My husband's Volvo 850 has been acting up the last few weeks. Sometimes in the morning, it won't start. When someone jumps it, it starts up. Then he drives it around, it's fine, but on errands today, at the fourth stop at Walmart, it just wouldn't start. Someone had to jump him. When the battery was tested by a mechanic, it was fine and not draining. The mechanic said the alternator was okay but my husband worries it may be spotty-- (but he's not car savvy).What options does he have, to narrow down this problem? I suggested he take it to autozone for the computer but since his check engine light is not on, maybe it won't show anything? Thanks for ANY direction or help.

 

When it doest start does it crank at all and just not turn over or is it just like there is nothing there when he turns the key?

Does the clock reset when ever it doesnt start?

It sounds like a bad connection. Make sure the battery terminals a re clean and corrosion free and tight..

Other than that it could be a bad ground or contact on the starter. Simple enough to check but if he is not car savvy as you say he might want to bring it to a shop that specializes in Volvo to check the connections and grounds.

 

If the check engine light isn't on it's likely it wouldn't read anything. But it is a free test and sometimes the computer will store a previous code or have a pending code as a problem it's seeing but not enough to trip the light yet. So it might be worth a try if you are in the area. Might want to have them do the free alternator test just in case.

One thing I found on mine is the positive battery terminal end at the battery positive post has a nut on each side of the pinch bolt (if it's still stock). You need to make sure you've tightened both down. One side tightens the terminal to the battery the other side tightens the power feed from the battery to the fuse panel (smaller red wire). In the dark I only tightened the one down that tightens it to the battery's post after a battery change and I had the vehicle kill on me. The other side was a turn or two loose and allowing it to drop voltage to the ignition system. Couldn't figure it out for some time. It's something that is particular to a Volvo which is why it bit me in the butt. I thought that once it was tight it was tight on both sides, opps

 

Also check to see if your cam sensor's connection is not brittle.