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850 turbo not cranking over

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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Broken850
Posts: 25
Joined: 21 November 2010
Year and Model: 1995 850
Location: Anywhere

Re: 850 turbo not cranking over

Post by Broken850 »

Swapped the switch over with a spare used switch. Tested, and still showing voltage on the housing? Now she's running. Gonna reassemble and go for a test drive.

Broken850
Posts: 25
Joined: 21 November 2010
Year and Model: 1995 850
Location: Anywhere

Post by Broken850 »

Final update (hopefully) she is running well after replacing the ignition switch and the charred ground wire. Although I still believe the starter was the root cause. My thoughts are that because the stator was so rusted on the starter, it caused internal failure, causing high amps to overheat the ignition switch causing a dead short that had to return through the charred ground wire. Thoughts? Thanks for all your direction through this challenge!

Ozark Lee
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Post by Ozark Lee »

Hopefully you got it but the ignition switch should never see an real high current since all it does is trigger the solenoid, not the starter motor itself. If the solenoid was somehow shorted out it would all make sense.

...Lee
'94 850 N/A 5 speed
'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
1989 740 GLT
1986 740 GLT
1972 142 Grand Luxe

Broken850
Posts: 25
Joined: 21 November 2010
Year and Model: 1995 850
Location: Anywhere

Post by Broken850 »

Ok, drove the car for a week. No problems. Then all of a sudden she died again. Thought it was the anti theft/immobilized relay. Removed and jumped relay. Again good for a week, then died again. Any ideas?

Broken850
Posts: 25
Joined: 21 November 2010
Year and Model: 1995 850
Location: Anywhere

Post by Broken850 »

Also, every time it stalls out, all the doors lock. Any ideas?

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abscate
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Post by abscate »

You still have major electrical wiring damage in your car, I think. This is just an ugly thing to deal with because it requires removing the looms, opening up,the insulation and inspecting all the wiring for melting and shorts
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Broken850
Posts: 25
Joined: 21 November 2010
Year and Model: 1995 850
Location: Anywhere

Post by Broken850 »

I think your right, but I'm pretty sure I narrowed if down to just the wiring going from the steering column to the relays under the dash. After some jiggling of said wires, she fired right up. As I squeeze the wires together, she stalls. Opened the loom again and checked all wires. Nothing showed up by visual inspection, but I did tape up several wires that had a light burn in the insulation. Drove to work no problem, but it is usually a 7 day cycle between failures. I'll keep posting if I find the smoking gun. Thanks again!

darrenroark
Posts: 6
Joined: 4 June 2015
Year and Model: 850 Turbo 1994
Location: Los Angeles

Post by darrenroark »

I had the exact same thing, the long plastic piece has to come off and there were about eight wires that had been pinched together causing them to arc, melt, smoke and make the car not run.

My mechanic did the soldering and insulating of the wires, the car has never run better meaning that must have been a lingering issue for years.

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