i just bought my first car, a 1991 volvo 240 with a little over 200k on it. i had been checking out this site before and felt a little more secure that if i had a problem with this car, id have somewhere to turn. i did not think it would happen so soon!
so heres the stroy...
i bought this car from a guy who's father drove it, and as we all know grandpas take notoriuosly good care of their cars. it hasnt been driven for about three months and sat in the garage, but when i got there it started up fine, drove well, every thing was great.
i drove it back to the city (chicago) and went to take it for an inugrual run on lake shore drive and while the car started up fine, the "shift stick" (im not sure if thats the official term) would not let me depress the button on top and shift from park to reverse, or drive.
after i played with it for a bit, like 10mins, pretty rough, it let me shift. and i had no problems for the rest of the evening.
this morning, i was pumped to drive to work, instead of my usual 120min commute, and, yeah, you guessed it , same problem.
the car starts fine, but wont let me depress the botton on the top of the shift stick. i wiggle and push and pull and swear at it and i got nothing. i pull up the parking break and release it, nothing. i turn off the car and when i try to re start it NOTHING! im slightly worried, extrememly worried.
i believe its electrical, the key doesnt even turn. is there some sort of locking mechanism?
theres a button on the side of the shift stick that lights up an arrow on the dash when you press it, it didnt seem to have any negative or positive effect on my situation.
i am so bummed and frustrated and no almost nthing about cars...
any help would just be amazing. and fyi, i have never owned a car and im a 25 yr old girl, so details, details, details.
thank you so much in advance.

 

There's a shift interlock on your car that requires the brake to be pressed before you push down on the shifter button and move the gear shift lever. If you're holding the brake pedal down before you try to shift the car out of park it should work fine. If it doesn't then you have a problem with the interlock solenoid. There's a fuse panel near your left foot kick panel, remove the cover and make sure fuses 5,6, and 7 are ok. As to why you can't turn the key, that could be several things such as, the steering wheel has the tumbler locked (try turning the steering wheel back a forth a little while rotating the key), (the ignition tumbler could be bad, etc. etc.Try those few things and let us know what happens.

Dale

 

thank you dale,
i was definantly depressing the brake, but ill check out those fuses. im at work now until 6pm, but i will for sure keep everyone posted. thanks again.

 

Also you should have an overide button in the grove for the shifter cover to manually move the lever to allow you to get it out of park.
Do the brake lights work?
Do you hear a clicking noise when depressing the brake?

 

the fuses are all intact. the 7th one is a wearing a little thin, but my problem seems to have shifted. now, when i put the key in and turn it, i cant engage the ignition. the exterior and interior lights both work, but i can not turn the key far enough to start the engine. i got nothing. i dont think its the battery since the lights work, and all the warning light on the dash light up. could it be the starter? is this something i could fix with some help?

 

oh, and the brake doesnt seem to depress as far as it should.

 

Let's take things one at a time. That thing you shift with is called the shift lever or shifter on an automatic. It's a stick shift (sometimes) on a manual. You could have more than one problem but that's not usual. So let's look for one single thing that could be causing ALL of your problems. First, and always first, check ANYTHING that Tech says. I've been on this forum all of two weeks and have already gathered that he's virtually the equivalent of asking questions of the service manager at the Volvo dealer. Even though the car won't start, you can check what he said about the shift lock bypass. Pull the parking brake so you won't have to worry about the car rolling. See if you can shift it out of park by using Tech's mechanical bypass idea. If you can, that points to the shift interlock system which consists of a switch on the brake pedal (the reason he asked you if your brake lights work) and a solenoid on the shifter or in the shifter area. This all comes from a big news story in the 80's about "unintentional acceleration" on Volvos. Most of us believe that there never was a fault in the car beyond a stiff floor mat being pushed forward by an electric seat. (I believe that you can't adjust electric Saab seats without the car in park or the clutch in these days for that very reason.)

The reason your brake pedal won't depress much is because the engine is not running. That's a symptom, not a problem. You need to determine whether the key is truly not turning far enough of if it merely "ain't do'in nutin'" when you DO turn it. I suspect the latter. Automatics have a safety interlock on the shifter to prevent you from starting the car "in gear". It lets it start only in park or neutral. My 740 seldom will start in neutral but does so readily in park so I see a tendency here for that switch to perhaps fail. Consequently, I suspect your problem is in that interlock switch. Now here's where you prove me right or wrong. With one delicate hand you hold the key in the start position. With the other similar appendage you "fiddle" with the shifter. Wiggle it around in park. Then wiggle it around in neutral. Move it toward reverse and then back toward drive. Numerous times. If it starts or even tries to start, you've identified a problem. One that uses a fairly cheap part.

Unfortunately my only experience is with the 740 and I've never even ridden in a 240 but on mine, it isn't perfectly clear what gear I'm in using the indicator which moves around a bit. So count, my dear, if yours is similar. It's in park as we speak. Two clicks to the rear is neutral. Of course you won't be able to try any of this unless Tech's interlock bypass idea works for you. Try all this and report back. You have people willing to help. If all else fails, perhaps someone in the Chicago area (which is too far from Atlanta) will come help you. We guys are suckers for 1.) nice young women (in the case of the nice young men) or 2.) daughter figures (in the case of old coots like myself who has a 27 y.o daughter.) Of course all the usual cautions apply when meeting a stranger. I would think that Volvo owners are a fairly safe group but one never knows.

