Critical charging fault

[BARNEYROVER]

Just on way home from 80 mile journey and car went into limp mode. Message came up " 12v Battery critical charging fault, stop safely"
Car had been running ok prior to this. Stopped car and turned off ignition, tried restarting, message still there but car dead.
Tried Volvo on call but couldn't get through to them. Tried restarting again this time message had disappeared and car started. Carried on a further six miles home and everything seemed ok.
Checked in stored messages in car status but nothing there.
Anyone had similar problems or possible cause.

[Philip Fisher]

There was a long thread on this a while back and a number of people suffering from it. Do a quick forum search and there will probably be useful information in there.

[BARNEYROVER]

Thanks for reply. Have just finished reading through it all but no wiser really. doesn't seem as though fault has been resolved.

[Philip Fisher]

Was there not some workaround about holding down a button, and reving to 2000 rpm to clear it, or something similar? IIRC people were fully fixing it with software updates weren't they (or maybe I am mis-remembering).

[nu11eaf]

As a first step I would check all the battery terminal connections are tight. May be something as simple as that.

[Pitvar]

Timely post - our XC60 B4 did this Friday evening, it had been driven during the day and went into the same fault "Critical 12v Charging Fault" plus a battery sign, plus a tortoise sign etc. Drove it the 200m back to the drive and messaged Volvo assist via a link they sent. The recovery driver turned up and said this was the 6th Volvo with this he'd seen this month but just as he was going to put it on the truck it cleared itself - it was still showing the fault when he first arrived.

We then discussed whether or not he should recover it to the dealer (I'd rung them as it was closing time and they said they'd know where to leave it etc) and he persuaded me not to recover it. With hindsight I would have insisted it was recovered and the faults read as that would have triggered a courtesy car and the earliest any of the local dealers can look at it now is 3rd Jan - whereas if it had turned up on the back of a truck they may have got to it sooner... when I rang back to cancel the volvo assistance job I was holding for over an hour and gave up, so I'm glad I used the link they sent me to request the assistance via that route in the first place.

After reading as much as I could find on the fault it seems to vary from the battery being below 76%, through needing new battery terminals, through to needing various new control modules (and a few other suggestions in between). So I stuck in on trickle charge overnight and then did a 50 miles motorway trip and have used it for a few runs today too and so far so good. When I put the smart charger on it, it did suggest it needed a charge so I'm hopeful we'll get by until it gets to the dealer. If it happens again I'll insist on recovery as no one else I found reported charging the battery stopped it re-occurring.

I did wonder whether this extreme cold and all the load from heated seats/steering wheel/driver aids etc may have had a negative impact...

[BARNEYROVER]

Yes, that was one thing mentioned "to press front and rear windscreen heater buttons while reving the engine to 2000 per minute" but no definite solution appeared to be found.
Worth trying battery terminals are tight as well

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Pitvar

Timely post - our XC60 B4 did this Friday evening, it had been driven during the day and went into the same fault "Critical 12v Charging Fault" plus a battery sign, plus a tortoise sign etc. Drove it the 200m back to the drive and messaged Volvo assist via a link they sent. The recovery driver turned up and said this was the 6th Volvo with this he'd seen this month but just as he was going to put it on the truck it cleared itself - it was still showing the fault when he first arrived.

We then discussed whether or not he should recover it to the dealer (I'd rung them as it was closing time and they said they'd know where to leave it etc) and he persuaded me not to recover it. With hindsight I would have insisted it was recovered and the faults read as that would have triggered a courtesy car and the earliest any of the local dealers can look at it now is 3rd Jan - whereas if it had turned up on the back of a truck they may have got to it sooner... when I rang back to cancel the volvo assistance job I was holding for over an hour and gave up, so I'm glad I used the link they sent me to request the assistance via that route in the first place.

After reading as much as I could find on the fault it seems to vary from the battery being below 76%, through needing new battery terminals, through to needing various new control modules (and a few other suggestions in between). So I stuck in on trickle charge overnight and then did a 50 miles motorway trip and have used it for a few runs today too and so far so good. When I put the smart charger on it, it did suggest it needed a charge so I'm hopeful we'll get by until it gets to the dealer. If it happens again I'll insist on recovery as no one else I found reported charging the battery stopped it re-occurring.

I did wonder whether this extreme cold and all the load from heated seats/steering wheel/driver aids etc may have had a negative impact...

When my car failed in the summer it took enterprise 22 hours to send me an equivalent "large saloon" which was actually a very worn DS3. Volvo Assistance were pretty p155 poor in all regards so I wouldn't necessarily say you were wrong to avoid recovery. You might still be without a car.....

[SnineT]

Frozen battery maybe?

[teksv]

I recently had the same issue on a 3 month old B5 Diesel and eventually required the TCAM and 12V battery being replaced by the dealer.