every once in awhile we discover the battery (otherwise ok) has gone dead in our '97 960 wagon. when the ignition is turned to the starting position, there is a rapid clicking sound but the engine won't turn over. a jump-start gets it going again -- until the next time it happens, sometimes weeks or even months later but always mysteriously. one past clue has been the discovery of a fan running somewhere inside the car when we climb in. the fan, location unknown since no rush of air can be felt, seemingly has turned itself on and run-down the battery. the only other clue, if it's a clue at all, is that the light/s which illuminate the position of the automatic shift lever -- reverse, drive, park, etc. -- flickers on and off unpredictably, suggesting a short somewhere. we assume that at the bottom of our mystery is, in fact, a faulty switch or a short which turns on fans or who-knows what else. we had a volvo-oriented garage check this awhile back but their high-tech equipment could detect no electrical problem anywhere (but it did accept my triple-digit check for its troubles). now the problem is back again. are there any wizards out there who have confronted any such hobgoblin? if so, thanks for any suggestions. art
I suspect an intermittant short somewhere, a terminal too close to another, a chafed wire contacting the metal body, something like that. It's also worth checking to make sure the glove box and engine compartment lights are turning off when closed.
is there an electric fan to defog the rear window? That was a popular item some years back, although I don't know if volvo used them or not... anyway, that would be a potential reason for the battery running down overnight. If you have such an option installed, it might be worthwhile disconnecting it for a while and see what happens... Not sure they were ever all that effective anyway!
thanks for the feedback, fellas. a new battery has, at least temporarily and hopefully permanently, put the gremlin in its place. what the connection was between an exhausted battery (as it turned out) -- it was, amazingly, the original equipment battery with a volvo logo, making it apparently 10 years old but still basically functioning, at least most the time! -- and strange electrical behavior is a little unclear. but we shall see. cheers, art '97 960 wagon.
