volvowagoon
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2012
- Location
- Franklin, IN
I can't offer advice that hasn't already been given so here are my Volvo Alternator stories instead.
1989 245 hooptie with stock low output alternator - I for a while I was trashing and returning alternators faster than I was burning through gas, but the car always gave me fair warning when it was about to crap the bed. All the lights would be dim, the car wouldn't accelerate very well, ect. I went through FOUR alternators before thinking "Hey, maybe I should question the car instead of the part." It turned out that I had a 4V drop between the alternator and battery. A 4G amp wire from my junk pile fixed the issue permanently after replacing the alternator one more time.
2010 Volvo C30 T5 with roughly 90k miles and all stock - I never had issues with the car. In fact I was already about 50 miles into a trip when when suddenly my brake failure warning message came on the dash. That's scary when you haven't touched the brake pedal for miles and you're cruising at 75mph. I tested the brakes and they seemed fine, so I kept going. Only a couple miles later, the dash just lit up like a Christmas tree, and the car went into a limp. I pulled over, shut the car off, turned it back on, and kept going. All the lights were off. I'll look into that when I get home. Before I could even get up to speed, the charging system failure message came up and the dash started to go nuts again. When I pulled over again, the car would barely start again. I knew that the alternator is trashed, but there was no way that I was going to be able to find parts and change it myself without tools on a Sunday in Gary, Indiana.
I went from perfectly fine to completely incapacitated on a six month old battery in a matter of 10 miles or less. I had the car towed to the nearest Volvo dealer which was luckily not far, and had my parents meet me there with a car I could borrow. After a week and a $1000 alternator replacement bill, I had experienced getting bent over by the Volvo dealer for the first and (hopefully) last time.
1989 245 hooptie with stock low output alternator - I for a while I was trashing and returning alternators faster than I was burning through gas, but the car always gave me fair warning when it was about to crap the bed. All the lights would be dim, the car wouldn't accelerate very well, ect. I went through FOUR alternators before thinking "Hey, maybe I should question the car instead of the part." It turned out that I had a 4V drop between the alternator and battery. A 4G amp wire from my junk pile fixed the issue permanently after replacing the alternator one more time.
2010 Volvo C30 T5 with roughly 90k miles and all stock - I never had issues with the car. In fact I was already about 50 miles into a trip when when suddenly my brake failure warning message came on the dash. That's scary when you haven't touched the brake pedal for miles and you're cruising at 75mph. I tested the brakes and they seemed fine, so I kept going. Only a couple miles later, the dash just lit up like a Christmas tree, and the car went into a limp. I pulled over, shut the car off, turned it back on, and kept going. All the lights were off. I'll look into that when I get home. Before I could even get up to speed, the charging system failure message came up and the dash started to go nuts again. When I pulled over again, the car would barely start again. I knew that the alternator is trashed, but there was no way that I was going to be able to find parts and change it myself without tools on a Sunday in Gary, Indiana.
I went from perfectly fine to completely incapacitated on a six month old battery in a matter of 10 miles or less. I had the car towed to the nearest Volvo dealer which was luckily not far, and had my parents meet me there with a car I could borrow. After a week and a $1000 alternator replacement bill, I had experienced getting bent over by the Volvo dealer for the first and (hopefully) last time.