86 volvo 240 GL series

Hello, I'm Nunu my problem started with my volvo when ever I go places and
Park when I return to my car turn the ignition its dead. Someone will give
me a boost my car will start instantly. This went on for weeks. One day i
was driving made a right turn the car just died. I had my car towed to the
car repair shop. They Diagnosed the problem as the timing belt/timing belt
tensioner/timing cover/intermediate shaft se/plus labor which was a total
cost of 698.38 after those repairs. I had additional services done which
consist of alternator belt/A/C belt/power steering belt/washer motor
installed which came to 300.00.I recieved my car back on 04/04/05 today's
date is 04/30/05. I went to the store came out less than five minutes my
car was dead. Someone gave me a boost it started right up as i was driving
I could see the power draining as i was driving/meaning lights going dim.I
got home and turned the car off tried to turn it back on it wouldn't start
all power was gone can anyone come up with a solution Thank,You Nunu

 

How many miles on the car Nunu? Did they check the alternator and is the
battery good?

 

Basics,
1) a charging system that is not charging,
2) you could have a bettery that will not hold a charge,
3) an electrical drain that discharges the battery over time,
4) some of the above.

More detailed,
A quick check of the charging system, check the voltage with the car
running ( in your case after you have gone on a 30 minute continous loop
that ends at home to get the battery charged up) expect to see a voltage of
13.7 to 13.9vdc at the battery. If your voltage is a volt or a volt and a
half less or even less, I would wonder about the charging system or the
battery itself. If your charging voltage is around 13.8 that tells me the
the charging system is likely working.

If the charging system is working, then a quick check of the battery is
next. Turn the engine off and again at the battery, check the voltage. If
your battery was in good shape after being charged by your alternator I
would expect a voltage of 12.2 to 12.5vdc. If it is below 12vdc I suspect
the battery that will not hold a charge or an electrical drain that pulls
the battery voltage down.

Engine still off, with an amperage meter you can pull the plus cable from
the battery put the ammeter in line and see if there is any current
flowing. Does your car have a clock? Clocks do draw a very small current
I am guessing around 0.02 amps. If you get a draw that small, you can
remove the fuse for the clock circut and see if it goes away. Remove the
fuse for the clock circut and continue below.(keep in mind that clocks
often share the circut with other things at draw much more than the clock)
Now if you get a draw, you know something is draining the battery. This
must be located and addressed or it will keep draining the battery and
ultimatly your battery will fail from being run down to zip so often and
any future battery you purchase will have the same fate. To narrow down the
drain you can remove one fuse at the fuse box and look for a change in the
current draw. Go through all the fuses one at a time. If the current is
reduced but not zero, note that circut as you could have more than one
circut that is a problem.

Let us know what you find at this point.

 

Right, and the timing belt problem you had near the start of April will
have nothing to do with this problem.
And if there is something that is draining the battery, the battery may
be damaged, so just fixing/replacing the component causing the problem
may not be the whole solution.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)