My 1993 Volvo 940 wagon runs fine however, recently, when I attempt to start it, the starter cranks slowly, if at all, without the assistance of a portable lithium-ion battery jump starter. The auto battery appears to be fully charged and displays about 14.5+ volts with the engine running which indicates that the alternator is functioning as it should. When I turn the engine off and attempt to restart it without a jump, the battery voltage drops from ~12 volts to <11.5 volts. This may indicate a current drain. Would this be a bad starter motor/solenoid or are there any other possibilities? Any advice at the earliest will be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you.
OnlyVolvo

I sold my 940 but I do have a new never used never installed starter,,,text me 908-343-1939

240 or 940??

Not that it makes any difference. I've been using this Harbor Freight "battery analyzer" for the past 5 years as a quick check of both state of charge and internal resistance. The unit comes with Kelvin clamps, test clamps that have two conductors each to separate the power to run the unit and provide the load from the precision voltage probe circuit. It gives results in terminal voltage, internal resistance in milliohms, and calculates cold cranking amps available.

Skeptical at first due to the low price, I'm becoming a believer that I can "grade" a battery without using a carbon pile load tester for the practical maintenance of 240 batteries. (Don't know if it would work on one of them 7/9 cars;)

Battery weakness is far more common than a high drain starter, so your bet to substitute a known good battery has the odds in your favor.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Just found 2 lumps on my car battery.
Had them tested.
One came back positive.
Hope it's not terminal

Hello,
I once had a batterie drain down after the engine was turned off. A digital voltmeter showed the voltage slowly drop. Leaving the meter on the batterie I pulled fuses until the voltage stopped dropping. Turned out to be a glove compartment light not switching off.
Steve

Hi,

Do you have another voltmeter? 14.5 volts sounds way too high.
What do you read at the battery with the car off? It should be 12.6 VDC.
With the car running it should be 14.0 VDC.
If it is actually 14.5V then you're overcharging the battery.
and boiling away electrolyte? Get a battery tester and check each cell.
It will tell you if you have a bad cell.

If it reads 11.5V it sounds like a dead cell in the battery.
How old is the battery? Did it freeze when discharged?
That's bad news for batteries.

Clean your battery terminals with a battery terminal wire brush.
Forget the battery terminal cleaner sold at Harbor Freight, it is junk.

You may have a shot battery?
You can get the battery tested at many national auto parts stores.
They'll test it on a carbon pile.

Assuming you have a bad battery, on replacement check to see that charge volts
with the engine running is about 14.0 volts and NOT 14.5 volts.
With 14.5 volts you are looking at a voltage regulator problem.

Post back, Bill

A votage regulator producing 14.5V is perfectly okay. Measured at the back of the alt between battery B+ and the D- ground terminal, the Volvo spec at 2500 rpm for the later alts is 13.8V-14.6V on the car with a minimal battery load and 14.1V-14.9V on the bench with no load. More commonly you'd expect to see closer to 14.25V at the alt, a bit less with loads on or a charging battery, a bit less still if measured at the battery posts (cable/connection voltage drop). I usually want to see around 13.25V-14.25V measured at the battery at >1700 rpm with minimum loads and no less than 12.5V with all loads on and a battery in only average condition. My first suspicion here would be an older battery that can't cope with winter temps combined with a slightly less than accurate voltmeter.

For others reading here, the nominal voltage for a lead acid battery in perfect condition at normal ambient temps is 2.2V per cell, but in practice it's typically 1.8V-2.1V depending on the charge. So, between posts and disconnected you'll typically see that 12.6V you mentioned, while as low as 10.8V can be considered acceptable for an almost discharged battery. As a battery ages as low as 12.2V is generally considered acceptable when fully charged.

Batteries need to be charged then load tested to determine their health and ability to hold a charge. I find the starter motor sounding weak and/or longer cranking after one week of the car sitting is one of the more reliable ways to know when a battery needs to be replaced.
--
Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

There's an old time starter draw gauge that only requires having the positive cable lay in the channel on the back of the gauge. It's been many years since I used mine so I may be off a bit with numbers--but if you see something like 150-200 Amps when activating the starter you're Ok -- 400-500-600 or something like that-- bad starter. - Dave

Do you know how old the battery is? What is the stated duty cycle of the battery while under your 1992 Volvo 230 hood?

Sounds like what I did and bought a new battery. Also serviced the grounds in the 1991 kittys grey Volvo 240. KP !! Dash lights and headlights are brighter.

YMMVV
--
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