Good evening. Been looking around a good bit on this fine forum since last October, when I purchased a 96, 960. About 125000 miles on it. Previous owner took great care of it. According to Carfax,this car went in for service on a regular basis and had just about every scheduled maintenance done to it, that is called for. This was a 1 owner car.


About 2 months ago I did a full brake job on it, in my driveway, so I'm mechanically inclined and not afraid to get my hands dirty.


Here's what's going on. Last week my daughter called me and told me it wouldn't start. She was trying to leave school. I went over and jumped it from my F150. The Volvo fired right up, no issues. Everything was fine for a few days. On Saturday the Volvo left her stranded again. This time, it would not jump. I tried and tried. The engine would crank slowly and kinda gurgle and knock. I was thinking it was out of gas so I put 2 gallons in it. Nothing. Had it towed to my house.


At my house, I decided to try jumping it again. I let my truck run 20 solid minutes hooked up to the Volvo. Still nothing. Just slow cranking.


I attached a voltmeter to the battery and observed it while cranking it. The battery voltage would start at about 12.4 volts and it would drag it clear down to about 6 volts! I had the battery tested, thinking it had bad cells. Nope. It tested ok.


I bought a battery just hoping it was some sorta battery gremlin.


Put that in this morning. No luck. A rather slow crank. Slightly faster then before.


Checked the the schrader valve on the rail, gas squirted out. I repeated the test to make sure.


Have spark. I checked with one of the Harbor Freight light up testers. Grant it, it didn't blink rapidly or constantly, but did get a few good blinks.


I believe at this point I'm left with a compression test? Or am I missing anything else that I can check. I do not have access to a code reader, and after switching the batteries, I realize they would be long gone. I did check each plug and they were dry. Odor of gasoline on each one, but that's it. They do look a little cruddy, but that's about it. I did take a pic of one of the plugs. But they are all equal in crud.


I need to add,the Volvo has had a coolant leak that I have been trying to hunt down. Wasn't coming from the water pump, I know that for a fact. No sign of coolant in the oil. Oil looks good, and plenty in the engine.


What at am I missing? I'm thinking blown HG. But can't do the test for a couple days. Anything else that I can check? Is there a way to check the MAF sensor? I did take the air box apart, it's pretty darn clean.

I also checked the obvious ground strap right beside the battery, and it's good to go. I was wondering about, because after letting the Volvo crank a good bit, the positive battery cable is very, very warm.

Any help would be great!

 

codes should remain even with the battery being swapped out. If you get slow cranking the usual suspects are battery, cables, terminals and starter motor. Since you've replaced the battery, you can check the starter cable terminals (clean posts etc). I'd be leaning towards a worn starter or a bad cable based on what you've noted not a HG or the MAF. that would explain the huge current draw from the battery.

 

Just this morning I was watching the video about replacing the 960 starter. I was wondering if that could be the culprit. I completely ignored that as an option. In my experience with starters on other cars, they either work, or don't. I guess that's not always the case? Shows you what I know.

yesterday I did noticed that after a few slow cranks, it sounds like the bendex disengages and the starter just spins. I'm guessing the starter hasn't quite got the muscle to turn the engine over rapidly enough? After what I believe is it disengaging and there is a slight thud type of sound, and you hear it spinning.

does this seem logical?

Probably be tomorrow before I can get back to it. I have a greenhouse and nursery business. Wouldn't you know it, this is the very busy season.

Thanks for the help!

 

I'd still get a compression test first to eliminate deeper trouble. Codes most likely will have been deleted and I wouldn't rely on them in this case.
"Gurgle and knock"? Sounds worrisome...

 

I appreciate both responses.

I did did probe the starter for voltage today. Getting 12.46 volts right on the bolt/lug of the starter. Directly at the battery I get 12.48 volts. So I don't think it's a voltage issue.

Now I'm really leaning to the starter as being a possible culprit.

By chance, does anyone know if a S80 starter is compatible with a 960? My local pick-your-own has a couple s80s with starters. But their one and only 960 is missing the starter. Figures.

 

Doubt S80 will work, even a 940 won't work. You can get a used starter mailed to you but it'd take a few days...

 

I figured it wouldn't. That's ok. I priced fcpeuro, I think they want $149 for the appropriate starter.

