Hello everyone. The Starter on my 2000 Volvo S40 was giving me an issue, where when I turned the key, it made a clicking sound by the Starter/Solenoid.

I ended up having to tap the Starter, Solenoid & Aircon Compressor with a Hammer, until one day it refused to start.

I was advised that the Solenoid was "Sticky" and that it was best to get a replacement Starter, which I did & installed.

Now I am having the same issue with the newly installed Starter as well. It started fine for a few days & now it's doing the exact same thing as the previous Starter, where I have to tap the 3 above mentioned places, multiple times in order for my car to start.

Please can anyone advise me as to what could be the issue, as I've replaced the Starter, as I don't want to have a situation where I get stranded with the car somewhere far away from home.

Thank you.

 

It's easy-peasy, though fiddly.

You need to monitor three wires to determine where the problem is (at least relative to the starter).

1) The small "control" (red?) wire that pulls in the solenoid. If it's getting 12 volts when you turn the key, move to #2. If not, work backward toward the ignition switch.
2) The large "supply" (red) wire that supplies battery voltage to the starter. If it stays at 12 volts when you get the click (but no spin), then you know the new starter is bad, unless #3 says otherwise...
3) The engine ground strap. Put a voltmeter between the battery negative terminal and the engine block. If the voltage is more than a small fraction of a volt when the starter "clicks", find and replace / repair the grounding strap for the engine block.

 

I appreciate this. This is my first Volvo, and by what you explained now, seems like it falls into the Auto Electrical department.

 

It could be tested by any semi-competent tech with a voltmeter, or by a DIYer with a voltmeter. Once you get comfortable with the concept, a voltmeter is a very simple, easy-to-use tool.

The thing is, a shop might just shotgun the entire system (we've seen it happen over and over and over), when it could just be a loose wire or flaky connection.

 

That also makes a lot of sense. Okay I will give it a shot, it's not like I can electrocute myself or anything.... Right?

 

You could melt, but only if you're made out of conductive metals. ;-) It's only 12 volts. Just make sure and don't touch any of those "hot points" AND ground (anything else metal on the engine, normally) with the same probe, or you can produce an entertaining and frightening (depending on if you're doing or watching) shower of sparks. With voltmeter probes, it's easy enough to avoid, so yeah - and stay clear of rotating bits and belts.

 

That made me laugh so hard. I have done everything you have said and I now think that I found the issue. It turns out that the battery on the vehicle, is pushing out 11.73 volts as supposed to the minimum of 12.2 volts(ideally 12.5) thats it's meant to.

As a guide, the main wire from battery to the starter is getting 11.73 volts, the ground wire to engine block is getting 0.8 volts and the wire on the solenoid is getting 0.6 volts normal and 0.8 volts when key is turned.

Is is safe to say that the battery needs to be replaced or rather, a more powerful battery needs to be installed?

 

The battery voltage IS a little low, but that's not at all unusual for a battery that's been sitting for a day or three. Don't swap it out quite yet (though if it's 4 or 5 years old, go ahead and call it regular maintenance).

The key (pardon the unintended pun) is that you're only getting 0.8 volts at the solenoid with the key in the start position. BUT that might be because of the 0.8 volts you're measuring (I think) from the battery to the engine block. That should be 0.0something volts maximum.

Do this...

Take the measurements with a helper turning the key to the start position...
1) The battery negative terminal (the center round cylinder in the center of the clamp) to the clamp itself. Should be 0.0something volts. Let me know if it isn't.
2) The battery negative terminal to the engine block (make sure it's a metal bit that's "integral" to the block somehow). Should also be 0.0something volts. Ditto on alerting me. ;-)
3) The battery positive terminal to the positive clamp. 0.0something...
4) The battery positive terminal to the big red wire at the starter (0.0something again).

FWIW, a quickie method for determining if you have a battery clamp problem is to turn on the headlights and then turn the key to start. If the headlights go out, you know you're losing voltage at the "common point". Normally that's the clamp (on a normal non-Volvo car) but could be part of all that other stuff hanging off the positive terminal (you can measure for voltage drop across these paths, which should all be - you guessed it - 0.0something volts).

 

I really do appreciate it. I will certainly do this at work tomorrow with the help of a friend and note down each individual reading as it's given on the voltmeter, verbatim.

I will post all results as per your point system above.

 

Good Day Sir. Apologies for the delayed response. I have measured everything as per your point system above and it is as follows

1. Negative Terminal to Clamp - 0.011
2. Negative Terminal to Engine Block - 0.012
3. Positive Terminal to Clamp - 0.125
4. Positive Terminal to Big Red Wire - 0.026

Also, I did the test where I turn on my headlights & attempt to start the car. The headlights go completely OFF when I turn the key to start the car.

Unfortunately on my car, it's either I'm really blind or I'm not looking correctly, but all I see on the positive terminal is the Clamp itself & the big red wire going to the Starter & the clamps that slides onto the Solenoid(which I have measured at 0.8volts as per the last test).

Should I be seeing/be anything else on the Positive terminal/clamp wire that I'd need to measure as well?
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I'm betting the problem is your positive battery clamp. There's no way it should have that much voltage drop, though it's also LESS than I'd expect if the test was done with the key in the start position (with the "start" not happening due to voltage drop). Re-measure the battery post to clamp when you hit the starter with the headlights turned on, and see if the voltage jumps up to 8-12 volts when the headlights go out. I'll bet it will.

At any rate, the good news is that you've narrowed the problem down to the immediate area of the battery, to only those common components that supply voltage to both the starter and headlights (or more accurately, to the fusebox that powers the headlights).

I no longer have my Volvo, so can't really give you much real-world info on the configuration, but you're just looking for the where the voltage is good on one side of "a thing", and bad on the other (indicating that the voltage is being lost across a bad connection). Just keep doing what you're doing and find that "thing" that's eating all your voltage, and you're off to the races.

 

I really appreciate all the advice.

So just to be clear, all I'm testing now is the positive terminal to the positive clamp, and attempt to start the vehicle with the headlights on and if I get a voltage jump of 8-12 volts, then I know I have a bad connection and/or that I'm getting a voltage drop because something else is eating the voltage, which is why my car doesn't start?

 

You're essentially measuring across two points that should have almost zero voltage drop (such as the battery post to the clamp that's directly connected to it). By trying to start the car, you're trying to put it in "failure mode" (since the voltage drop could be normal under other conditions). Having the headlights on is just a quick way to know FOR SURE that your car is in "failure mode". If you can try to start the car and the headlights go out AND STAY OUT, then you can poke around with the meter at your leisure - once you find a big (over a couple tenths of a volt) voltage drop across something that is supposed to be a "direct connection", you've found your problem.