I am a new volvo owner. I purchased a used 2000 S70 (140K miles) for my teenage son last yer. It's been a great car for him. I have been doing my own basic matenance since this is our 5th car - yes, maintenance is getting pricey. Generally, I am handy with car maintenance. I am starting to see a number of new issues that are popping up and I thought it would be a good idea to subscribe to a site like this to get some DYI help. I'll break them up into different threads.

Last night, the car would not crank. Its a new battery and frankly the lights look strong and stay on (although dim) when I try to crank it over. I jumped the battery just to be sure it wasn't the batter. It would not turn over, loads up and just makes a ratcheting noise. I am thinking its the starter. I've never had a starter just outright fail before without some level of low key issue prior to failure.

2 questions...
1) Is there another alternative with this car other than the starter failed?

2) If it is the starter, how hard a job is it to replace it? I'm sure there are probably threads on this but first hand experience is always good.

 

There is a good chance that the starter just outright failed. If your car is NOT turbo, it's easier. You can pull the intake tube and reach it under the intake manifold. You may also have to remove the splash panel under the car and loosen wire from under there. I'm sure there is some good DIY instructions on the internet somewhere. Just google it. There is another site that has a lot of info and repair DIY stuff as well.

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/vol...-database-home

www.VolvoSpeed.com

www.SwedeSpeed.com

 

Thanks for the info and websites.

I was going to have the shop repair it in the interest of time, but I don't work well with "I'll let you know what its going to cost after I repair it" mentality. I get there could be something else wrong but "what will replacing the starter roughly cost" is a relatively easy answer.

 

My guess would be about $275 to $325 at an indy shop. I would go to a salvage yard and do it for $25, or get a part from someone parting out a car.

 

I just installed a new (rebuilt) start tonight. No luck getting it to crank. The clacking noise is gone when the attempt is made. However the engine doesn't crank. I pulled the upper timing cover off and I can see the belt move about 1/4 inch so I know the belt is not broken. Supposedly the timing belt and water pump were replaced 15 to 20K miles ago but I have to admit, it looks a lot older than that and is a genuine volvo belt. No clue what it should look like. The car was driven without any problems and turned off to park so I didn't think it could be a timing belt. The teeth on the belt are pretty stout and don't appear to have high risk to skipping. Years ago I had a car that had a timing belt that skipped when 2 teeth stripped off, but the engine turned over without an issue.

The battery has 14 volts and drops to 13 volts with the headlights on.

I'm editing this post. I decided to try jumping, just in case the battery was weak from prior attempts. It was clear I had lots of power and the starter engaged and didn't crank the engine. I am assuming this means BAD. I didn't pull the starter to make sure it spins out of the car - I'm not sure this would help me at this point. I am looking for diagnostic hints to assess if maybe a valve dropped or something when the engine was shut off. Pulling the head does not look like a pleasant job so ideas to assess what is wrong are greatlyu appreciated. as a note, I plan to see if I can turn the engine over by hand tomorrow. I have to figure out how to get to the lower pulley and I am too ticked off to tackle that tonight

If the engine is salvageable, I'll probably move forward with fixing it. I have the tools and skills to do it with some bolt torque help.

 

I'm with you on turning it by hand. You have to pull off the right front tire, fold back the skirt, then you'll see the bolt.



My guess would be that you have a bad starter or you have a wire problem going to the starter. Pull it back off and have it tested. I was helping a guy locally here that had a bad starter from one of these local auto stores. It was only about 4 months old but had been acting up the entire time.

Were you able to get the starter off pretty easy?

Is the timing belt on tight, no slack?

 

It was very easy to remove the starter. I think it took about 15 or 20 minutes, including getting all the tools. I had to use a brass hammer to remove it from the housing. The locator pin holds it in pretty tight. Getting it back in was a bigger pain. Getting everything lined up on the back side bracket was a pain. Not much room to tighten the nuts.

The only part of the timing belt I could see was the very top between the cam gears. When I pressed on it it ony deflected maybe 1/8 inch. I've never dealt with this heavy a timing belt but it seemed as tight was I would have expected it to be. But like I said, I don't know what to expect.

I don't think there is a wiring problem. I can see an dhear the starter engage so I know the solenoid is betting power form turning the ignition switch; I can see the engine torque that 1/8-1/4 inch when it torques and I can definitely hear the brushes arching (I think that is what I hear) If I hold the ignition key on a second.

I'll know more when I get into it tomorrow. If I can turn it over by hand I will be heading back to get another starter. I thought about doing it tonight, but I've learned to chill when tempers are flaring over a car.

 

Ok, now I am really confused.

I removed the right wheel and tried to rotate the crankshaft.

I can rotate the crankshaft counterclockwise (as looking at the harmonic balancer. Since the spark plugs are in there its not easy but I rotated it without issue at least 360 degrees. No clunk noises or anything like a valve is hitting or anything like that.

