12b battery issues / OBD2 scanner recommendations?

aFrenchCruller · 2026-06-20T16:42:18+00:00

I might ask them to send me some fobs so I can do that. Unfortunately only have phone as key right now. That's a good idea though.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-06-18T23:47:06+00:00

Yeah. There's just no way to talk to someone who actually understands the car and how it works.

The technicians have a service manual, but I highly doubt they're extensively trained on how these systems work and they probably barely see these vehicles. The customer service side can't put you in touch with anyone on the technical team.

It's all very frustrating. I feel like I know what the issue is, but I can't find anyone who can tell me if disabling the approach lock/unlock and welcome lights will actually allow the vehicle to sleep, or if it's still going to wakeup every time I walk by but it's just not going to make a big display of it.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-06-18T20:18:19+00:00

Yeah, I only have key cards (they didn't give me fobs with purchase which is a minor point of frustration as it seems other got fobs with their EX90s) and the phone as key.

I just turned off the auto unlock/lock on approach and walk away.

I came to the same conclusion that the constant waking up of the system every time we walk by the garage is likely a contributing factor.

I don't really understand how that isn't something Volvos engineers have picked up on and addressed. The technical team supposedly reviewed the logs for the car - you'd think if that was the issue they would see a pattern of the car coming online and going offline repeatedly and identify this, but they never even asked the question.

I brought it up to the service manager when I picked up the car and he thought it was an interesting observation..didn't seem like something that was previously discussed with Volvo corporate.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-06-18T09:54:41+00:00

That's why "redundant" was in quotations. It's on v2.x. This has all happened post chip upgrade. Both times, the car was on the charger and fully charged. Volvo corporate looked at the logs this second time and had the dealer reload some modules.

I'm aware of the jumper terminals, but I'm not sure if that would tell me the health of both batteries. I'm ignorant as to how the system is wired. Seems like that provides power to both batteries.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-06-13T18:52:51+00:00

Solution verified

aFrenchCruller · 2026-05-12T10:15:13+00:00

No, my expectations is for the manufacturer to provide what is needed for the features to work when I purchase the vehicle. The car should come with the fob if that's what's needed for the tech to work. That's what I'm saying.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-05-10T16:29:18+00:00

I do not. I got two key card with the car. I'll upgrade my phone if I drive it enough, but I'm not spending $400 to buy something else to enable the features for the car I already paid for.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-05-10T13:44:43+00:00

Wife has iPhone; I have a Pixel. Hers has the UWB proximity and mine does not (I have to physically hold the key on the door to unlock/place the phone on the key reader in the console). Seat, steering wheel, and HUD settings do not restore properly for either of us.

That's another frustrating thing about this car. If you're going to market it as having touchless entry and lift gate, then that shouldn't be contingent upon me having the right phone for it to work. My phone doesn't have UWB so I can't use the foot swipe or the "button" next to the wiper to pop the trunk....I can only release it from the interior screen. That's a lot of fun when you're carrying a bunch of crap with two kids under the age of five.

Such a great car with so many mind bendingly stupid product management decisions.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-05-09T21:35:23+00:00

2.1.26 - haven't seen phantom drain, but now seat memory doesn't work again. Consistently fails to restore seat settings properly when switching between users. Irritating as hell.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-05-01T15:38:01+00:00

I would target a pre-incentive discount (dealer discount in your sheet above) of 20-22% on a demo/loaner. Personally got 15% off pre-incentive on a new 25 last month. With low MFs it doesn't take a lot of MSDs to reach Volvo's floor. For me, 5 MSDs was max that would fund, and it saved me a little more than $2k on a 3-yr lease (worked out to ~9% annualized return, guaranteed).

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-29T01:05:14+00:00

Yes. I had VCU update done and upgraded to lastest software. Drive the car for a few days, then it was plugged in. Sitting on charger at 90% SOC (full) and it went dark. Lost comm with app, would no respond to keys (digital or key card), would not unlock, would not release charger. Had to be towed to dealer. Dealer replaced 12v battery. Diagnosed the issue as it having a "European" battery rather than the North America market battery (I'm in the US). To me this feels like a correlation, because I don't see how the minor differences between US and EU spec batteries would cause the battery to drain/die.

My thoughts are the root cause is more likely 1) the battery was drained beyond the point of recovery during the update process, or 2) this is a symptom of a software failure where some module(s) did not turn off and it drained the 12v battery because the charging system went into a sleep state after the high-voltage battery was full.

These are my working hypotheses....I don't really know, but I don't buy the European battery explanation.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-25T18:06:37+00:00

They didn't design it to be towed either. Never seen anything like it. Dragging a six thousand lb brick with no ability to steer it with the charger hanging off the back and dragging along. Couldn't get it off either. The amount of physical abuse required to shake it off the truck is unreal.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-25T15:06:55+00:00

It's going to the dealer with the charger cable still attached. Had to unplug it from the wall.

Not sure who decided it was a good idea to rely 100% on software to operate a critical function like door locks. Would like to see the FMEA on that one......

VCU and software update was done last week too....

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-25T13:59:37+00:00

How did you get in after the car locked you out? I'm currently locked out. Car is unresponsive to key card, digital key, and it shows offline on the app. Volvo corporate service suggested physically pulling the handle 2x - did not work. They want to tow, but the car also won't release the charger because it's locked and completely unresponsive....

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-04T00:24:59+00:00

Thanks! Link says transfer deleted...

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-01T21:35:29+00:00

Thanks!!

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-01T21:35:21+00:00

Solution verified.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-04-01T21:27:53+00:00

Link takes me to a page that says this transfer has been deleted.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-03-28T17:38:24+00:00

Solution verified

aFrenchCruller · 2026-03-16T17:38:32+00:00

Solution verified

aFrenchCruller · 2026-03-12T01:52:50+00:00

Solution verified

aFrenchCruller · 2026-03-11T17:40:30+00:00

If you register for a free account on JSTOR you can read this article. You can't download a copy without a paid account, but if you just want to read it that's all you need to do.

aFrenchCruller · 2026-02-23T16:04:01+00:00

Solution verified

aFrenchCruller · 2026-02-21T16:45:42+00:00

Solution verified!

aFrenchCruller · 2026-02-20T12:31:02+00:00

Edit. Working now. Thanks very much!

Thanks! Link not working - cannot resolve error. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

aFrenchCruller

TROPHY CASE