Back in January of this year, I decided to replace Helga's 5 year old Exide battery. There was nothing wrong with the battery, other than the age, and the fact that we were planning a trip to Mississippi to see our Son off to Iraq. I purchased an Interstate 750 CCA battery, and the trip was uneventful.

Last Monday morning, I went out to leave for work, only to find a completely dead battery. I drove the Bimmer to work instead, and picked up a replacement battery for the dead interstate. We checked the battery, and found a dead cell.

All was fairly okay until yesterday. I went to move Helga, and she started, but the engine cranked over more slowly than usual. This morning the battery was again dead. I jump started her and drove her to work. The service department checked her out, and the battery checks good. The alternator is putting out nearly 14 VDC to the battery. I have checked for anything that could be pulling the battery down, but can find nothing.

The only recent change was to replace the radio with a more current unit. The radio is completely off (except for the memory circuit) when the key is off. I did have to run a new power lead from the fuse panel since the original positive jumper was inadvertently pulled loose from wherever it plugs in under the dash (in the wiring harness) Anyone know where it plugs into the car?

Any ideas? All interior lights (including the glove box light) are off as well. I'm at wits end on this one.

I've read through the posts, but towards the end, I just kinda skimmed. I didn't notice if anyone posted this, if so, I apologize. With the car off, pull the positive cable off of the battery. Clip a test light to the positive clamp on the cable and touch the probe of the test light to the positive terminal on the battery. If the light comes on, you have a drain from the battery. Have a helper pull the fuses one at a time, make sure to put them back in before you pull the next one out. When the light goes off, you've found the circuit that's causing the drain. If the light doesn't come on, you don't have a battery drain. If that's the case, I'd look into the charging system. Good luck, John

I'd trace down that power lead to make certain you don't have a short, Especially since you have a new battery and you say you are getting nearly 14VDC from your alternator. (14V - Which to me rules out exciter problems, or alternator ground wire). Of course I'm assuming that you have thoroughly cleaned the battery connections and the 14V are actually getting to the battery.

To easily confirm if it is a drain - or a charging problem. Simply check the voltage after parking it for the night. Then check the voltage again in the morning. Since you have a new battery it should hold voltage unless you have a drain. (of course - there are the occasional batteries that are BAD when purchased )


Charles

I'd check for a battery drain. It sounds like something is amiss while the car is sitting overnight.

Just for comparisons, here's the standby current drains in two cars spanning your model year.

1984 (with the broken clock disconnected):
0.372 ma (i.e., 0.000372 amps)

1993:
7.8 ma (i.e., 0.0078 amps) without clock (~ 2.8 mA of that just for the radio's memory, with the rest for the OBD-1 memory, I presume)
~12 ma (pulsing briefly to 25 ma), with clock operating (along with radio and OBD-1 memories)

Do you have power door locks? If so remove that fuse and see what happens.
Dan

You may need to put a ampere meter between the negative ground cable and the battery to check for any draw. You can use a test light too. If the light lights or the meter shows a draw then try disconnecting the alternator cable on the back of side.

You may have a leaky diode to ground. It can be a slow drain sometimes when off. The charge current will be lower in relation to voltage when running. The conversion from AC to DC current will be going to ground thus causing the regulator to raise up as it was a load. It should show the ideal 13.6 to the 14.2 and about 15 amps going to the battery by itself, despite the load.

The next best is removing fuses one by one to find the bad circuit. I mentioned this second because the alternator doesn't go through the fuse panel. Plus, I like working while standing up as much as possible.

Since you were working/playing around with the console. I suspect it could be the cigarette lighter outlet or the wires to it, touching on the back side. I'll stay with you on any other loose wires under there too!

It is hard for me to believe that a radio can run down the battery all by its lonesome. Then again that juice is going somewhere!

Phil

Bill
I just sent a PDF. The green wire on the original radio harness is hot all the time fuse 6. The yellow /black is switched fuse 1.

