Scott,

What you describe occurred to me last year ( Aug 2001 ) on my '98 S70 GLE sedan.

One day, after school, I noticed that my S70's starting didn't sound good @ all, so since my Volvo dealer is on the way home, I stopped at the dealer and the service manager looked at the car, and had a technician check the battery, and it was ok ! ... Afterward, I went straight home ( 15 mins away )

I was getting worried because the next day I was going on a week-long cruise with my family, and that night I was going to leave my S70 w/ my girlfriend for the week.

So, that night, I jumped into my S70, and the starting still didn't sound good and my Dad also agreed, but since the dealer checked it and they said it was ok, we didn't bothered about it. As I was backing out of my driveway, I realized that I forgot something, so I parked and switched off the car in the driveway. Got the item in the house, went back to the car, and it won't start. It won't even crank !! ... Finally, I gave up and my Dad helped me pushed the car back into the house. We will deal w/ it when we come back from the cruise.

When we got back, I had the car towed into the Volvo, and they felt bad, but when they check the battery, it was completely DEAD. In the end, they felt bad, so they paid 75% of the cost of the new battery.

My service manager told me, while I was waiting for the battery replacement, that he has NEVER seen a S/V70's factory battery last more than 5 years. That number decreased the more electronics your S70 is equipped with such as power seats, CD changer, fog light, TRACS, power sunroof, etc ... and how often you used them ? ... He was telling me about this guy who had a fully-loaded 1998 Volvo V70R AWD, and the fact that his battery in the Volvo required a new one annually.

One of my friends, who brought a brand new 1997 Jeep TJ a week or so before I brought my Volvo back in May 1997, also had his stock battery went DEAD a few days before mine went DEAD.

So, NO !, I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that you took out your throttle body and did something to it !!!!! ... Be happy that your stock battery lasted that long !

Hope that helps,

--
Kenny
2001 Nissan Pathfinder SE; 1998 Volvo S70 GLE