I apologize in advance if this was covered somewhere on this forum and I missed it when I used the search engine.
I have a problem with starting after a short trip.
My 1999 S70 T5 starts fine when cold. But when I take a short trip of just a few miles (market on the way to work) and turn the car off for a few minutes, it won't turn over at all for a period of time. Sometimes it is about 15 minutes. Others times up to an hour. Then it starts normally again. Runs fine. Battery power for lights and everything else works fine when it is refusing to turn over. All normal dash lights come on but there is no starter action at all. No clicking, and no other sounds.
If my first trip of the day is longer, and the car gets up to full temp, then it can be turned off and starts up normally after.
I took my car to my shop today to get the timing belt replaced (unrelated) and it did its thing there. I pulled in to the shop which is a few miles from home, and it wouldn't restart after 1 minute. The mechanic was baffled.Battery seemed fine. He couldn't find where the problem was. And of course later it was fine.

Any suggestions?

 

Sounds like there may be a problem with the ignition or something in the gear shifter. Next time, turn the car on, switch the shifter back and forth a few times through the gears or try to start it in neutral and see what happens.

 

It's an auto but I have tried moving the shifter to drive and back to park when it won't turn over. I've also thought it could be the key and tried removing it several times and turning it over.
Anything else?

 

You or your tech are going to have to diagnose it. First step I would do is to wire up a temp test lite to the green wire on the starter (terminal 2) to see if it's getting pwr when you turn the key during the failure mode.

If it is getting pwr (12v) then the starter itself is bad; probably could make it work by smacking it when it doesn't want to go..

It if it is not getting pwr then it could be:

1. Ignition switch; try pushing in when starting..
2. PNP trans switch (on top of trans)
3. starter motor relay (2/35 ref in schematic; 3rd from driver's fender in elec box adjacent to drvr shock tower)
4. The ground for the starter motor relay goes through the Central Lock and Antitheft Relay (2/76); suspect their just monitoring starter activation, but ck your owner's manual to see if any alarm can disable the starter.. if they take away that ground it won't crank.

Let us know what you find...

 

Will do and THANKS!

 

Does it crank in neutral?

 

Sounds heat related. Might be a bad starter but I'm thinking the ignition switch is going bad. Follow the procedure that Gdog mentions by testing the small terminal on the starter (the other wire is the positive wire which goes from the battery directly to the starter) for 12 volts.

 

Thanks folks!
My appointment at the shop isn't until the 19th so I've still got plenty of time to compile a list of stuff to check if there are any other ideas.
I've already sent the shop the replies here and at
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12511&p=200133#p200133

I'll be sure to report later on what happens.

 

My shop read the replies and stuck with that I should try replacing the other battery cable, which I haven't done yet.
Here's what I've done. I brought her (1999 S70 T5 Automatic Trans- perhaps named Sally)
6/17/2011
Battery Cable to Fuse box
Electronic Throttle Module and Housing

7/21
Rear Brake Pads and Rotors
Upper Torsional Mount
Right and Left Spring seat (strut)
Engine Mount Right
Sway bar link

7/29
Timing belt
Idler pulley

8/19
Front Brake Pads and rotors
7,500 mile maintenance for oil, filter
Transmission fluid changed
Spark plugs

I think I'm close to stage zero.
I think sway bars and Bilstein HDs are next. Then perhaps bigger brakes (rims and tires?).
Then the chip, intake, turbo, exhaust from header to tail.
The auto trans is problematic. I hear swaps to manual happen but IDP says they know no way around the computer issues.
Can a auto trans be re-mapped? some say no.
It will be a fun time confronting such issues.

 

I picked up a trans for my wagon for $100. Seen one for sale on cl for $100. Have you serviced the trans? Sometimes you can catch them before it's to late.

 

Sorry it's taken time for me to reply. Too busy w/work.
No I haven't serviced the trans beyond a fluid change. I also don't know the history of the car. I've found some S70s (not T5) in junkyards but I think they were already no eng/trans. How would I look for a trans and then if I found one, is there a place that specializes on rebuilding/upgrading one?

 

I believe you will only be able to use a 1999 or 2000 S70 transmission in your car (I'm looking for one also). The 1998 might work but there are some electronics you will have to swap from the 1999 to the 1998 to make it work (not really sure about this one). They are cheap in the salvage yards but who knows the condition and it costs about $3000 to rebuild one correctly.

 

The only servicing you can do to the tranny is change the fluid. If you have done that regularlly and it's still acting up, you can have a shop check the car out and verify if the tranny is bad. If it's bad, it's best to get a used one or new one to fix your car. I have heard that these tranny's do not rebuild good. Also, if you get a good tranny, they can last more than 500,000 miles.

 

I like to drive in a spirited manner sometimes but 500,000 sure sounds encouraging. Thanks!