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I have a 1990 Volvo 240DL with 220,000 miles on it. The alternator and battery are brand new and have both been tested as good. Car starts up and stays running but isn’t getting a good voltage at the battery. It’s reading roughly 12 volts after start up. The alternator doesn’t start to charge the battery until it’s been at WOT for about a second and once I’ve done that the volt meter reads roughly 14 volts at idle with no loads and with loads it’s reading roughly 13 volts. I’m wondering if it has something to do with the excite wire as I’ve heard that could be the issue. But I can’t exactly trace the connections as it’s unclear as to how the path goes because the wiring goes in to a protective tubing and joins with other wires at a certain point. I would use a wiring diagram but I don’t understand them and it doesn’t tell me what the path is anyway.
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Also belt tensions are good and connections at the alternator and battery are good and it’s a 2.3L 4 cylinder engine.
It sounds like you have excessive resistance somewhere in the charging system circuit. You are going to need to do some charging system voltage drop tests.
Quoted From dreamer2355:
It sounds like you have excessive resistance somewhere in the charging system circuit. You are going to need to do some charging system voltage drop tests.
Dose Eric have any “how to” videos on that? I know he has a parasitic drain test which i did and it came back good. and an alternator test which I learned mine is working.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry68G0C2 … 45890F7DF5
The above video shows you how to perform voltage drop testing on a starter circuit. However, it is the same principle for the charging system circuit.
There is alot of video’s also on Youtube showing how to do voltage drop testing also.
Actually I believe that’s normal for that system, you don’t need to go WOT but just bring the engine above 1000 rpm and it should start to charge because of the type of voltage regulator it has in the alternator, the fact that it does charge after you go above idle says that it’s capable of charging so it’s not likely to be bad.
BTW those are great cars.
Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:
Actually I believe that’s normal for that system, you don’t need to go WOT but just bring the engine above 1000 rpm and it should start to charge because of the type of voltage regulator it has in the alternator, the fact that it does charge after you go above idle says that it’s capable of charging so it’s not likely to be bad.
BTW those are great cars.
thamks! But is 14 volts normal?? It just seems kind of high to me because I’ve heard it should only read roughly 13.5 at idle with no loads and 13 with loads.
Thanks for the help every one! I went through a few days ago and checked and fixed all belt tensions then I also inspected all connections and found the ground wire was crummy and cleaned that up and made it look all nice and pretty again. But that’s when I found this issue (so I thought it was an issue) but everything is good on the car and it will be on the road soon!. I am replacing the stock sound system set up in it as it’s 22 years old and starting to short out. Does any one have any tips on what to do when replacing the whole set up? I’m only doing so because some one was in there before me and it’s a complete mess. Wires are there that don’t go anywhere and the front speakers are spliced together and it’s just a disaster. I have an Alpine deck and two Kenwood speakers waiting to go in. So does any one have any suggestions? Thanks!
Wiring in sound systems is pretty easy. I would recommend soldering your connections and using heat shrink. Make sure you use a rosin core solder.
I still love those cars. Im getting the itch for another lol.
You can actually buy alot of aftermarket ‘upgrades’ for those cars.
This is where i got all my parts from –
I’m not very good at soldering at all so would it be ok to use butt connectors? and thanks Eric! and yes the 240 is a very durable car indeed. I was going a little quick around a turn in my old 93 wagon and my tire blew out causing me to slide into a dirt wall and all it did was put a dent in the side of the car and broke the tail light. about $100 It looked like nothing happened. all I had to buy was a tire and the tail light. Then I had to pay to get the tires mounted but hey.
I would just buy some wire from a hardware store and practice soldering.
There is also another type of butt connector called crimp and seal that will work pretty good if you wanted to use those.
Cool I might have to do that in the meantime. And I’ve got replacement rear speakers (I’m using the Kenwood speakers) Is there anything good to use on the front? I want something that has a good sound quality that won’t crackle if I turn it up a bit and to be inexpensive. I had Alpines before and I like those.
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