 

I would remove the sparkplugs and put a 1/2 ratchet on the crank bolt and see if the motor turns over freely ,if it does see how it does cranking over with the starter with the plugs out. If it cranks slow it still could be just a bad cable to the starter. I've run a jumper cable in parallel with the battery cable to see if I had a bad cable before and if it cranks over like normal then you most likely have a bad cable with hidden corrosion. If you do this, be careful not to arc against the motor near the starter.

 

I had this problem when my 960 was brand new (I’m the original owner). Fine one day, dead the next. After 4 battery replacements we demanded that the dealership figure it out. Left it there for a week - turned out the an alternator cable was intermittently bad. Replaced that, put in an Interstate battery and was good for years. I moved to where it snows and no longer drive the car in the winter. Even hooked to a battery tender in the winter I have to replace the battery more often then makes sense, but now I just expect to buy a new battery every 2 years, but I’d replace the alternator cables and starter first.

As as to the coolant, this the one other issue I’ve had since day 1. I had it tested for leaks at least 4 or more times - never found anything, and finally a mechanic told me that the system just wasn’t designed to be sealed well and to just plan on adding coolant once every 2 years. I’ve been doing this whole time, but at least I know to do it before the weather gets too hot. Those are the only issues I’ve ever had with this car.

 

Wanted to post an update to this situation.

I did probe around the starter and got good voltage. I realize this isn't definitive, as there is no way to measure draw. At any rate, I did order a used starter. That arrived a few days ago, I got it installed today. It was a bear to get 2 of the 3 bolts out. The worst bolt was on the bracket that connects to the rear of the starter. The location of the bolt and the amount of torq on it, made it nearly impossible to get out. I ended up freeing it by nothing more then brute force. I used a 14 mm ratcheting box end wrench. I was able to leave it on the bolt, taking breaks. It finally just broke lose. I noticed that the threads of the bolt appear to have thread lock on them. No wonder it didn't want to budge.

Got the new, used starter installed. Turned the key, and the starter will only free spin. Does not engage the engine at all. Looks like a bad starter? I purchased a warranty on the item, I plan to email the company and see about switching them out. Hopefully that's a simple process.

Meanwhile, I made a discovery. When I removed the old starter I found a cable dangling loose. I have no idea if I pulled it off of its connector?



Hopefully the image shows up. The connector I found is just laying against the motor. I have no clue about this. I felt around, and looked where I could see. Lots of dead space where I couldn't see.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Wanted to post an update to this situation.




I did probe around the starter and got good voltage. I realize this isn't definitive, as there is no way to measure draw. At any rate, I did order a used starter. That arrived a few days ago, I got it installed today. It was a bear to get 2 of the 3 bolts out. The worst bolt was on the bracket that connects to the rear of the starter. The location of the bolt and the amount of torq on it, made it nearly impossible to get out. I ended up freeing it by nothing more then brute force. I used a 14 mm ratcheting box end wrench. I was able to leave it on the bolt, taking breaks. It finally just broke lose. I noticed that the threads of the bolt appear to have thread lock on them. No wonder it didn't want to budge.




Got the new, used starter installed. Turned the key, and the starter will only free spin. Does not engage the engine at all. Looks like a bad starter? I purchased a warranty on the item, I plan to email the company and see about switching them out. Hopefully that's a simple process.




Meanwhile, I made a discovery. When I removed the old starter I found a cable dangling loose. I have no idea if I pulled it off of its connector?









Hopefully the image shows up. The connector I found is just laying against the motor. I have no clue about this. I felt around, and looked where I could see. Lots of dead space where I couldn't see.




Anyone have any ideas?


​​​​​​​

 

Alrighty, to follow up on this, I ordered a used starter. Installed it, bad solenoid. Called the supplier and they were happy to send out a replacement. Got the replacement starter, another bad solenoid.

Ordered a brand new starter from FCP. It arrived today. Installed it, and nothing but a slow crank. Back to square one. I'm assuming at this point the most likely culprit is a bad battery cable? Honestly I'm not sure this is worth exploring much further. When switching out the starter, whichever time, I knocked the dipstick tube loose from the oil pan. I couldn't get the oil stopped, so I put a container under the car and pulled the oil plug. Coolant came splashing out.

Any advice?

 

Advice? How much do you like this car? You need a head gasket, the cheapest option, still pricey, $2000? Another engine, a rebuild is cost prohibitive. Sell it for parts to a wrecking yard. "Gurgle and knock" was never a good sign...