'00 V70 no crank

[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...

[Fingie]

Is it an automatic? If i remember correctly, volvos have some kind of system to prevent starting with d in or something. But im european so i do not know how overseas volvos are different

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Fingie

Is it an automatic? If i remember correctly, volvos have some kind of system to prevent starting with d in or something. But im european so i do not know how overseas volvos are different

All automatics in the states do that as well.

[jcp123]

That's the PNP (park neutral position) switch I replaced, AKA the neutral start switch or neutral safety switch. So that can be safely eliminated as a cause.

[user removed]

Check for a voltage drop along the relevant circuits. Could also be a bad ground or ground circuit.

Start at the battery and the starter motor. The battery post themselves, not the terminals on the cables.

First test the whole circuit to determine if it is the power or ground cricuits, then try sections of the failed circuit, to isolate the exact location of the bad connection.

Cruddy connection somewhere, or dead spots on the starter armature?

At least it's NOT intermittent

regards
mech