Hello all,
I posted a question about the alternator and battery of my volvo 850. I took the battery back to walmart and they told me it was dead and gave me a new one. This is the 4th exchange that I had in the last 2 years, each battery lasted for only 6 to 8 months. The one I just exchanged lasted only for 2 months. I therefore suspected the alternator is dying and not charging. I took the car to Kragens and they tested the alternator and said it is fine. I am puzzled now so I suspect there is something short or lights on when the car is not running. I measure the current with key off and found there is about 0.14 to 0.15 A of current draining. Then I did a fuse check. The 0.14 A current, 0.08 A is contributed by the "central lock", and 0.06 A is contributed by the glove box/accessory/trunk light/alarm system fuse.

I understand the car will drain some current even with the ignition off, so, does 0.14 A sound reasonable? Is there anything else that I can check?

BTW, I did check the glove box light and am sure it is off when the door is closed.

thanks,
Cheng