The next likely step is going to be advising you how to get the book and take the console apart. Enablement! (That will have to come from a 240 owner.) I am assuming that you are releasing the steering wheel without a problem when turning the key. I'm thinking drink spilled into the shifter area of the console if it turns out that both the neutral safety switch AND the shift interlock solenoid are bad. WE'll deal with the shifting problem later if the bypass idea works for now. Try some of this stuff and report back!

 

you are all amazing and i appreciate the advice so much.

i found the over ride button in the grove and can now shift from park with ease.
i was working on it myself, so im not sure if the brake lights are working, but i will get someone to help me out and check on that, but there is no clicking noise when i depress the brake.
i moved the shifter around quite a bit and it moves with ease. it seems to have no problem settling in park. i definantly wiggled it a bunch, and moved it back and forth and back again, trying to make sure it was in park, and still the key would not turn to the starting position III.

the key turns until position II, drive position. it will not budge past there to start. when in the drive position, all the warning lights on the dash lite up.

unfortunatly im going to new york for an environmental conference this weekend. but when i get back sunday evening, i will be rearing to go. i am just so excited to have my car and can not wait to cruise around the city.and possibly feel a sense of achomplishment in fixing it myself (with lots and lots of help).

when i get back sunday i will work on wiggling the shifter around in park and nuetral some more and see if i can get the car to start, or attempt to. what about the shift interlock on the brake. where can i locate that? any other suggestions.

thanks again for all the help. i will get back to everyone on sunday.

 

You'll obviously want to fix that interlock thing for convenience but it's not too critical right now. If the key will not physically turn to position 3 than the starter safety cutout (in the shifter) is not your problem. Forget the wiggle test. It's an ignition cylinder problem. I won't attempt to advise on that one. I've replaced them on other cars but not a Volvo. I have a 740 Haynes manual and will probably be useless. There is a work-around solution, however. Again, I lack specifics but there's a starter relay somewhere on this car. Most cars have them on the starter solenoid itself, which is under the car. That relay will have two big wires and a small one. The big ones connect to the battery and the starter itself. The purpose of the relay is to connect the two big wire terminals together. Even with no key in the car, a connection between those two big wires will make the starter turn. You can test this with an insulated pair of pliers. You put one jaw on one wire and momentarily touch it to the other. The starter will make noise. If so, the starter is fine (expected result) and my next step is a possible low-cost solution. In fact, you might want to skip the pliers part and go straight to this one.

The small wire is the one that activates the relay. When you turn the key to position 3 (or rather when WE do, since you CAN'T), battery voltage appears on that small wire and the starter activates. You can check this by taking a piece of wire, lamp cord, speaker wire, almost anything that is insulated. Jam, clamp, or have your trusted assistant hold one end against the positive battery post (+). Carefully (it's hot with battery voltage and will spark if you touch bare metal with it) take the other end down under the car and touch it to that terminal (the small one - you can pull the existing connector off first if necessary) and the starter should run. I'm looking at a low cost repair here.

If you have the money, a new ignition lock cylinder is the proper repair. The alternative is you run a permanent new wire to that terminal and inside the car to a position on the dask where you mount a new switch. The switch also connects to battery voltage, usually available under the dash. A friend with a bit of electrical experience would be highly helpful, of course. Basically you turn on the key switch to position II and operate the switch to activate the starter. A simple stupid temporary fix is to run the wire up near the battery and physically open the hood and touch that wire to the battery terminal after you turn on the key. This will start the car the same way but is less elegant and more trouble. Plus, you will look like the Beverly Hillbillies doing it. Gives you some dark insight into how men like me think. Avoid us socially.

 

i know one thing, my 1990 volvo 240 doesnt have that shift lock / Brake lock out, in other words i can be in P and put it in R or D without pushing down on the brake, now i dont know about 1991 but my fahter's 1993 vovlo had the Brake lockout mechanism on it

 

The 1990 should have it.
Someone might have broke the arm out.
Thats what alot of people do when it breaks.

 

i have some news. while i was in new york, my mom and her boyfriend managed to get my car started. he said there was something stuck down in the grove keeping it from being fully in park. they took it to a mechanic and he fixed the nutral switch. my mom didnt get the info as to what exactly this is, so if anyone has some insight that would be great. the mechanic also said i need to replace the outer tie rods because they are bent.
if all goes well, i should be driving within the week! im very ecited, especially since its about 20 degrees in chicago, and that is far to cold for public transportation.
thanks to everyone for there help. ive already learn way more about my car then i thought i would and its very reassuring to know there are people willing to help.

 

He might have replaced the Nuetral safety switch. Which controls the reverse lights and will not allow the car to start unless it is in Park or neutral.

Thats why in one of my Above posts I asked you to try to start it in neutral.

 

And that's why I went through that rather tedious "wiggle test" scenario. Before you replaced those "bent" tie rod ends, see if it can be aligned. If there's no play in them and there's sufficient adjustment range to align the front end (the toe-in, they call it, where these parts are concerned), then bent doesn't matter.