The message to which you are about to reply is shown first. GO TO REPLY FORM



 VIEW    REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

1983 240 Electrical - headlight drain? 200

posted by  KEandCo on  Tue Feb 12 21:19 CST 2013
Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
last visit: Fri Mar 22 16:24 CST 2013
[RELATED]

OK, here's a challenge...

I accidentally left the headlights on in my '83 and drained the battery.

Jumped it, got it home, trickle-charged it, all good. This has happened in years past.

But this time is different: ever since, if I use my headlights during my commute (30 min each way, mostly highway) I notice I drain my battery to the point of needing a trickle-charge or jump within a week.

If I don't use my lights, car seems fine.

I've checked the alternator, am getting a steady 13.8/13.9 V @ 2000 rpm, 13.4 V at idle.

I've checked the battery, which is admittedly probably too old -- my understanding is that if I draw half of the CCA for 15 seconds at ambient the voltage from 12.6V should not be more than 3 V or to 9.6V -- mine drops to 8.34V. But if it were just an old battery, why would draining it have caused what I'm seeing? And why would my car still do fine when I'm running without headlights?

Any thoughts? Next steps to troubleshoot etc? (I don't want to stick a new battery in if something is shorting and will kill it too!)

-K






USERNAME
Use "claim to be" below if you don't want to log in.
PASSWORD
I don't have an account. Sign me up.
CLAIM TO BE
Use only if you don't want to login (post anonymously).
ENTER CAPTCHA CODE
This is required for posting anonymously.
OPTIONS notify by email
Available only to user accounts.
SUBJECT
MODEL/YEAR
MESSAGE

DICTIONARY
LABEL(S) +
IMAGE URL *
[IMAGE LIBRARY (UPLOAD/SELECT)]

* = Field is optional.

+ = Enter space delimited labels for this post. An example entry: 240 muffler


©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.