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FrozenGate by Avery

Possible First Car

Highly recommend an OBD2 reader for anyone with a slightly older car... will save you trips to the mechanic to turn off the check engine light if nothing else.

Got this four years ago: Amazon.com: Autel MaxiScan MS300 CAN Diagnostic Scan Tool for OBDII Vehicles: Automotive It's a very basic model, and I use it once in a blue moon when a sensor in my exhaust acts up. Car passed inspection with no issues, so I really don't see a reason to spend $250+ to fix the issue.



Agreed, it doesn't sound anything like that.
I didnt realize that you can get those OBD2 readers so cheap last I saw they were around $70 or $80 dollars at Harbor Frieght tools and I thiought that was cheap. I had to tell Lehap that it isnt a bad rapping noise his motors making. That poor kid is stressing, so at least now he knows. On a seperate note that reader sure saves you you money!
 
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He's got nothing to worry about it will just be something stupid like the altenator. Even a scanner though won't tell you the altenator is bad. You still need to see its voltages for everything. Should be between 13-14v at the battery with the car running which would indicate the altenator is working well. If it dips down to 12v or less then there is a problem.
 
Just listened to the video.

Low battery.

What you are hearing is the solenoid getting insufficient voltage to work properly.

When you turn the key, voltage (and current) is sent to the solenoid. The coil inside the solenoid is energized and a slider arm moves the spinning starter armature (which receives voltage at the same time) into the flywheel teeth on the ring gear. If all works properly, the starter turns the flywheel, which turns the motor and starts the car. When the engine starts, the flywheel turns faster then the starter can and the starter teeth are pulled away from the flywheel by a springy thing. This springy part is called the bendix. If the bendix was bad, you would either hear grinding as the starter teeth can't withdraw or a spinning sound as the bendix can't engage. From the sound of the video, your flywheel gear is safe. Which is something to give you relief. To replace the ring gear you have to remove the transmission.

Back to the problem.

The solenoid is not getting sufficient voltage to work properly. So, even though the battery is new, I would take it to be tested. Do a voltage test and a current draw. Also check for the individual density of the liquid in the cells if it is an open top battery. You might have a weak cell. There are ways to test for weak cells in sealed top batteries too just not as easy. Otherwise just do the first two tests. I would not just jump start the battery. It's easy but doesn't tell us much.

After you've proved these components to be good, then you can check for voltage leaks.

If the battery is good. Clean the battery terminals. Look for the cable that goes to the solenoid. I don't know where Volvo puts it so you may need to follow the cable or look at a manual. Once you find it, take the positive cable off the battery. Remove the cable going to the solenoid and clean the terminals. If you happen to have an ohm meter around, check the ohmage of the cable. Zero out your ohmmeter, unless you have a digital one. I can't tell you exactly how many ohms your cable should be, but understand how cable is rated for resistance. Cable is rated for resistance at 20 deg C (about 68 deg F) and 1000 Feet. Your cable is, what, 3 ft long? So for a 6-8 guage wire, the resistance per 1000FT is 0.4 to 0.6 ohms. So you obviously don't want to see much above zero.

Ok. So the cable's good. Now what? How dirty do you want to get?

The next step would be to remove the starter and do some tests on it. I pass on that for now.

Basically if all these parts pass, you can ignore them as the problem. A bad alternator DOES NOT decide if the battery is good or not. A bad alternator just doesn't replace the charge the engine removed from the battery.

Simple test for a bad alternator? Glad you asked. A good battery with no load should be about 12.5-13 volts across the terminals. I know you can't, but start the car. Open the hood and check the battery voltage while the car is running. What is it? It should be around 14.5 volts. It may be a little more if the car was just started, and it may be a little less if the car was running for a little bit. So voltage not much more than 12.5-13, probable bad alternator. Voltage over 16, also bad alternator. It's running 'away' and will fry your battery killing it.
 
He's got nothing to worry about it will just be something stupid like the altenator. Even a scanner though won't tell you the altenator is bad. You still need to see its voltages for everything. Should be between 13-14v at the battery with the car running which would indicate the altenator is working well. If it dips down to 12v or less then there is a problem.
Yeah thats the (just) of it that it seams. I edit my last post again as my prior edit blended in and made it look that the OD2 reader would pick up on the alternator prob. I just wanted to mention its good to have. Its weird that a Volvo would have idiot lights rather than a voltage guage. I didnt see one in his video. Lehap you should be ok.
 
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Had issues with batteries turning out to be the culprit three times myself. (To date I've owned 6 cars.) So now when getting my last one, and going forward, on a used car, I will ALWAYS have a new battery installed.

