Intermittant ignition?

[Dave]

Hello,
We have a '98 V70 AWD. During the past few weeks, the ignition has
been a little flaky. You turn the key and the lights, etc. all come
on but the car does not start...it's almost like there is another 1/8
of a turn or something that is blocked, but it does not feel like a
physical obstruction. Try to turn it again and it may start, or it
may take 5-7 times.

At first, it seemed to coincide with the first start on cold mornings
(i.e., around freezing), but that does not appear to be a constant.
Yesterday, we were out for a few hours, came into the house and when
the wife went to go to the store, it took 2-3 mins to get it going.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Al Dente]

don't know about your specific car, but there should be a switch in the
system that prevents starting unless the transmission is in PARK or NEUTRAL.
Perhaps the mechanical linkage is loose, or the switch is going bad. The
next time it refuses to start, try moving the shifter a little, to see if
the problem is there.

 

[Mike F]

Hello,
We have a '98 V70 AWD. During the past few weeks, the ignition has
been a little flaky. You turn the key and the lights, etc. all come
on but the car does not start...it's almost like there is another 1/8
of a turn or something that is blocked, but it does not feel like a
physical obstruction. Try to turn it again and it may start, or it
may take 5-7 times.

At first, it seemed to coincide with the first start on cold mornings
(i.e., around freezing), but that does not appear to be a constant.
Yesterday, we were out for a few hours, came into the house and when
the wife went to go to the store, it took 2-3 mins to get it going.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dave

You're having a problem with either the electrical part of the ignition
switch, or the key/tumbler part. Both are common failures, the
electrical part is easy to change, the key/tumbler part requires a
special order to match your existing key. Fix this problem now, before
it leaves you stranded.


--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

[Dave]

don't know about your specific car, but there should be a switch in the
system that prevents starting unless the transmission is in PARK or NEUTRAL.
Perhaps the mechanical linkage is loose, or the switch is going bad. The
next time it refuses to start, try moving the shifter a little, to see if
the problem is there.

Al,
Thanks for the reply. However, this did not do the trick.

Thank you,
Dave

 

[Dave]

You're having a problem with either the electrical part of the ignition
switch, or the key/tumbler part. Both are common failures, the
electrical part is easy to change, the key/tumbler part requires a
special order to match your existing key. Fix this problem now, before
it leaves you stranded.

Mike,
Thanks for the reply. I don't suppose there's an easy way to tell
which is the culprit (i.e., would an OBDII read be able to tell the
difference?)?


Thanks,
Dave

 

[Mike F]

Mike,
Thanks for the reply. I don't suppose there's an easy way to tell
which is the culprit (i.e., would an OBDII read be able to tell the
difference?)?

Thanks,
Dave

It's probably the electrical part, it's an easy replacement, and quite
reasonable.

http://www.volvospeed.com/Repair/ignit_switch.htm

Note that this link is for the 850, your V70 has some slight detail
differences.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

[Byrocat]

Thanks for the reply. I don't suppose there's an easy way to tell
which is the culprit (i.e., would an OBDII read be able to tell the
difference?)?

Usually happens when I've just started the car in the morning and have
to stop the engine for something (like going back into the house).
Occassionally it's a stall condition. So far, it's been about once a
month or whenever I'm in a rush and forget NOT to stop the engine....

Determining the faulty part is fairly easy:
Wiggle the key in the lock and try seeing if the car starts.
If that doesn't work....
Wiggle the gearstick back and forth and hard against the stops. You
may need to release the lock on the gearstick to do this.

Do this for several sessions so you have consistent results, and go
from there...

However, whenever it's happened to me, I'm in a flaming hurry and
falming late and people are watching me and I'm totally flaming mad
that I can't spend the ten minutes per instance to determine which
happens consistently.....

Can take up to 30-40 minutes in some situations for things to work
right, but the last time (the flaming one) was wiggle keys, DARN!!!
Wiggle gearstick, DARN!!! Drop a few flaming bon-mots.... Really
wiggle both hard. It's ALIVE!!!! Don't stop, get going before
something else happens.