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Maintenance Free Battery


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#1
gkltsp

Posted 13 July 2005 - 08:13 AM

gkltsp

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Hi guys,

i know this may be a silly question, but i just wanted to know if there
is something wrong with my car....

I have changed my DIN 66 Maintenance Free battery for 3 months.

and there is this indicator with 3 codes with colour codes

Green - OK
Black spot - Recharge
All white - For check up

my question is that of late it has always been at the Recharge colour and
never seem to be Green. Is this normal due to ageing of the battery ? (3
months)

starting and all seems fine,...

thanks

cheers

#2
kenari1

Posted 13 July 2005 - 09:53 AM

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gkltsp,

defintely something wrong with the charging system.

I had the same case as yours happen to me. Just that instead of three
months, it happened in just over 2 weeks.

plonk in new battery. car starts lively beat and after two weeks, weak
starts and low battery voltage.

turns out that it was the alternator going to the volvo place in the sky.

changed the alternator and everything went back to normal. wasted my money
on a brand new battery i didn't need in the first place but it gave a new
insight into how the car charges up the battery.

what you need to do is go to a competent automotive electrical specialist,
who diagnoses alternator charging.ThumbUp if you go to a battery shop, then
all they want to do is sell you a battery.Disapprove



#3
gkltsp

Posted 13 July 2005 - 12:32 PM

gkltsp

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hi kenari

ahh... "competent"is one thats difficult to find,..hey by any chance
turbolim has one of those gadgets ? ... coz i now work near his
place ...will a multimeter do ?

what is the voltage between battery + and - when the car is running with
alternator good ?

any idea whats the price for a recond or second hand alternator for
940Turbo ? but the "battery" symbol does not appear le , was your case
the same?

cheers

#4
kenari1

Posted 13 July 2005 - 12:51 PM

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a voltmeter with the amp function will do ok. start the car up, yank off
the -ve terminal and put the ammeter in line with the battery terminal and
the terminal you pulled off.

as for the malfunction indicator - it did not appear on mine. the problem
with this battery indicator is that unless there is a total loss in
charging function it will not come on.

the current problem is akin to the alternator slowly dying a cancerous
death. you don't know it is happening unless something else goes wrong. in
our case the battery is slowly depleting.

#5
thing

Posted 13 July 2005 - 01:17 PM

thing

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Use a voltmeter, measure across the battery terminal when the engine is
running. The voltage should be about 13 to 14V. When you switch off the
engine, the reading will drop back to 12V.

#6
gkltsp

Posted 13 July 2005 - 03:54 PM

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thanks guys,.. will first get a multimeter , secondly will check .voltage.

thanks... if all turns our okay,.. is there anywhere else i should check ?



#7
kenari1

Posted 13 July 2005 - 10:49 PM

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check the amp not the voltage!! only a really bad alternator will show up
on the voltage reading. and the "battery" indicator works on the voltage
principle. so if your alternator still able to produce 12volt dc, it will
not light up.

the voltage will continue to fluctuate as it did in mine. at idle 12~13vdc
and when the engine is revved 13~14vdc. it never dropped below the danger
level of 11.8vdc.

but when you checked the amp going into the battery - you will notice that
the amp is going in negative ampere. mine showed -0.4 amp which meant that
the alternator could not supply enough current for the charge.

when revved the ammeter showed +0.6 amp going to the battery and dropped
back to -0.4 at idle. if the headlights were turned on it would draw up
-1.2amp. that means the alternator would not be able to charge the battery
anymore. so it cost a bit over rm1000 (brand new)to replace the whole
alternator assy. but this is for a 850t5. maybe the 940 alternator can be
repaired.

the proper charge current should be +1amp and above and should not drop
below +1amp when you turn on the main lamps (headlights).

good luck!!!

ThumbUp


btw, after going to a few automtive electrical shops, all said that the
volvo (850t5 anyway...) alternator is beyond their repair scope. most say
that even after repairing, the problem never really goes away. the whole
assy needs to be reconditioned and tested before it can be re-used. other
wise it will be alot of time spent taking it off, putting it on, taking it
off.......

buying new alternator assy is the best option.Disapprove

#8
vol940

Posted 13 July 2005 - 11:25 PM

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The easy way is to change the whole stuff, alternator and Voltage
Regulator. But before changing the alternator, think first about the
Voltage Regulator Charging System, attached behind the alternator.

#9
gkltsp

Posted 14 July 2005 - 09:11 AM

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i checked, voltage at idle is 14V

voltage at idle plus aircon and lights 13V

engine off above 12 V

but indocator still shows "recharge" sigh ....

#10
kenari1

Posted 14 July 2005 - 09:50 AM

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not too sure about the alternator and the voltage regulator on the 940 but
for the 850, it seems that the regulator is in built into the alternator
casing itself. you need to take the whole think apart to get at it.

therefor you need to get a whole brand new alternator if you
suspect/confirm that something is wrong.


gkltsp, when mine went faulty it also showed 12.6v at idle with all the
lights and air cond on.

best to get the alternator looked at and at the same time get a few quotes
on how much an alternator costs.