I'm new to the forum - so a big hello. I've been avid lurker.

I've got an 1995 850 Turbo that we don't drive too much, it has 104k miles. Intermittently when you turn the key, nothing happens - no crank. You can hear the fuel pump, fans, etc. Say you come back to the car in 15 minutes - it starts right up. It appears to be very random. We don't seem to know if it will start (crank) or not.

We have a brand new battery in it.

When I called our Volvo dealer, the mechanic recommended that I spin the key around - that didn't cure the problem. He also said that I should run the shifter back and forth (from P to D) a bunch of times. That didn't seem to help either.

Any thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated.

when the mechanic says to shift it back and forth, it should be like 30 times front and back. literally. if not more. probably the pnp switch has a bunch of crud on it and the back and forth motion cleans it off as opposed to replacing the switch.

Or you COULD be having a weak or dying Fuel Pressure Regulator.
THe hint i got is when you said, when you retried it.

Do you normally have the problem after parking the car for quite some time?

Would the Fuel Pressure Regulator stop the car from actually cranking over (as mine won't even crank)? Yes - the car has been sitting quite a bit in Florida (being driven once a month).

Thanks for your help.

the bear is right, heat? florida? the heat and the salt in the air works its wonders on relays and the like, sounds like you got a car with a real live soul in it! have you tried talking nicely to it? or mabey take her out for a cool drink of mobil one? :P

if you know where the fuel relay is, try tapping it lightly.

Any updates from him, yet?

none.

Sorry - I've been traveling the last few days (I'm a management consultant, this terrible economy is keeping me busy (which is great)).

I had a started a couple of threads with this series of issues I'm having. In addition to this issue with starting, I'm also having a problem with the Check Engine Light - Fault 231, and Service Light - 1995 850 Turbo. I'll try to bring it all together here.
I pulled my fault codes from the OBDI Diagnostic and got:

A1 - 114 (????)
124 (????)

A2 - 111 (was 231 - Long Term Fuel Trim Part Load, until I reset it)

A3 - 444 (Acceleration Sensor Signal)
213 (???)
214 (Engine RPM sensor signal absent)
424 (????)
443 (TWC Efficiency)
142 (????)

A5 - nothing

A6 - nothing

A7 - 111

B1 - 325 (ECU Memory Loss)
417 (???)

B2 - 122 (Intake air temperature sensor signal absent or faulty)

B3 - Nothing

B5 - 111

B6 - Nothing

B7 - Nothing


I'm currently trying to figure out where to start. Based on one of the Volvo Self Diagnostics papers I inserted above what the faults are. As you can see I don't know what a couple of the faults are.

So again, my problems are (that I know of):

1. Some times you turn the ignition and nothing happens (console lights come on but know cranking) - next time it does this I'll try knocking the Fuel relay, as recommended.
Service Light won't go off - I reset it and it goes off until I turn off the car and turn it on again. It doesn't stay on constant, but blinks.
2. Check Engine Light came on after driving for a while.
3. My air conditioners blows hot air (this is new to this list but a problem for quite some time).
4. I pulled the above fault codes.

Some have said to start with the relays as well as maybe replace the vaccuum lines. Any additional insight would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks for bearing with me.

Agh, dude... That's way too many things to do at once. Try the vacuum hoses first, and then the relays. THen delete all the messages and see which ones comes back.

Since you have the OBD1 port, then you can retrieve the codes yourself, for free.