The alternator is putting out plenty of volts. I just put in a new battery. I took out the glove box light, turned off the trunk light. And after setting for a week the new battery was completely dead. Shouldn't a new battery be ok setting for a week? Same problem with the old battery. How do you track down a small battery drain?
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1993 240 Classic; 1992 240; 1997 850 GLT; Mitsubishi 4 cyl.

My problem was always a light on. Flip down the pass through in the rear seat and look for light in the trunk. Also look at the reading lights; my wife turned on a map light once and it drained the battery after a few days.
Meanwhile, keep a trickle charger on the new battery for at least 24 hours to make sure you have a completely charged battery.

Klaus
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1975 164 w/173,500mi 1995 850T w/91,000mi, 1998 V70R w/128,000mi

You need to disconnect one of the battery cables and connect a current meter between it and the battery. Be sure the doors are all closed and the recirc fan is off. The car should be just as it sits when not in use. The meter should show very little current flow. If not try pulling fuses one at a time until you find one that drops the current down. That should narrow your search.

How many mA is considered normal?

I'll check mine tomorrow and get back with you.

Checked mine and it read 25-27 mamps at first then dropped to 20-22mamps. It cycled up and down in time with the flashing of the "auto seak" light on the radio.

Nailed it!

Current was steady at 135 mA, until I got to the "Courtesy Lights/Glove Box/Seat Belt Indicator" fuse. When pulled, it dropped to 15 mA.

Turned out to be the glove box door, which was not closing far enough to depress the light switch plunger.

Thanks for the troubleshooting advice!
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1998 S70 T5, 5-speed, 140k

"Turned out to be the glove box door, which was not closing far enough to depress the light switch plunger."

This is a very common 850 problem. It happens because the door is plastic, the latch is in the center and the switch is at the side. Thus the switch is putting a constanting bending pressure onto the plastic door, and over time the door bends enough that the switch no longer closes. Our 850 was dead upon our return to the airport parking lot once because of this problem. I fixed it by epoxying a nickel into position on the glove box door to act as a striker plate for the switch. Five years later the fix is working fine. I like to say that this is only time I ever fixed our Volvo for a nickel!

This is the kind of engineering mistake Volvo should not be making.

John

In your original message you mentioned that you removed the glove box light and the battery still went dead in a week. Did you??

Just crrious because I recently had to convince an Advance Auto Parts manager that my << one year old battery was defective because it wouldn't hold a charge for more than three days. Their battery tester indicated that the it was good and tried to blame it on a defect in my charging system. The new battery is working great.
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Tom 69-1800S, 72-1800ES, 96-850T,2000-S70 GLT-SE

The original message was actually posted by "Torque" ...

When I put my present battery in 4 months ago, it worked great(comparatively), as you also have observed. But recently, it was dead after only a couple days of sitting.

I now suspect that my glove box light had been "ON" continuously since I bought the car 8 months ago. I never had a clue, as I must have been starting the car often enough (and running it long enough) to keep the battery sufficiently charged. But as I read now, all of this repeated, excessive discharging takes its toll. A car battery is not designed for this type of use, and will eventually fail prematurely. My battery may still be reasonably OK for a while, but I'm sure its life has been reduced significantly ... may also have been the case with your battery, but Advance Auto didn't want to make an issue out of it.

If you haven't already, I suggest you try the test as recommended by "fixit 2003" in this thread. Takes about ten minutes. You may be surprised!
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1998 S70 T5, 5-speed, 140k

I did measure my stand by current. It was 24ma. which is normal. I also checked all the door and trunk lights by triggering the latches. All OK.
One thing I did notice is that the newer S70 has a larger battery than the 96 850. I think it is a 48 series whereas the older one, which I had the trouble with, is the smaller 24 series.
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Tom 69-1800S, 72-1800ES, 96-850T,2000-S70 GLT-SE

Checked mine and it read 25-27 mamps at first then dropped to 20-22mamps. It cycled up and down in time with the flashing of the "auto seak" light on the radio.

Where did you get the battery? What brand? I have heard of bad batteries from the get-go. They've sat on the retailer's shelf for awhile and not good quality to begin with. Just a thought but could be your issue.
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1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic (125K), 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red (45K), Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon (Sold at 140K and miss her). My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.

I thought of that (i.e. bad new battery), but the old battery also had the same problem until I put it in my 240 and it is doing fine. I'll check the visor light. I was wondering if the door lock (since a lock sticks up) or the factory alarm system is draining it somehow since the audible alarm isn't audible anymore (sounds like it has larygitis).
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1993 240 Classic; 1992 240; 1997 850 GLT; Mitsubishi 4 cyl.