If I try to rotate the crankshaft clockwise I can't get it to even budge. Not even slightly. I don't know the normal direction of rotation and maybe this is normal on a volvo. I've never seen that in any engine before.

I also moved the shifter between gears thinking maybe there was some weirdness there. No luck with that but now of course the key is stuck in the ignition. No sense in just having one problem when you're on a roll

Any ideas????

 

I'm pretty sure you are suppose to go clockwise.
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Volvo Performance Repairs And Modifications

 

Take the serpentine belt off and try to start it. Maybe one of the accessories have locked up like the ac compressor.

 

I wouldn't think an acessory could lock it up that tight, especially only in 1 direction. Unfortunately I do not have the tool for that. I've never had a car that was this tight for space so I never got one. I'll give it a try if I can.

I see a lot of stuff on the web about the ignition switch and relays. Could there be some electronic interlock on the engine or transmission?

 

No luck on the serpentine belt. Not having the tool is definitely a hinderance. I can't believe there is so little room

 

YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!! I got it to turn over. Now to firgure out what is locked up. Thank for the idea! I never would have thought an accessory would cause this.

The A/C compressor is indeed the problem. The outer clutch spins fine but no budging the compressor pully. I am guessing this means the bearing has seized. Nothing like having to be motivated to change out the compressor in winter

I used to live in TX so I have replaced more than 1 of these in my time. I looks like EVERTTHING has to come out to do the work. I'll start a new thread to get that info. If there is a thread someone knows of I would be grateful

I found a thread that said the pully can be removed and be bearing replaced. I'm not sure how that is possible without removing from the mounts and sliding it over. This would be great if realistic. Has anyone actually done this on a S70? Worse case is I mess up the hoses and have to replace those. I've had it happen before.

The other thread said that there may be a shorter belt that I could install to get through the winter. Does anyone know the belt size for this or if its realistically possible?

 

I would say look for the short belt for now. I'm sure you can get a used compressor for $25 or $50 from a junk yard, I'm sure I can. Sorry I didn't tell you to remove that serpentine belt earlier.

I use a plumbing plug and pipe wrench to get that serpentine belt off. Then I pin it with a cut off nail.

 

Try this thread: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=37457

 

Thanks for the info rspi. You've been a great help. I am currently looking to bypass the A/C so i can have the car running tonight.

Looking at the pictures you sent, the S70 is a little different, the S70 doesn't have the big tensioner; where your idler pulley is located is where the tensioner is. There is about 1" of room (between pully and chassis) to swing it. I used a 14mm wrench from underneath (behind the flap). This worked well. the pulley itself is toast as it wobbles when it is spun by hand. That is another problem with a clock on it.

To offer a contribution, the tensioner has a TORX fitting. I'll try to get the size of it tonight and update this thread. it would have been nice to know to look for that. There is VERY LITTLE room to see anything and everything is in the way. Knowing it was there would have been helpful.

On a website I saw the S70 takes a 6PK1750 (auto trans, Alt, A/C, P/S). The site also states a 6PK1250 (auto trans, Alt, P/S, no AC). Since the routes between 850 and S70 are different I am going to take a shot with the 1250 mm unit - assuming I can locate it.

Also, I am going to try to replace the bearing on the A/C compressor. When I get to time to figure out how that is going to be done I will post info on that.

Now to figure out how to get the damn key out of the ignition. I am very unimpresses with Volvo ignitions. It's always a joy to try to get it out when it decides to not cooperate.

 

LOL, the pics are of the 960 I use to have. They are pretty similar except for the room up front (side). I have a 850 and S70 so I do understand, but I use the same tool/fitting.

As for the key, that's an easy one. The button on the shifter sticks in and won't let the key out because it thinks the car is not all the way in park. You can bump it into park and the button will sometimes pop out and release the key or you can take your fingers and pull the button out to get the key loose. IPd has a kit to fix that.
Shifter **** Button Repair Kit

BTW, Not sure what happened to the other link I tried to post.

 

Here's the button pic.



Oh, there is a write up in the 850 section and maybe the S/V70 section about taking the compressor apart to shim the clutch. That thread may have what you need to take your's apart to replace the bearing.

 

I'm back in business. the 6K495 belt fits great.

The car started right up.

I fought the manual shift release partially down, once I fixed that the key popped out. I'm sure the switcdh is probably gummed up. I'll probably get the ship upgrade kit since I've had that issue before too.

Thank for all your help.

Now I have to find out why the battery light in the dash has started to blink. Not much contact with the belt on the alternator so maybe its slipping a bit since the starting attempts may have weakened the battery

 

My guess is the belt is slipping on the alternator. Maybe the belt is a little to big.