V60 B3 12v battery critical charging fault

[teksv]

Got the car back today and it had probably the TCAM and 18V battery replaced. Errors seem to have gone but Car doesn’t seem to connect with Volvo car anymore. Can’t delete it from the app, so is it another visit to the dealer?

[DLEE3546]

Unfortunately I've just encountered the 12v battery charging fault with my V60 B4P (new May 2021). I bought the car in December 2022 from a main dealer who installed all the software updates available at the time.

All has been great until last Saturday when the error popped up and the car went straight into limp mode, fortunately close to a layby. Volvo on call sent out a technician who checked the battery charging and alternator and found no obvious fault. Strangely the error then cleared itself and we were then able to start the car again. The technician suggested it was a software bug and to take it into the local dealer. Unfortunately they were not able to book it in until late August, so in the meantime I was just left to hope it was a one off hiccup.

The car seemed absolutely fine until the error popped up and went into limp mode again this morning - another technician call out and another long wait in a layby :-(. He was able to restart the car by temporarily disconnecting the 12v battery, but this time followed me direct to the dealer in case of a repeat. They were able to slot it in for investigation, but found no physical fault. They have installed the latest software updates, but were unable to confirm this will fix the problem.

All very frustrating and I am now rather nervous about driving the car in case the problem reoccurs in a more dangerous location. I have contacted Volvo customer services who are going to check what updates the dealer has installed and advise whether anything else is needed. Fingers crossed they can provide some assurance, or at least identify a specific fix rather than just hoping the updates are the answer.

[DLEE3546]

Unfortunately the software updates have not fixed the intermittent 12v charging fault : 😡. However, on the plus side it does now reset itself after switching the ignition off for a minute or so. Back to the dealer for another round of investigation.

[Martybassman]

Ive just encountered the 12v battery critical charge error on my XC40 21plate. Had it 3 month with no problems then suddenly displayed 12v battery critical charge error and went into limp mode with what seemed like a variable speed limit between 10 and 30mph max. Pulled over and error disappeared immediately on restart and I got the 5 miles back home ok. Called Volvo assist and he did basic checks and advised I follow him to The Volvo dealer where I purchased the car so they could do a more thorough investigation. The Volvo assist tech had seen this fault many times!! Report back from dealer said battery capacity was down at 46% and the problem was that I had not been doing enough miles despite my calculation id covered 200 miles in 4 seperate journeys the previous week!!! I was pretty speechless at that explaination and asked if there was anything in the owner/user manual that warned or specified minimum milages etc. There isnt basically. This could have quite easily happened on the smart motorway that Id just left. As I am now very apprehensive about using the car on the motorway I am considering reporting this to the DVSA as a serious defect, anybody gone down this route in the past?. Looking at this forum its happened to many people with no certain resolution from Volvo.

[LRS]

I’m not sure if this 12v battery critical charging fault is in anyway connected to the dead-car issue?

I experienced the dead-car on the driveway issue after doing a good 200+ miles over 2-3 days and then parking it up for a week. Volvo was never able to definitively conclude why after a week parked up, it went dead.

There are many theories in the forum groups: from too many apps running in the background when the car is turned off, TCAM water damage, communication link issue between the 12v and 48v battery, charging fault…

In the end, the 12v battery was finally replaced under warranty after a very lengthy battle with Volvo UK – who kept stating the following from the user manual as a ‘get-out’ clause:

“To keep the starter battery in good condition, at least 15 minutes of driving a week is recommended, or connecting the battery to a battery charger with automatic trickle charging.”

In the end I conceded and purchased a trickle charger and so far, the issue has never returned. Whether having the car on 24/7 trickle charging has been the answer or whether subsequent AAOS software updates have played a part, I’ll never know.

[DLEE3546]

Unfortunately the 12v charging fault on my V60 B4 is still not fixed and the car is back with the main dealer for the third time - currently day 4 of this round of investigation.

The Volvo dealer's conclusion from the previous round of investigation is that the electrics of the after market towbar were causing the issue, and they were able to clear the error codes by disconnecting the electrics. This did seem odd given the tow bar was installed in January and there had been no issues prior to August. The tow bar installer checked their installation and replaced the trailer module, but found no issue. They suggested running the car for a couple of weeks with the module disconnected to see if the fault re-occured as they still felt it was a fault with the car itself. All seemed fine until the two weeks was up, then the error occurred again, just as I was about to go back to escalate with the tow bar installer.

The dealer has been progressing the issue with Volvo support and do seem to be making some progress. They have installed another software update and are running some further tests, so fingers crossed this will be fully resolved shortly.

With hindsight I wish I had gone for the official Volvo tow bar. Even if the aftermarket tow bar is not to blame in any way, it would have been a lot less hassle without this 3rd party component.

[DLEE3546]

Another update on my V60 B4 - the dealer has been working with Volvo support who have provided a software fix relating to the ISGM, plus removed and re-installed the towing software. They were previously seeing frequent errors in the diagnostics but, after the update and several test drives over the last two days, they are no longer seeing any errors.

The car is being released back to me later on today and fingers crossed the software fix has resolved the issue, but it's going to be a while before I can be confident in the car again.