since I had just had the 15K service and fuel line recalll done.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (eurotrash)

Nothing Your dealer did at the 15K service effected the battery....There's only about three battery manufacturer's left in the US and only ONE of them knows how to make a good battery..... and off-shore battery mfg's..... especially from the far east have NO Clue I understand.... Not sure who actually makes batteries in Europe but from what I've seen here and the luck My Sister has had with Her two Volvo's their quality fluctuates greatly....
The way battreries are constructed now they tend to fall apart inside and become 10.5V or 9V batteries as opposed to 12V..... the plates themselves don't decay or get coated with non-conductive material as the batteries of 20+ yrs ago did. Therefore they die very suddenly.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (POWERSTROKE)

^I was just surprised at how quickly the battery crapped out. They checked the battery during the 15K and said it was fine. Hopefully this one will last a bit more than 15K.

 

My battery died after about 10 months at around 16k. It's normal to replace batteries every two years here, but I was surprised it died so young. Made 'em tow the car to the dealer!

 

Re: (jpm)

Batteries are a real crapshoot. Some last forever, some just die for no good reason. In my experience, OEM batteries are more likely to die early. The last one stranded us at the movies. I have had real good experience with Diehard batteries. I always buy them as replacements for OEM and so far they all lasted longer than the cars I bought them for.

 

get a deepcycle. you can leave your headlights on for hours.

 

Re: (phuz)

I had that same problem in my Volvo. Turned out the voltage regulator was faulty. Perhaps this is another common Volvo problem? There was no real symptom on the first battery, but on the second battery as I was driving home, I got a "Battery voltage low" message on the display and sure enough, it was dead in the morning. Finally just took it to the dealer. Thank goodness for warranties.

 

Re: (Majisto)

Quote, originally posted by Majisto »

I had that same problem in my Volvo. Turned out the voltage regulator was faulty. Perhaps this is another common Volvo problem? There was no real symptom on the first battery, but on the second battery as I was driving home, I got a "Battery voltage low" message on the display and sure enough, it was dead in the morning. Finally just took it to the dealer. Thank goodness for warranties.

Well we'll see what happens, but I think I'm the only one to have a battery die out here.
Looking back on it- at random times it did seem like it took more time to start the car. But I never got a bad battery message.

 

Re: (eurotrash)

I've been through 2 batteries and I have 29,000 miles. Seriously considering purchasing the VIP plan before my 50,000 miles are up.

 

Re: Dead Battery? (eurotrash)

About a year after buying my new S40, I went out one night after work to head home, and had the same problem. Couldn't be jumped; I had to have it towed. Ended up having the battery replaced - apparently there was something wrong with it.

 

Re: (gargantula99)

Quote, originally posted by gargantula99 »

I've been through 2 batteries and I have 29,000 miles. Seriously considering purchasing the VIP plan before my 50,000 miles are up.

VIP plans are several thousand, aren't they? Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a better battery? Or do we have some funky battery design that limits us to Volvo batteries?

So far, I have no reason to buy a VIP plan. But I can wait until the last minute (vehicles with at least one month and 1,000 miles of New Vehicle Warranty remaining) are eligible.

 

Re: (eurotrash)

sounds like a dead battery. mine died too after about 28000 miles / 1year.

 

Re: (eurotrash)

Quote, originally posted by eurotrash »

VIP plans are several thousand, aren't they? Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a better battery? Or do we have some funky battery design that limits us to Volvo batteries? So far, I have no reason to buy a VIP plan. But I can wait until the last minute (vehicles with at least one month and 1,000 miles of New Vehicle Warranty remaining) are eligible.

I wouldn't get the plan just for the battery, but for every other problem that I've had with the car!