[GoBigRed]

I've gotten a "Low Battery" message once or twice over the past few months, but have never had any trouble starting my car or anything like that. Figured maybe the battery was getting old, but that I'd wait to investigate more. Just yesterday I got a more serious sounding message while I was waiting for a friend with the engine off. The key was turned to have the battery on and I was listening to the radio with the vent fan on.

Message on the gauge cluster: LOW BATTERY, POWER SAVE MODE
http://www.flickr.com/photos/p...28270/

The radio screen also changed and showed a message that I'd never seen, something like "Power Save Mode, Infotainment System Shutting Down in 2 Minutes". I left it on just to see what would happen: it did turn off on it's own, and wouldn't turn on again until after I had started the car.

I was picking my friend up to drive with her over to a mechanic (ironically, her Jetta stalled right after existing the freeway with a flashing battery light). So I asked the mechanic if a 2005 Volvo should have a low battery and he said no, "the contacts may be corroded, try cleaning them. That should take care of it."

What do you guys think? The mechanic mentioned that I should write down the radio code before cleaning the battery contacts - I would have forgotten about that. Any other suggestions?

Original low battery message was in early December: http://www.flickr.com/photos/p...91445/

 

[GoBigRed]

Re: Power Save Mode -- low battery, corroded contacts, what? (GoBigRed)

Checked the battery contacts this morning and they look pretty clean, or at least no visible evidence of corrosion.

Any ideas?

 

[tmtalpey]

Re: Power Save Mode -- low battery, corroded contacts, what? (GoBigRed)

A 2005 will have, by now, a 4 year old battery. Time to replace it in all likelihood.

Tom.

 

[laser8302]

I second tmtalpey's diagnosis. Eventually the battery can't hold a charge and needs to be replaced. Take it to autozone or some place and have them test the battery.

 

[GoBigRed]

Re: (laser8302)

Seems possible, I'll have it checked. I was skeptical of that since its always started/cranked strong, but perhaps the "power save mode" really has done it's job: keeping the battery from getting weak.