Is the small red exiter wire lighting the dash light when the key is turned on? Is the ground wire good on the alternator?

Dan

Dan, yes, the exciter wire does turn the light on with the key, and the light goes off after the start. The voltmeter reads as it should, and everything tests okay with the multimeter. This one is a headscratcher for sure. When I arrived at work, the techs

What year is this 240?

With a decent multimeter, measure the current draw from the battery. Should be fairly minuscule. If significant, probe the fuses to find the culprit.

If pre-91, also measure what the FI system is sucking down via the 25A fuse under the hood.

That loose stereo lead is worth tracking down. If you tell us what year, we can probably tell you what color the wire is.

-Ryan

The wire is red. It is about 15" long, and plugs into the radio and disappeared up into the dark abyss above the A/C control head. It came unplugged when I was rerouting the wire, and I can't find where it plugs into the harness up around where the relays are.

1985 245 GL

How is the main wiring harness. You might need to reroute a couple wires from the alternator to the gray plastic connection on the firewall between the engine and brake booster. IPD has a kit or just buy some cheap wire by the foot and some ends.

Main harness has been replaced. Volvo did it for me, and used the good harness with the good material. Alternator is charging fine. No draw that I can detect with ignition shut off. The only thing that should be drawing is a very few micro milliamps from the ecm and the clock and radio.

Hello Stick,

Couple of things to check, you may already have. Have you checked the voltage output and current after the car warms up? I had an alternator once on a non Volvo ride that worked like a champ when you first started the car up. However after the car warmed up the voltage started dropping until the battery was actually doing all the work. Resulted in a dead battery every few days until a new alternator was installed. The alternator when it was warmed up did fail the current load test on the Auto Zone tester. Passed the same test when the the car was barely warmed up.

Have you checked the ground wire from the alternator frame to the engine block is solid? It gets eaten up by corrosion and the amount of current the alternator can deliver depends on that connection to the engine block.

Just a thought and good luck. Looking for a gremlin in the August heat is no fun.

Regards,

Paul

Checked the ground strap from the alternator case to the battery last evening. All is good. I checked the output after driving for several miles, and the output is the same as when cold.

I did notice that the drive belts were just a tad loose (flexing on the other side of the water pump pulley. I adjusted it, and things seem a little better. Car started right up this morning.

Have you checked the accessory bushing under the adjustment arm on the alternator for it's condition? That sounds like the bushing could have succumbed to oil and heat.

The one on Inga was pretty much shot to heck and since it's out of sight under the arm I never noticed it's condition.

Regards,

Paul

I replaced all 10 accessory bushings about a year and a half ago. Mostly wasted time and money, since they were all in pretty good shape. The car is old, but only has 135,000 miles on the clock. I've seen them all, and driven all but a few of them.

I have worked through a number of intermittent battery drains in 240s over the years and if what you have turns out to be an intermittent drain, then I'm willing to place a bet on one of these two VERY common 240 issues.

1. The dome light delay relay. Located under the driver side, clipped to the brake pedal box. Black, cylindrical in shape. Common fault when they get old. Once in a while they hang open after closing the door and will kill a battery in 6 or 8 hours. Solution: simply unplug it. You will still have a dome light. It just won't delay.

2. One person posted a vague reference to the power door locks. On nearly every 240 I've looked at, the wire insulation is flaking off the wires for the PDL actuator and the key lock switch, both in the driver door. This is not exclusive to pre-1988 cars and the problem harnesses. This issue affects EVERY 240, period. When these wires intermittently short, they do things like cause the locks to pull down or push up, and stay that way until the battery drains. The PDLs are active all the time, not just when the key it on. If you ever disconnect the battery and upon re-connecting it, you hear a click coming from one of the doors, this will be it. Solution, open the door panel and repair or re-insulate the rotten wires.
Dave B.

