Problem with battery

budgemook

Hi,

I am using my mates Volvo S40 while he is in Australia but this morning it went completely dead.

Got it about a month ago, it had only been driven a few times in the previous few months, started fine that day though and was going fine for a good few days. Then one evening, after a short drive that morning, it needed to be pushed to start. Same next day so drove it 60 miles (at night so lights and heater were on) but it wouldn't start without a push a few hours later.

So, I got a battery from a 01 Golf that wasn't being used anymore and charged it using a charger. The car was fine then for about three weeks. This weekend, I drove it around town on Friday night and then again Sunday afternoon. This morning, the car was completely dead. Ignition, lights, even remote central locking were all totally dead - not a kick.

Anyone have any idea what the problem might be? I didn't leave the lights on.

Two more things I did. When I got it I fiddled with the wires a little to get rear indicator working and I rewired the radio, just swapped yellow and red wires so radio would remember pre set stations and cd track.

jimmyw

First thing is to get the battery checked to rule it in or out.Next the alternator needs to be checked to see if that is ok.You may have a short with the fiddling you did.The golf battery might be bad too.It does sound like it could be the alternator.

whizbang

If car restarts easily after a run, then its probably not the alternator.
- maybe the radio was wrongly connected for a reason.:P
just for info; how long did full charge take?
if cheap charger, it should take 24hours to charge a good battery. if it charges quickly then battery is duff

Nonoperational

If battery is OK then I'd be suspicious of the jigging aroung with wires you did. If the car was fine and you did something then it's almost always that something!

budgemook

budgemook wrote: »

just swapped yellow and red wires so radio would remember pre set stations and cd track.

whizbang wrote: »

- maybe the radio was wrongly connected for a reason.:P

Might be worth investigating although it may well not be an issue. I had to do the same to the head unit I threw into my old W124. May well be coincidence though. Does the stereo remain on after switching off the ignition?

budgemook

whizbang wrote: »

If car restarts easily after a run, then its probably not the alternator.
- maybe the radio was wrongly connected for a reason.:P
just for info; how long did full charge take?
if cheap charger, it should take 24hours to charge a good battery. if it charges quickly then battery is duff

Radio wasn't connected wrongly for a reason, my mate just did it wrong. Just charged the battery for about three hours but that was about three weeks ago and no problems since

RoverJames wrote: »

Might be worth investigating although it may well not be an issue. I had to do the same to the head unit I threw into my old W124. May well be coincidence though. Does the stereo remain on after switching off the ignition?

No the stereo switches off. I did read though that the way I have it connected is as always on rather than ignition. This is so the channels can be stored and isn't supposed to use your battery so much that it dies. Anyways, it was fine for three weeks and then all of a sudden not a kick.

I have a feeling that on my drive on Sunday something must have happened.

- Don't think it's alternator because battery has been fine last three weeks
- Don't think it's wiring for same reason

Maybe I left something on but I don't think so. I'm going to get jump leads later and give it a jump and see what happens after that.

Buford T Justice

budgemook wrote: »

I did read though that the way I have it connected is as always on rather than ignition. This is so the channels can be stored and isn't supposed to use your battery so much that it dies.

Radio's have two lives in them. A permanent live which keeps the radio stations etc... and a switched live which turns on and off the radio with the ignition.

There could be something draining the battery.

Remove both terminals from the battery, and check the voltage across the two poles. Put the terminals back on the battery, and check the voltage again and see if there's a differential. The car should be off, with the ign off too.

Alternatively you can measure to see if there are any amps being pulled from the battery when the car is off, but you need a multimeter that can measure amps, and you need to know how to do it as you can very easily cook a meter doing it.

budgemook

So, today my friend called over and we connected his battery to mine with jump leads. Was thinking the car would at least start but no joy. There was a little more life in it, heard a slight chug but no way would it start up. Any ideas?

One thing I didn't mention, when the first battery went, when I tried to start it I could hear a loud clicking noise that seemed quite out of the ordinary. When I put the golf battery in it was starting so no clicking and when it went it was completely dead so no clicking either. When the two batteries were connected today the clicking was back when I turned on the ignition. Not sure if this is important...

jimmyw

Was the other car running when you tried to start it? There might be a dodgy connection somewhere.When it doesn't start there is a clicking sound? Its either dodgy batteries, bad connection between batt and solenoid, duff solenoid, or a drain.Are you using good jump leads, maybe try a power pack if possible.

budgemook

I got it jumped in the end.

My mate gave me his two cents on it. When I charged the Golf battery I only gave it 3 hours on a fast charge. He reckons a day or 2 on slow charge would see it right. Going to try that at the weekend.