2004 Volvo XC70 Cold Start 1° F 2018

[Volvo XC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-4W_4cpwhE



Volvo XC70 Winter Cold Start 1° F - My first cold start of 2018! Well, this didn't turn out as planned. Although the XC70 did start, I had to put the battery booster on to accomplish this. The car had been sitting for 5 days in very low temperatures. I never had a problem starting this car before, but 1° F must be the magic number. If it happens again, I guess I will have to replace the battery.

2004 Volvo XC70 2.5 LP Turbo, K&N, Turbo back Elevate Performance Exhaust. 243830 Miles

[billr99]

Yep, unlike my 850R that would start, no problem, at -30C, all three of the P2s I have had are reluctant at anything lower than -10C or so even with fresh batteries. I would suspect that the current pull of all the electronics doesn't help; plus, you have 10 feet of power cable instead of 2 to get the power to the starter. Also are the starter motors the same across the 5-cylinder white blocks? In any case, if my P2s have sat for, say a week, I usually throw them on the charger for an hour or so just to get the battery warmed up then they start right up as normal.

Cheers,

Bill

[Silvestris66]

I'm not surprised. My impression is that the XC70s are prone to sneaky current-draw issues when sitting. You might have to put a Battery Minder on them in cold weather to keep them trickle-charged.

[DanoT]

I'm not surprised. My impression is that the XC70s are prone to sneaky current-draw issues when sitting. You might have to put a Battery Minder on them in cold weather to keep them trickle-charged.

I am concerned that with the battery not being located under the hood it never gets the benefit of being warmed up when driving so I have mounted a smart trickle charger under the hood and plug it in along with the block heater in really cold temps and/or if the car is not going to be run for a few days.

How do you tell if the block heater is working? I have listened for a gurgling noise that I can hear in other plugged in cars but not with my '06 XC70. Maybe I am listening in the wrong place. Anyone know where exactly on the block the block heater is located? At -18*C/0*F the car started fine the one time I did not plug in.