-a one amp charger, applied over a 24 hour period, is appropriate to the main battery in your Volvo S60. That is 24 amp-hours of charge, enough to bring the battery back to nearly full charge, but not enough to overcharge significantly. This would be done once per week, or more often, if the "low battery warning" appears mid-week. There should be ventilation when charging is being done, so hydrogen gas does not accumulate. Also, the battery can be touched by hand during the charging process, and it may feel warm, but should never feel hot to the touch. At one amp charging rate, I doubt that the battery will get warm. This routine will need to be followed when the car is used locally, less than 200 miles per week. When you go on a trip, say 300 miles per day, or more, the vehicle charging system should maintain the battery at full charge, and no extra charging would be required.

 

Yeah, thanks. I've used the trickle charger and the battery seems to hold the charge. Also, as mentioned upthread, the dealer has also checked out the battery and they say it's okay. SA says the warning is 'normal' but unfortunately it means no functions can be used or adjusted without the engine running. And no I don't want any aftermarket solutions which could void the warranty.

 

So I get the old low battery sign as well, when I had my summer wheels put on I had the guy at OK tire test my battery and it said it good but not great.
I am not too sure but do I have to have the software reset if I change my battery? I have a 2015.5 V60 CC with 35km's on it. I told volvo about it on my most recent
service, I am still under warranty, so do I just tell them I want a new one?

Or am I just better off buying a good aftermarket one and going from there?

Thanks,

Dave

 

There is a technical side to this discussion, and a customer service side to this discussion, but to me, in a very basic sense, people expect their car to start up and run when they need to go somewhere, and for that to happen, the battery has to be fully charged. Some owners will drive the vehicle 100 miles or more per day, and others might only drive 100 miles per week. Somehow, the battery has to be charged up and ready to go when needed. Volvo has added in various electronic features that draw some current when the car is parked and the ignition is turned off. They will have to come up with a way to keep the battery charged up, or owners will lose confidence in the reliability of the vehicle.

 

I don't have a S60, I have XC70. But if the engine compartment is the same, there is a possibility that you could invest in a "T7" battery, which is about 1.5" longer than the "H6" battery. The battery compartment (in front of the driver) accomodates the T7, which is 12.4" long. I was getting the same annoying "Low Battery" on my XC70 when I first bought it. I found out that the power-lift tailgate was the major juice-user while the engine is off. I upgraded to the Interstate MT-92 T7 battery, and I've never seen that message since. I recommend Interstate brand.

I would call Interstate and ask them to verify that their "T7" fits your car. Based on the 2016 S60 Owners Manual p343, it looks like it will fit.

The engine starter motor by far consumes the most current from the battery. It occurs that the "Stop-Start" feature added with the 2015.5 models puts much more demand on battery capacity than previous models. In standstill traffic, the number of engine starts can be exceedingly frequent, with inadequate recharging time in between....this feature should be turned off in traffic jams.

 

Thanks pbierre, I will file this information away for reference! Although, with the way the factory-supplied battery is wedged up underneath the cowl in the S60, I can't imagine that replacing it will be a simple task.

And Eric, agreed. Other cars manage to avoid this issue. Shouldn't be rocket science.

 

Battery change is not difficult. The weather stripping and cowl cover come off. Then it is like most any other car. On the XC60 and S80 there is 2" of space.

 

Has anyone used one of these? As mentioned upthread my dealer won't take action though the car is still under warranty.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/coleman-2-watt-12-volt-solar-battery-maintainer-58012/10644460-p

My question is because the 12v outlet is not functional when the car is turned off. Will it charge?

 

I would get a second or third opinion on your issue while it's under warranty if the first dealer refuses to do anything. Your car is not working as intended with the "low battery" warning and start/stop not working, even though it seems you'd rather the latter stay not working, lol. A "low battery" message is not normal if that's what the first dealer is telling you.

 

The magic word is "BMS Reset". Takes less than 5 minutes through VIDA. Any time the battery is replaced on these cars you need to reset the BMS (Battery Monitoring Sensor) but not many people know about it. Procedure is here: https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?527650-BMS-reset

 

If the battery has ever been completely drained like this, its days are numbered anyways. So I'd do following:

- Use a charger or have a shop fully charge the battery for a day. Have it tested if any failed cells. If yes, it is time to replace it. If not, maybe battery is still usable, try find someone or go to dealer to reset BMS.

- Buy a USB charger with voltage reading. It is handy to show early voltage drop, and you can trickle charge it at home to avoid problem on road.

- If you still see problem or voltage drop, ask dealer to check if any excessive drain when car is off. If it is out of warranty by then, find a shop to check.

- Looking for a shop nearby that can replace battery and have VIDA access to reset the BMS. It will be more handy than going to a dealer faraway.

- If you will keep the car for some more years, consider getting extended warranty from Steingold Volvo. This helps in case there is issue could be covered in future.

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The extended warranties I've had in the past did not cover items like batteries. Some didn't even cover the charging system. I had a 'comprehensive' extended warranty on my Mercedes CL and when the Active Body Control (electro-hydraulic suspension) started acting up I learned that wasn't covered either. Because the ABC struts (leaking after four years) were considered 'shocks' and hence a 'wear item'. Dealer charged $2400 each to replace them. Traded that car in a short while later, and won't even buy a car with air suspension now.

This car is still under its factory warranty coverage, so discussion of extended plans is somewhat academic for the moment.

Is there a number to call to bring Volvo Corporate in on this matter? Or better yet an email address?

 

PM MyVolvoS60 here. He has several helpful escalation email addresses. Meanwhile search for volvo customer support website and you can start from there for a slow start. But you want to use escalation to get it addressed quickly before warranty expires.

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Went the the dealership yesterday, had them test it and told them before they did it that it took my 2 + hours to get there, so I really wanted it replaced. Turns out they did, which was great.

 

Can you explain further what you told them? Mine left me stranded twice, and the dealer kept the car from Monday to Thursday and said there's nothing wrong with it. I even emailed them some of the 'interesting' messages I got on the display while trying to start the car:

Has anyone else seen these messages while trying to start their car? Unfortunately I've had more electrical issues, which is making me wonder if the car had undisclosed flood damage or something. Nothing showed in Carfax, but I know that doesn't mean much.

They charged the battery and said it's holding a charge, and for the first day I didn't even get the "Low Battery" warning. But it came back and I'm back to where I was.

The car's going back tomorrow because the A/C isn't working now. I wanted to take it last week but the dealer was short-staffed and couldn't look at it. So i'm looking at my third consecutive week without the car, which is still under factory warranty. Nothing like this has ever happened to me with a modern car so I'm sort of flummoxed here.

 

For what it is worth, a battery with low charge level could be causing all sorts of problems when the engine is not running, and the alternator is not producing electricity. One would expect these issues to disappear when the engine is running. My best guess based on what you report is that when you take the car to the dealer, he immediately charges up the battery, and the car operates normally, so he turns around and tells you he can't find a problem. If there is a defect in the charging system, the dealer should be able to find the problem, and fix it.

 

Several manufacturers market automotive batteries with an integral state of charge indicator, sometimes called a "Magic Eye." This is a round button located on top of the battery, with colored balls that float in the battery acid. So you can look directly at the battery, and see if it is fully charged or not. If you decide to get a new battery, on your own initiative, I suggest finding one with this feature. It will prevent overcharging, should you find it necessary to manually charge the battery with an external power supply. I think that both Century and Motorcraft sell batteries with this feature.