Just bought this very clean DL automatic with 136,000 miles. I put a jump box on it but when I turn the key, the starter doesn't engage.There is total silence. Lights on the dash come on and the gauges work, but that's it. Tried the shifter in N as well as jiggling it but still nothing. Anything obvious I'm overlooking before I open a repair manual and check the wiring?

 

test your battery voltage - if the battery is totally dead (or has a dead cell, ie less than 12V showing) it may not be making a circuit even though you have jumpers on it. You may need to run jumpers from a car or a charger for a few minutes to build a base charge in the battery. I'd also check the main ground strap and the big power cable for any corrosion/bubbling insulation etc. If you can, tidy up the terminals with a wire brush and retighten. After that you'll need to start your trouble shooting - Start with the starter relay (should be vids on Youtube for where to find), then run voltage directly to the starter (the signal lead from the key) to see if that gets the solenoid to click or the starter to spin.

 

It will be a few weeks before I get it home to check. I've used jumpers on car with NO battery and they started fine so not sure how a dead battery would make any difference.What's the best repair manual that has good wiring diagrams? Bentley? I have Haynes and Chilton and have minimal information.

 

start searching online, you'd be surprised how much is available. I've used volvotips.com for my 850 and they have sections for the redblocks. you may also find some links on posts within the various Volvo forums ie Matthewsvolvosite.com, swedespeed.com, Volvo Owners Club and others. Here's a good page to bookmark: https://blog.feedspot.com/volvo_forums/

 

What's this connector by the firewall this guy is putting 12V to in order to engage the starter? At 9:12