Hi all, I am in desperate need of help - my 2004 S60 won't start and I'm screwed if I can't get to work in the AM.

Here's a timeline of events:
On Friday, I accidentally left my running lights on all day. Oops. The car started fine and drove fine for about 30 min. Then the SRS light came on and some of the interior lights (steering wheel controls, window buttons, etc) started sort of flickering and making this clicking sound. Next, the instrument panel went dark and the gauges stopped working. The windows and steering wheel controls only worked sporadically. But the radio and AC/heat worked fine, and the car still drove fine.

I parked and my boyfriend took a look at the spark plugs and said nothing looked blown. The car sat turned off for about 10 minutes and then when I tried to start it, it was dead.

Today, boyfriend went and bought a new battery and installed it. Now the car is turning over and all of the electrical stuff is working (lights, etc) but the car still won't start. The check engine light comes on sporadically but other than that no warning lights or messages.

We tried the locking and unlocking of the doors trick, both remote keys and the valet key, and he also reinstalled the battery. What else could it be?? It's been sitting for about an hour now and soon he's going to go back and re check the fuses with a reader....

Please please please help!!!

 

1. Unhook battery for a good 10 minutes, at least, clean the terminals.
2. Hook battery back up, unlock car, try starting again.
3. Read codes if it won't start.

Unfortunately there are issues with the 2004 in regards to quite a few modules (as I've read here and other places) due to the high and low speed data network losing communication. You could be looking at the instrument cluster, CEM module under the dash and a few others. Have your boyfriend carefully take the CEM down from inside the driver's side dash (panel comes off, just look it up online) and reseat all relays, etc. Make sure battery is disconnected while doing this.

The other thing to look for, does it actually try to turn over (starter engage?) Do you see any warning on the instrument cluster as far as security system stopping it from starting? Hit the "read" messages button and see what errors you are getting along with reading the codes with a reader.

 

good pointers here. Volvos do have several fuse boxes (under the hood, under the dash) so check all. The immobilizer also works by cutting off the fuel so after rehooking the battery, lock/unlock the doors 5-6 times using the key fob should reset. If the engine turns over, that rules out some other problem areas so its important to note if the starter engages or not. After that you'd probably need to have some tech skills & tools to diagnose components (like having a code reader, and a volt-ohm meter).