[jcp123]

Hey all. I recently inherited a problem: my mother-in-law's V70 will not crank via key. Simple as that.

History: car was purchased in New York State, AKA the road salt capital of the world. Hmm, we know how much wiring likes road salt. It was parked at a restaurant and shut off. It had started fine and ran OK, if not perfectly, up to that point. Upon return from the meal, the car would not crank. Battery was new, and with key on, the radio, locks, blower motor, etc. worked fine. I swapped the starter relay out with a known good relay; no change. I then ran a jumper wire from battery hot to the solenoid signal wire. Car cranked healthily but with key in "run" position would then not fire. I hate being a parts changer, but as this model is no stranger to failed PNP switches, I replaced it. Again, no change. No shocker here, there are no OBDII codes. Her mechanic actually started it (bypassing the steering column) but is trying to con her into a timing belt change :clap:

My gut says this is a bad ignition switch, but I cannot rule out that there is a possible security system problem. Do Volvos crank when there is a security problem? It also seems to have an aftermarket keyless entry, always something which will raise an eyebrow or two, it's the kind of trash which causes headaches like this. The remote, however, does not work, so I don't know if it has any security or remote-start tie-ins. What suggestions do you have for further testing? I have jumper wires, a test light, an UltraGauge, and a fairly cheap multimeter with which I can check stuff, but no advanced scopes.

If I weren't married to her daughter...