Recently experienced my 2005Volvo S40 not cranking. Parked it from a trip and then 15 minutes later wanted to go into town and the car wouldn't crank. Plenty of power (lights, instruments, etc. turned on), but nothing else. Put in and out of park and tried starting in neutral...nothing. Next day I tried again and after multiple turns of the key it started. No problems since. Any ideas for diagnosis out there???

 

Your starter could be beginning to fail, or the wire coming from the positive post of the battery to the starter could have too much resistance, or your battery might not have enough voltage to turn the flywheel. I would check out those issues first if I were you.

Could you hear a clicking sound coming from the lower engine compartment when you were trying to start it (when it wasn't cranking)? Do you have a voltmeter?

 

If no clicking sound or dimming of the lights when you turn the key to start then I'd suspect the ignition switch itself. On my 2005 it would act similar to your description. When turning the key to start, the lights would come on normally but the engine would not crank. But it was intermittent and if you jiggled the key in the switch and kept trying eventually it would crank and start. Once I replaced the ignition switch you could really feel the difference between the old sloppy worn out switch and the new tight firm switch.

 

Thanks folks! I'm sure it's not the battery. Hudini described exactly what is going on. Sounds like it might be the ignition switch. What about the neutral safety switch going bad?

 

Have you tried starting the car in neutral (not park)? Or jiggling the shifter while cranking?

 

Yes, I tried it in neutral and it didn't make a difference; moved the shifter in and out of park, neutral, drive, etc. with no difference. Interestingly, I haven't had any problems starting the car since that one day.