Okay, it appears that I did something really dumb. I attached a power lead from the unfused side of circuit #8 to the lead for the power antenna. This is a constant hot circuit, and the drain was sufficient to pull down the battery overnight. After removing the lead from the circuit, there has been no further problems. Back to what my Dad used to say about changing things from stock.......

Yesterday afternoon, I pulled the door panel, and found no sign of any shorting. The harness is intact, and no insulation is missing. I disconnected the battery, and listened carefully for a click from anything on reconnection, and there was nothing. I removed the courtesy light timer relay, and did a continuity check, and found nothing wrong. I'm still on a search for the problem, since the battery was too low to start the engine yesterday morning. I've had the alternator tested, and the battery load tested, and everything is normal. I did remove the power wire that I had run to the radio, and it looks as if the wire was to the power antenna. This lead hooked to a constant hot source probably would load the circuit with the switch off (antenna lead would want to lower the antenna, and provide a drain to the circuit). I'll see tonight.

Your list is seconded by my own experience on #2, and a couple on-line troubleshooting sessions here on the board, for #1. I have described the delay timer's appearance, to help folks find it, as like a fluorescent lamp starter.

Regarding the insulation failure, those wires, with the silicone insulation and high strand count, are used in the tailgate harness, and under the car in the automatic's OD solenoid harness, and for the vehicle speed sensor. The crank position sensor adds to the list, and probably more (on the M47 for example) in other spots that get flexed in normal operation.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Mothers of teens now know why some animals eat their young.

Maybe that's why I have a battery drain down!? Speedo/odometer not working on my '90 745 automatic. I've delayed looking at the wiring to speedo sensor in the rear end because it seemed more important to troublshoot many possible causes of not being able to key start (Position III) . Difficult to sell the car when it's necessary to pop the hood and jump/hot wire battery cable end to starter terminal on solenoid. It's a new battery and I've topped it up w distilled H2O.

I'll check PDL and dome light too. Then move on to all fuses. I know I still have to check the red wire jct under the fuse tray for clean tight connections. Haven't been able to get that tray out yet. Seems the force required - afraid I'll break it. I order a new $4 fuse tray from Volvo dealer as back-up.

Oh, the logic of electrics!
These threads are so helpful. The School of the BrickBoard. Thanks to you all my teachers - I'm getting a beginner's degree in 240s & 740s. We had a saying in our hippie communes in the 60s & 70s "If you don't know, learn. If you know, teach".
And I now remember someone posting about elec shorts in turn signal/dimmer sw on steering column. Blue Hi/Lo light is always on dimly when ign is on, and works backwards when headlights are on. When lights are switched to bright the temp gauge shuts off. More clues to investigate. Love Hate. I need time for other things in life.

What year is your Brick? When I bought Vickie (she's a 92) - she would sometimes start with a key - othertimes not. PO had jerry rigged up a "button" to bypass the neutral safety switch so the car would always start. If I remember correctly, his also bypassed the security key.

After a bit of digging - found the alternator was not keeping enough charge on the battery to pull a full start, however the button bypassed a number of electronics so she would start. (similar to your direct jumper to the solenoid)


Make certain you got a good strong battery and a full charge (12.6v) and see if it starts with the key alone. If so, I'd double check the Alternator output, battery age, and then start looking for drains.

Hope that helps
Charles

Thanks Charles, That's what I'm gonna do. ASAP.
Steve

Glad to know #2 is common - Vickie (a 92 240) started doing the door lock/unlock while I was standing there (car turned off) - However she didn't just lock and then stay - it would lock and unlock repeatedly over and over again!!!

We started calling her "Christine". It was a quick / easy fix with liquid tape - and no battery drain since then!!!


Charles

What is the current draw from the battery with the ignition off?
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84 242Ti IPD bars&springs, 89 745 16v M46 IPD bars, 89 744 16v M46 IPD bars, 93 945 Turbo AW71, 91 245SE AW70 IPD bars, 93 245 CLassic M47