Shallow Draft Posted October 8, 2023 Report Share Posted October 8, 2023 How many years do you get out of a set of batteries in a Volvo? Quote 2004 Volvo 630, Freedomline, Rear view camera, Max Brake, Jackalopee, 38 ft 4 horse LQ Platinum, 40ft Jayco Talon toy hauler Http:/www.flickr.com/photos/shallow_draft/ Https://flic.kr/p/fqhyAN You are not lost if you don't care where you are!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickeieio Posted October 9, 2023 Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 Depends. Two big questions..... 1) What quality battery did you buy? 2) How lucky are you? I put 4 AC Delcos (pricey) in our Volvo in 2011. They were still in there doing fine when we sold it in 2021. Not one minute on a battery maintainer. OTOH, I just replaced the 5 y/o batteries in our Kenworth, with the same house brand batteries (cheap) that were original to it. We'll see. Quote KW T-680, POPEMOBILE Newmar X-Aire, VATICAN Lots of old motorcycles, Moto Guzzi Griso and Spyder F3 currently in the front row Young enough to play in the dirt as a retired farmer. contact me at rickeieio1@comcast.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverEasy Posted October 9, 2023 Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 Mine lasted 11 years. I keep the truck on a Progressive Dynamics PD6240 Converter whenever I can. The 40 amp converter came in handy when my alternator failed in South Dakota. Fired up the generator and used the converter to keep things going. Had to run on it two days until I could get a replacement alternator. Day time driving only. Quote Chet & Deb '01 Volvo 660 w/ Smart '19 Forest River Columbus 320RS 5th wheel 2022 Chev 2500HD Long Bed Retired CWO4, USN and federal service Electronics Tech/Network Engineer/Welder/Machinist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moresmoke Posted October 9, 2023 Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 The factory batteries made it 6 years in mine, but the truck had been sitting for 2 when I bought it. Currently at 5 on the replacements. I do have a NOCO maintainer installed. Don’t generally use it in the summer but keep the maintainer plugged in for the 8 month off season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezl Smoke Posted October 9, 2023 Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 It really does "depend" on so many variables. In general, todays batteries, of any reasonable quality anyway, seem quite tolerant of temperatures and vibrations etc. But it seems today's sealed lead acids don't care so much for overcharging nor over discharging. IMO anyway. If your alternator on the truck has issues, it will shorten the life of the average lead acid. If you store the truck without a maintainer the parasitic draw of the ecm and other computer memories will draw the batteries to a full and complete discharge. This too seems to shorten the lifespan of the lead acids. In my experience here on the farm with various machinery that uses similar battery setups of a truck, the batteries seem to last longer if they get used. For example we had a field sprayer years ago that actually abused the battery system quite badly, but that sprayer had the same 20 year old battery on it when it left the farm as it did when we built it. Then our combines only get used for about 10 days within a 3 week period each year, and those group 31s only last 3 years if we're lucky. Granted the combines are stored where there is no power, so we have to start the engines and run them at high idle an hour or two every now and then during the winter, but that theme of use vs. sitting seems to hold true in general here. Quote I'm a work'n on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickeieio Posted October 9, 2023 Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 You bring up a good point. The Volvo I mentioned above was a 2001, little parasitic draw. I have a tractor with 16 y/o batteries, and no parasitic draw. Our KW, otoh, is a 2018, lots of draw, but it does have a Low Voltage Disconnect, so when the batteries get low, it shuts everything down to maintain enough juice for a motor start. That said, I recently changed the original battery in my wife's car, 2015 Lexus. I believe this goes back to battery quality, as a new Lexus battery was nearly twice the cost of the Toyota version with the same specs. Quote KW T-680, POPEMOBILE Newmar X-Aire, VATICAN Lots of old motorcycles, Moto Guzzi Griso and Spyder F3 currently in the front row Young enough to play in the dirt as a retired farmer. contact me at rickeieio1@comcast.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sculptor Posted October 9, 2023 Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 I’ve bought cheap dealer batteries twice. The first set of 4 in about ‘17 or ‘18. Much later I found out only 2 had any life and 2 were dead. I replaced them this spring. So about 4-5 years. Quote Kevin and June 2013 Volvo VNL 730 D13 Eco-Torque @ 425 Ratio 2.47 2014 DRV 36TKSB3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shallow Draft Posted October 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 my truck would not start so I suspected the batteries. I cleaned and checked each battery separately the batteries were all about 12.6 volts the truck will still not start. it is acting like a bad ground. it is showing a lower voltage in the dash than on the meter. Quote 2004 Volvo 630, Freedomline, Rear view camera, Max Brake, Jackalopee, 38 ft 4 horse LQ Platinum, 40ft Jayco Talon toy hauler Http:/www.flickr.com/photos/shallow_draft/ Https://flic.kr/p/fqhyAN You are not lost if you don't care where you are!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickeieio Posted October 9, 2023 Report Share Posted October 9, 2023 There's a LOT of wires going to the starter solenoid. Remove and clean them thoroughly. Follow the ground from the battery and clean the far end of that too. Likely to the motor or starter mounting bolt. If you can, measure voltage at the solenoid, then again as you crank it over. A huge drop means poor connection or a bad wire. I've had battery cables that looked fine that wouldn't carry a high amperage load because of corrosion internally. Quote KW T-680, POPEMOBILE Newmar X-Aire, VATICAN Lots of old motorcycles, Moto Guzzi Griso and Spyder F3 currently in the front row Young enough to play in the dirt as a retired farmer. contact me at rickeieio1@comcast.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shallow Draft Posted October 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2023 It was the starter. It starts way better now. The old starter must have been slowly dying. Quote 2004 Volvo 630, Freedomline, Rear view camera, Max Brake, Jackalopee, 38 ft 4 horse LQ Platinum, 40ft Jayco Talon toy hauler Http:/www.flickr.com/photos/shallow_draft/ Https://flic.kr/p/fqhyAN You are not lost if you don't care where you are!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payroll Person Posted October 14, 2023 Report Share Posted October 14, 2023 Consider upgrading the wires too. Likely sized bare minimum. Will spin the starter easier and charge easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaydrvr Posted October 14, 2023 Report Share Posted October 14, 2023 32 minutes ago, Payroll Person said: Consider upgrading the wires too. Likely sized bare minimum. Will spin the starter easier and charge easier. Just change out the starter to a gear reduction for the same results, at least for starting. Less amperage, faster starter spin, much less weight to install. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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