If the bendix was bad, you would either hear grinding as the starter teeth can't withdraw or a spinning sound as the bendix can't engage. From the sound of the video, your flywheel gear is safe. Which is something to give you relief. To replace the ring gear you have to remove the transmission.

That was exactly the scenario I was most afraid of, advising not moving the car at all.
 
If the car won't start with it being jumped by another car, it is the start solenoid. Starters themselves usually don't go bad before the solenoid. Put the emergency brake on, make sure the car is in park, turn the key to the on position. Find the start solenoid. It should have a ground, a signal, and a large power cable. Short (use a insulated flat blade screw driver) the ground/signal to the large post (positive I believe it is) and the starter should turn. If not then completely bad starter or battery. To test the battery, turn on the radio turn on all the lights, headlights and interior lights, honk the horn. If the interior lights (dome light) dims, you have a low battery. Not necessarily bad but you know you don't have a good charge on it. If you are broke like I was with my first car, you can wire up a push button starter this way and bypass the need of the starter solenoid.

TLDR - short the starter solenoid to test the starter.
 
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I think I figured it out, somewhat...

I turned on everything & indeed the interior lights dimmed. When I tried to turn on the radio I was greeted with "CODE" meaning the radio has lost power to the battery.

Should my next step be to go to Costco(where I bought it) and get a replacement battery? Did I get a defective bat? Or jump start it on Thursday & go to the Volvo dealer?

-Alex
 
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Ok,

Called a towing service to get a jump start & plan on driving it to Volvo to get it checked out & fixed. Ugh, so expensive :(

-Alex
 
Always going to have to spend money on a vehicle unfortunately. New, old, used doesn't matter. If you follow proper scheduled maintenance through the life of a vehicle they get expensive. Especially newer cars. Something as simple as a air filter on a hybrid can cost $50+. Hell I installed a set of wipers on a Ford focus titatnium. Freaking $120 for a set of wipers because they are a ridiculously big size. Of course that's marked up a bit from store costs but still would be maybe $20 cheaper. Still rediculous.
 
Always going to have to spend money on a vehicle unfortunately. New, old, used doesn't matter. If you follow proper scheduled maintenance through the life of a vehicle they get expensive. Especially newer cars. Something as simple as a air filter on a hybrid can cost $50+. Hell I installed a set of wipers on a Ford focus titatnium. Freaking $120 for a set of wipers because they are a ridiculously big size. Of course that's marked up a bit from store costs but still would be maybe $20 cheaper. Still rediculous.

Haha, indeed! :)

-Alex
 
Ok,

Called a towing service to get a jump start & plan on driving it to Volvo to get it checked out & fixed. Ugh, so expensive :(

-Alex
Lehap sorry to post if your tired of it by now. I had AAA jump me a while back I had left an interior light on and killed my battery over a few days. They jumped started me and did a pretty complete battery and alternator diagnoctic test with the meter they had on hand. Just a thought, if they were to tell you what you needed to know say the alternator was bad or good mabey a drain etc. Are you committed to a Volvo dealer. Like GR3EN said I would hate to see you pay $500 for a $150 dollar job but again I realize you want this fixed. Have you exhausted all of your options of finding a trusted honest garage. (They are still out there somewhere). I dont think your battery is defective It carried the original issue till it couldnt anymore. Have you checked the connections to it like everyone recommended. Just a little twist You put the new battery in remember and it felt good. You havnt replied on it so just wondering. Forgive me for this overdone post but its hard being across the country a cant help you with at least a simple jump at least:)
 
If the car won't start with it being jumped by another car, it is the start solenoid.

Just want to add, that's not always true.

If the battery in the car that won't start is shorted, you can put 10 batteries on it and the solenoid won't even 'click'.

I drove a car to the mall. Perfectly fine drive started in the driveway, started at another location, went to the mall. Turned car off, came back, no start. AAA came with the big wrecker with the big batteries. Hooked up the jumper cables, increased the rpms on the diesel..................... nothing. Not even a click. Come home on the back of the flatbed. Took battery to auto shop. Dead short. It happens. Just like timing chains/belts slip. Good motor one minute, boat anchor the next.

If you suspect the battery, you have to take it out of the circuit and use another battery. Put the jumper cables to your battery cables after they have been removed from the suspect battery. Use a lot of rags around the connections so nothing shorts out. If it starts it's the battery, if it doesn't it's something else.

Hey IE, want to take my class? :beer:
 
Ok,

I was told the battery is the problem. We jumped started it & it's running fine now, he told me if the alternator was bad it wouldn't of started.

Car has been running for 5 mins now without shutting off?

-Alex
 
Ok,

I was told the battery is the problem. We jumped started it & it's running fine now, he told me if the alternator was bad it wouldn't of started.

Car has been running for 5 mins now without shutting off?

-Alex
What did he do as far as testing?
 


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