My V70 often won't start initially, the engine just turns over. The way to get it to start is to move the gear shift lever through the gears (it is automatic) and then back up to park, and mostly it will start then.Occasionally it will start momentarily then die, but once I go through the gears and back to park, it's OK again. I'm not sure where to look for the cause of the problem. Any ideas please? Thanks

 

What year is it?

 

Sorry I forgot to put that. It is 2000 but the Classic model.

 

You might have an immoblizer problem.
The key might be going bad. Do you have a spare you can use for now to see if it gets better?
It could also be the antenna ring bad(Light around where the key goes in)

 

Thanks, it happens with both of the 2 keys we have. There is no lightwhere the ignition key goes in for this model. But another problem came up last night which may or may not be associated. The ETS light came on and the car lost power completely. It was OK again once the engine was turned off and restarted, but I wonder is this a sign that some engine management system is at fault? Thanks

 

Yes your car does have the light around the ignition lock cylinder. It might not light up but it has it. That is the immoblizer antenna. The part of it you see is the gray and it has the positions for the key on it.

I think the ETS light might be another problem.

 

Hi, two possibilities in my mind
1. the P-position micro switch telling cpu the gear is in P might not be steady
2. 850 automatics had the PNP-switch telling cpu the position of gear selector, if bad contcts inside switch then limb mode operation till error code reset.
br Tapsa