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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Posts
    6

    Default Intermittent Charging System Failure message with B1087 code

    My wife's 2010 non-turbo has been intermittently showing warning lights and charging system failure messages. Yesterday it happened as I was returning home. I measured the voltage on the battery with the car running and the messages showing. Voltage was 13.8 . Every time this happens, I turn the car off and restart and it goes away. Battery shows 12.7 with car off. No issues starting, battery seems fine. It's also throwing a B1087 code, which is not well-defined.

    Has anyone else seen this?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Oakland, California
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by yak View Post
    My wife's 2010 non-turbo has been intermittently showing warning lights and charging system failure messages. Yesterday it happened as I was returning home. I measured the voltage on the battery with the car running and the messages showing. Voltage was 13.8 . Every time this happens, I turn the car off and restart and it goes away. Battery shows 12.7 with car off. No issues starting, battery seems fine. It's also throwing a B1087 code, which is not well-defined.

    Has anyone else seen this?
    I have the same problem, it's intermittent, comes and goes between (and sometimes within) drive cycles. I haven't read the codes yet, but wouldn't be surprised to get B1087 like yak did.
    Obviously, worst case would be failing alternator. Lesser issue would be voltage regulator. But I do wonder if it is simply an issue with belt tension, which seems most consistent with the behavior.

    Any thoughts? Thanks all.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Oakland, California
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Forgot to mention I have a 2010 XC70 T6, turbocharged 3.0.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Pleasanton CA USA
    Posts
    486

    Default

    The alternator on this engine isn't sharing a belt with other accessories.

    It's driven by its own dedicated sprocket. This YouTube vid shows what can go wrong to defeat alternator function:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXgKvT3PoNc
    2013 XC70 T6 Flamenco Red (hers)
    2015 XC70 T6 Seashell Metallic (his)
    past: 13 Volvos going back to '74 242 sedan

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Oakland Bob View Post
    I have the same problem, it's intermittent, comes and goes between (and sometimes within) drive cycles. I haven't read the codes yet, but wouldn't be surprised to get B1087 like yak did.
    Obviously, worst case would be failing alternator. Lesser issue would be voltage regulator. But I do wonder if it is simply an issue with belt tension, which seems most consistent with the behavior.

    Any thoughts? Thanks all.
    We've been living with it for over a year now. Definitely not a charging issue, I've used a plug-in (OBDLink) to create a log file to monitor the voltage. It never drops prior to or during the charging system failure message. I've found that it could be the loss of communication with a radiator ant-tamper device designed to prevent the use of inferior aftermarket radiators. I have a replacement ant-tamper device (about $40 from Volvo), it gets glued to the radiator and connects to a harness. Waiting for a nice day to motivate me to install it.

    Here's the TSB and Installation Instructions (PDF download)
    Last edited by yak; 03-31-2021 at 07:10 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Oakland, California
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by yak View Post
    We've been living with it for over a year now. Definitely not a charging issue, I've used a plug-in (OBDLink) to create a log file to monitor the voltage. It never drops prior to or during the charging system failure message. I've found that it could be the loss of communication with a radiator ant-tamper device designed to prevent the use of inferior aftermarket radiators. I have a replacement ant-tamper device (about $40 from Volvo), it gets glued to the radiator and connects to a harness. Waiting for a nice day to motivate me to install it.

    Here's the TSB and Installation Instructions (PDF download)
    Thanks for posting that link! If you install the device, please let us know if it works.

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