What is this shroud/hose/line??? Photo included
 

Can anyone tell me what this hole is in? Can't identify what this is. My 94' 850 has been starting intermittently. It will start and an hour later it won't. I put in a brand new battery and nothing changed. Lights and radio will come on but there is no engine turnover and no sound at all really. Wondering if this line could be the cause of that??? Thought it may be the starter or PNP switch but hoping maybe this is it? Could I tape it temporarily? Thanks!!!https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/volvofo...c3ece6b409.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/volvofo...f8f6079e98.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/volvofo...c744a104da.jpg

its kind of hard to tell exactly which wire you are referring to and where on the engine. with that said, I doubt if the lack of a tie down is causing the intermittant start. Try doing a shifter row (P to Lo to P 20x fast) to see if you can clean up the PNP contacts next time it fails to start. Also check the battery terminals to make sure don't have any corrosion or loose connectors up there.

Can you see the big hole in the photo? It occurs on a line that's right behind the battery. Between battery and air filter. I tried the moving shifter about 10-15 times but not super fast. I will try that again next time. I just put the new battery on and tightened it down pretty well. Thanks!

The adjustability of that makes me think it's the shifter cable. That keeps dirt out of the cable, I think. There is a bellows hooked to that, I think.


Regarding starter troubleshooting, I am a total fundamentalist on car parts. The starter has one wire that turns it on. It's a little wire. The car has thousands of other components, but I am only interested in this one wire.


So, 3 things:


If power goes to that wire, the PNP switch (and in fact most of the rest of the car) has done all it can do to command the starter.


If power does NOT got to that wire when commanded by you, the driver, then as far as you know, the starter is okay. As far as you know. You might suspect the PNP switch or the ignition switch, and some other things.


If you want to, you can run a wire to that terminal on the starter and provide power. If this turns on the starter, then the starter is okay. Don't run over yourself if you do this.

I don't have a voltage meter right now. Does it make sense that a bad starter would cause the car to start sometimes but not others? The only times it hasn't started is at night when it's colder. Does that make any sense or is it purely coincidental ? Thanks!

Very much sense, yes. It's fairly common. Some people that I know have taken to hitting the starter with a hammer in such cases (with success), but I didn't necessarily want to go there.

Ok thanks good to know. I'm not sure that I could even reach the starter with a hammer or other object. It seems to be under some other stuff in my 94' 850. I'll probably just replace it and hope that's the problem. It didn't start again tonight after starting a couple times today. I tried running the shifter from P to L, 20 times fast to see if it might be the PNP switch but that did nothing.

No troubleshooting? I am much too lazy to replace a starter without making sure it's the problem.

I know next to nothing about cars so troubleshooting problems definitely isn't my strong suit. Also starting a new job after Thanksgiving so need ability to drive ASAP! Actually need to drive to from Boston to CT and back so hopefully it starts for that or no Thanksgivinng.

So I ended up buying a starter from advanced auto. After 22% discount code on site and $20 speed perk credit I got for buying my battery there it was about $100 or so with a $43 core charge added on. Took it to my mechanic who says he tested the starter by waiting until it wouldn't start and then supplying power to the starter which worked to start car and he says that indicated it was the starter. That doesn't make sense to me but he then replaced the stater and now if starts. So even if he didn't really test it or his test was bull it appears the starter really was the issue. Unfortunately when I went to pick up the car I started it and the engine began revving up and down. It eventually evened out after about 15-25 seconds. I turned engine off and restarted and again the engine revved several times on it's own. I went in and told him and he said "oh yeh I noticed that" but he basically ignored it. He looked under hood for a minute, manually revved the engine and said drive it for a few days and bring if back if it continues. So far it has continued and the car is also idling at a higher rpm than usual. Not sure what's going on with this. Any ideas?

had

You might have a vacuum leak somewhere, as the starter is right under the intake. He definitely would have disconnected the battery, so maybe it just needs to relearn.


You are correct, his diagnostics, as stated, could be taken to mean the reverse of what he should have said. But he may be right. It really depends on what he energized.