An uncle of mine had a Volvo 240 GL Diesel sedan (1982) and it had an electrical problem that drove him to near insanity. The symptoms were battery drain no matter what you did with the car, as long as it was off the battery was draining. He replaced the battery with a brand new one, replaced the alternator twice, replaced the voltage regulator, and checked EVERY wire in the entire car with a voltage tracer to try and find the short. (He's still convinced its a short) He was never able to find it and finally ended up giving it away and the person who he gave it to couldn't get it fixed either and junked it.

Has anyone ever heard of this problem on the volvo or similar models? Any possible solutions? I post this because we're hoping to find someone who has had this problem before and fixed it. It won't help us since the car is gone but at least the peace of mind will be nice.

Thanks guys,

Tony

there is a way to measure current flow from the battery. I don't remember how, but what i would have done is measured the currrent flow with all the fuses in, and unplugged them one at a time untill there was no more current flow. If it kept flowin then it has to be someting in the starter???
R

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

I dont know what all he did to test it, but I know he's really good with electrical stuff and he throughly tested the entire electrical system in the car from what he told me. Im hoping there is a specific problem area or something someone knows about.

I have been working on my mother's '92 740 Turbo wagon. It has a short somewhere in the #5 fuse. A BAD short. But after working on it and going through about 4 boxes of fuses, I finally was able to at least discover the source. Volvo fuse boxes are pretty easy to remove and test. With a book on one of these cars, there isn't much to tracing down the electrical system. I know Volvo's are pretty notorious for electrical glitches, but this is the first car that's really had one. I think perhaps it's the radio amp.
On the car of which you are speaking...really only things like the glow plug relays and major accessories have the power to do that. There are LOTS of relays in these cars...I would suspect one of those as the cluprit.

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)

The way to test the current in or out of the battery is to put an ammeter in series with a battery terminal and either battery cable.

P E H