I have a 1991 Volvo 740 with a no start issue. Spark and fuel present. bench tested starter. new ignition sensor. it is making a strange sound when cranking now. when I turn the key quickly the starter sometimes does not engage to prevent grinding and that is normal. sometimes it cranks without stopping but does not grind, just cranks the motor...making me think there is something wrong with the starter not releasing back in??? the starter works fine on the bench. I'm at a loss. here is a vid link to have a look. any help would be appreciated. cheers.

 

Popping that starter in and out like that is not good. Turn the key and hold it until it starts.

Other than that, this video might help.

 

 

you are correct. it is not good to do that. the vid is to show the problem. after it fires a little (0:12) you can hear the difference.

 

No compression.

 

a little back story. the car ran fine. shut down while on highway, eventually started again. ran for a while then shut down in town. towed home. definitely some over cranking on my part at that point. thats when the sound of the crank changed. ignition sensor was fouled. replaced sensor. no start. sputters once in a while but still seems to "not grab" most of the time. i'll check the compression. thanks for the reply

 

there's no point in doing a compression test. I can hear no compression.