Battery Replacement Suggestions

Our 2002 V70 XC did not start the other morning after having done a short round trip in very low temperatures (-4F). The battery took a charge and then the car started normally once again.

We bought the car new in June 2002 and still have the original battery.

AutoZone has the following replacement for $149:

"O.E. group size: 48 *** 600 cold cranking Amps (750 cranking Amps) *** -> 3 year free replacement <- Battery is vented to outside of vehicle, labor intensive installation, 30 minute installation, located in trunk"

Any suggestions on this, or some other battery, vs. the Volvo dealer would be welcome. As an added plus, buying parts from the dealer also includes a 2-hour round trip.

I just put an Optima in my '02. Despite the confusion on appropriate size for the XC, I found on mine that there are 3 possible screw-downs for the hold-down clamp so using a size 35 I kept the size a bit smaller than stock and a bit lighter. If there are any issues with this setup, its that the battery is a wee bit taller than the stock size (which on mine was a Euro size with no real good direct SAE size replacement, at least that I could find locally) so that the cover and top strap are snug fit. Also some might say the CCA are a bit lower than the other Optimas (720 vs. 800, but better than the stock 660) but so far it has worked great for me even in -20C temps and with infrequent and short runs into town. As far as long term, I've had good luck with Optimas in the past and that was even surviving in Northern Ontario -25C to -40C temps. I don't anticipate any issues with this one.

Cheers,

Bill

After almost six years I am concerned that the battery is nearing the end of its life. So, I have been looking for non Volvo replacements. I live in California and have found group 48 batteries with vents at Les Schwab and Kragen. I know that Schwab is a western states only operation but maybe Kragen is nation wide. The price at both stores was about $80.

My usual strategy is to wait for the battery to exhibit signs of failure and then charge once and if the signs persist and the battery is more than three or four years old replace it. My wife disagrees and wants to replace them at about five years to avoid the failure. I am too cheap to do that. I can only hope the battery fails me and not her.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RedHookV70XC

very low temperatures (-4F).

---

Very cold? I laugh in your general direction;)

When I recently replaced the battery in my wife's V40 I just went to a auto supply store (not a Walmart etc.) and asked for a battery to specifically fit the V40. In that case there were limited selections but the one we got was a doppleganger for the OEM one at about 1/2 the price.
That is normally the process I use for what ever vehicle I get a battery for. I have found that the auto specialty stores generally have the OEM specs in at least one of their many catalogs.

I called our local NAPA store and they had an exact Group 48 replacement battery (NAPA model 7548) with one notable exception; 700 amps vs. only 600 for the OEM and Autozone batteries. Plus, NAPA was $119 vs. $149 at Autozone. [thumbup]

1. Hooked up my intelligent charger to the underhood power points.
2. Removed the old battery. (As soon as I unhooked the negative cable the intelligent charger detected an error and cut power. Too bad.)
3. Installed the new battery after a 20 minute round robin to buy the new one. (Interior lights came on immediately with the hatch open.)
4. Locked and unlocked the car three times with the remote. (Just for fun and to comply with the Volvo Voodoo mentioned in other threads.)

The only thing requiring any attention after losing power for 20-30 minutes was the clock in the instument cluster. Even the seat memory was intact![happy]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RedHookV70XC

The only thing requiring any attention after losing power for 20-30 minutes was the clock in the instument cluster. Even the seat memory was intact![happy]

---

If you have a Homelink transceiver you'll likely need to reprogram it too.

My original battery simply died on me just a few weeks ago. I was sitting in the car with the radio on for about 20mins after a drive and that was too much for it. Despite being midnight I called road service and they delivered and installed a new battery. No problems since. What worries me is that traditionally there are signs that the battery is on the way out before it dies completely, but not it appears batteries go from perfect to dead with no notice. :(

Sudden battery failure sems to be becoming the most common way they fail in the newer cars - something to do with the new electronics and the loads they impose, I guess, since the basic battery has not particularly changed. However, there are lots of threads citing sudden complete failure. That is prompting more people to adopt the five year change rule, since the chance of being stranded without any real notice is getting higher it seems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mbsl98

Sudden battery failure sems to be becoming the most common way they fail in the newer cars - something to do with the new electronics and the loads they impose, I guess, since the basic battery has not particularly changed. However, there are lots of threads citing sudden complete failure. That is prompting more people to adopt the five year change rule, since the chance of being stranded without any real notice is getting higher it seems.

---

I would also suggest that the voltage (versus amperage) requirements of modern automotive electronics are also within a tighter range than in past Just before I changed out my old stock battery, I had a failed start after just listening to the radio for 15 minutes in 0C weather while I waited on my wife to come out of the grocery. I turned everything off for 10minutes and the car started no problem. During the time I had this battery condition and the weather was cold, I also had funky problems with seat memory, shifting, and door locks. The original battery was 6 years old at the time of replacement and once replaced everything went back to normal. Shifts smoothed out, seat memory is normal, etc. Too weird for an old car guy, I can tell you!

Cheers,

Bill