The started began slowing down. Turned over very very slow. Its my mother car. She bought a new starter beleiving that was the problem. I installed it. Still nothing. Nothing. No sounds no relays clicking nothing. What goes on these? I checked the box by the shock tower. Its clean. The car also has this problem where the running lights are on all the time unless you unplug the battery.....

try fully charging the battery (slowly!), and the running lights are meant to be on. It improves being seen by others. You should check both relays at he back of the engine bay, and that there is 36lbs/sqin fuel pressure. Check to see that the spark is reaching the plugs-remove a cap from a plug by pulling the cap, NOT the wire, and stick a screwdriver into it and crank the motor. A spark from the screwdriver shaft to the motor should jump an air gap of at least 5mm, and be blue or white. You should hear it ZAP nicely. WARNING: this is prob 20,000 Volts or so, and it can damage you in the wrong place. It certainly will 'bite', and may kill. Car will not run without it. Does the car have any immobilizer fitted? You'll need to turn it off to get anything going, and battery MUST have at least 11.5V to start the car, but charge it untill fully charged, abt 13.7 V open circuit. Charging voltage should not exceed 14.2 V. Battery should be charged slowly - current (A) = battery capacity (AHr)/(10 or more) and kept cool. Keep naked flames, sparks and hot things away from charging batteries-risk of explosion & acid spray/leak. distilled water only should be added to accessable battery cells- to just cover the plates. Sealed/no maintenance batteries do not require more water. Battery connections should be clean and firm enough to prevent movement for good connection. Starter wiring and circuit must have clean, large contact areas and cross sections to carry their large currents-200A-300A not uncommon. do not crank for very long periods-you'll overheat the starter motor and cabling. 20 sec 2x/min is enough. If it doesn't fairly fire quickly, it prob won't fire at all, and something else is wrong too. see othere bad starting posts via seach button.

Well as much as id love to do all that. It dosnt crank. Im not new to cars. I just am not familier with the volvo experiance yet haha. Thank you for the imput though. Anything on these normally start to short out and cause problems like lights staying on that could lead to this. Now remember the running lights are on all the time. Like out of vehicle not running keys out of ignition. They dont shut off. It started with the reverse lights but only when wet outside. They were dim at first. Then got brighter and brighter. Then all the running lights came on. Then the starter began acting funny till it quit. Not its in the yard... haha

First thing - put in a fully charged battery - new or from a different car and see if it starts. If it does then it is probably the running lights that have ruined the old battery so that it can't get to full power anymore.

If the car starts with a good battery then find whatever is up with the running lights, short circuit, earth leak, stuck relay? and fix it.

If it doesn't start then it is something between the key and the starter motor.

Graeme

has this car a 'history' of crashes-could explain bad wiring tho' some pre 88 models have the insulation flaking off in the engine bay etc. rain obviously didn't help, and now you have a real worry. It may turn out cheaper just to buy a new loom and replace all the primary wiring native to the body. Any history of the car being drowned in mud/water etc? Check inside doors etc for residues-if so, replace wiring-its easier long term IME. BTW most other electronic stuff should (or will soon) be shot too. Sorry, but that's what happens. It's not from New Orleans is it?

We take the negative cable off the battery every time we shut off the car. On top of that i checked the battery. Along with a load test. Its fine. Right now im only worried about the starter not doing anything. Is there a point on the car that goes bad? Like a commen fail part. Having to do with the wiring of course.

Engine bay, so I've heard, motor & lights at least-ask around for better info/search for modules commonly available. Genuine or experienced mech. will know. Avoid anyone unfamiliar with them-ALWAYS! You can't pay them to learn your car! (DIY!)