I've posted on here before about this, but got no clear answer.

A little history: over the last month my S60 has intermittently refused to start. I would turn the key forward, all the electrical items would work, but the motor would not turn. The first three times it happened it was fine, as I was at home, and could take a bus where I needed to go. But on Friday, I was stranded on the other side of town, in front of a liquor store, with about 30 minutes to go before guests were arriving at my house for dinner - whose ingredients were in my trunk.

So I got a lift home, mad, and got drunk. Later, looking here and looking there, I discovered that it could be a problem wire leading into the starter. Sure enough. Car wouldn't start, jiggled a wire under the hood, car started.

So for anyone else who is having this problem, do this: the starter is on front, right side of the motor, about halfway down. It is the size of a small shoe. On the left hand side, there are two things leading into it: the front item is (I take it) the lead from the battery, a thick red cable securely bolted to the starter motor. Behind that, a little hard to reach, is a set of wires coming out of the wiring harness below and plugged into the starter motor. Jiggle that for a few seconds, and you should be able to start the car again.

Now the question is, what can be done about this in order to stop it from happening again? This is something I will explore with the Volvo mechanic tomorrow. I'll post my results. But I'm happy to hear from people in this forum.

so either your wires are loose or the starter is going to that big starter place int he sky. now the question of the hour is, what did you drink to make you so plastered? :beer: and did you find the solution while drunk? did odin show up from valhalla to give you the answer :banana: just poking fun, bro.

Not had the problem myself - but I would start by looking at the connections and give them a clean with contact cleaner or similar, and see if you can pinch the terminals a little to make them a tighter fit.

The results are in.

As I suspected, the wire leading to the starter and the connector on the starter were both corroded. The tech cut the old connector off, put on a new one, and cleaned everything up. Seems to work fine now, and my confidence in the car is restored.

All for only $140 - rather a lot, considering that I diagnosed the problem, but far less than I was prepared / expecting to pay.

I'll add: this was at the local Volvo dealer; the indy Volvo mechanic in town couldn't find a problem, which lead to me being stranded on the other side of town in the first place.

To answer the Greek Mason's question: Scotch, lots of it.

:banana: scotch :460: