1998 S70 suddenly won't crank, new parts

[foob85]

Hey forum,

Last week my alternator took a dump at 230,000 original miles, so I got one from a junkyard, got the readouts checked at O'Reilly's, and spent some time and profanity getting it in with the help of my Volvo-savvy brother. It seemed the dying alternator took my older battery with it as it failed to hold a charge after the new alternator. So I popped a new battery in, this was two days ago. I am a delivery driver, so my car is started a dozen times or more per day. I was driving it for hours and started it quite a few times yesterday, the cranking being slightly sluggish at first here and there but it started right up otherwise. I thought perhaps it was because the new battery was slightly lower cold cranking amps than the previous, and I am starting the car with my high-powered Halogen headlights and stereo running too. I thought it wasn't an issue and I'd investigate further after work.

Well after a delivery, I was about to head back to the shop. I turned the key and.... click. No more sound, no crank, no smell from the starter, nothing. Just the SRS goes off when I turn the key but no other dashlights go off. I couldn't believe my battery was dead already, one day old with a new alternator! I checked the electrics: headlights were bright, radio was loud and crisp, dash lights didn't dim whatsoever while trying to start, etc. I checked the battery terminals; tight and free of corrosion. Nothing pointed to a bad battery. I checked the starter relay in the fusebox... one terminal was blackened! Eureka that must be it! I pulled the nice clean J relay from my foglamps and tried it in the starter relay slot.... still won't crank! I checked all wires on the starter motor solenoid, nothing looks corroded or damaged, nor exposed and at risk of shorting. I unplugged and replugged the small green wire on the solenoid as I've read the contacts can become corroded. That didn't help. I even tried jumping the green wire to the positive battery cable with another wire to try to get the starter to spin. I couldn't get a response though I'm not sure if I made the contact properly. Something to note is that the starter was rebuilt something like 30,000 miles ago. The only thing I haven't tried aside from pulling parts out is jumping the car to try to crank it, though the battery is strong.

I'm going to try to make it to the car today (it's sitting in a decent neighborhood across town) and do some testing with a multimeter and check for any voltage drops along the line. Has anyone had any experience with something like this? It seems very strange that my starter would go in one day with no sign that it's bad (no smell, no sound, nothing) and I've read that the 98's don't have an immobilizer ring, so that can't be it. The blown start relay is an ominous clue I think. I did check the receiving contacts in the fusebox and they look clean. If anyone has any further suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. The car has 230,000 miles on her so there may be some small nifty things I have not thought of. I will keep this updated with my findings later today.

Thanks,
James

[BEJinFbk]

Sorry - I just couldn't read all that...
Maybe break it down into a few more paragraphs?

[Teddy1975]

With the relay having a blackened terminal, it sounds to me like the starter has pulled too much current through the relay. It would only do that if it's near death or already died (the starter I mean).

With many start and stops every day don't expect your starter to last as long as normal.

Welcome to the forum

[foob85]

With the relay having a blackened terminal, it sounds to me like the starter has pulled too much current through the relay. It would only do that if it's near death or already died (the starter I mean).

With many start and stops every day don't expect your starter to last as long as normal.

Welcome to the forum

Thank you, that makes sense now that it would blow the relay as well.

[Sommerfeldt]

Sorry - I just couldn't read all that...

Wtf.

Anyway, +1 to Teddy1975's suggestion. If everything's working and the voltage is good when you get it checked, and the only problem is that it's not cranking over, then it's definitely your best bet. Luckily, now that you've gotten your fiery baptism with an alternator install, a starter shouldn't scare you too badly.

- S

[BEJinFbk]

Sorry - I just couldn't read all that...

Wtf.

- S

Thank You for the constructive critisism.

[BEJinFbk]

Hey forum,

Last week my alternator took a dump at 230,000 original miles, so I got one from a junkyard, got the readouts checked at O'Reilly's, and spent some time and profanity getting it in with the help of my Volvo-savvy brother. It seemed the dying alternator took my older battery with it as it failed to hold a charge after the new alternator. So I popped a new battery in, this was two days ago. I am a delivery driver, so my car is started a dozen times or more per day. I was driving it for hours and started it quite a few times yesterday, the cranking being slightly sluggish at first here and there but it started right up otherwise. I thought perhaps it was because the new battery was slightly lower cold cranking amps than the previous, and I am starting the car with my high-powered Halogen headlights and stereo running too. I thought it wasn't an issue and I'd investigate further after work.

Well after a delivery, I was about to head back to the shop. I turned the key and.... click. No more sound, no crank, no smell from the starter, nothing. Just the SRS goes off when I turn the key but no other dashlights go off. I couldn't believe my battery was dead already, one day old with a new alternator! I checked the electrics: headlights were bright, radio was loud and crisp, dash lights didn't dim whatsoever while trying to start, etc. I checked the battery terminals; tight and free of corrosion. Nothing pointed to a bad battery. I checked the starter relay in the fusebox... one terminal was blackened! Eureka that must be it! I pulled the nice clean J relay from my foglamps and tried it in the starter relay slot.... still won't crank! I checked all wires on the starter motor solenoid, nothing looks corroded or damaged, nor exposed and at risk of shorting. I unplugged and replugged the small green wire on the solenoid as I've read the contacts can become corroded. That didn't help. I even tried jumping the green wire to the positive battery cable with another wire to try to get the starter to spin. I couldn't get a response though I'm not sure if I made the contact properly. Something to note is that the starter was rebuilt something like 30,000 miles ago. The only thing I haven't tried aside from pulling parts out is jumping the car to try to crank it, though the battery is strong.

I'm going to try to make it to the car today (it's sitting in a decent neighborhood across town) and do some testing with a multimeter and check for any voltage drops along the line. Has anyone had any experience with something like this? It seems very strange that my starter would go in one day with no sign that it's bad (no smell, no sound, nothing) and I've read that the 98's don't have an immobilizer ring, so that can't be it. The blown start relay is an ominous clue I think. I did check the receiving contacts in the fusebox and they look clean. If anyone has any further suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. The car has 230,000 miles on her so there may be some small nifty things I have not thought of. I will keep this updated with my findings later today.

Thanks,
James

Sounds like your electrical system sure gets a lot of action.
If you think that your starter has gone Tango Uniform, there
are a couple of quick checks to help break down the problem.

When you have the meter out, get a test clip on the green wire at the starter
and be sure that voltage is making it to the starter solenoid. If it is, that rules
out all the stuff between the ignition switch and the starter.

From there, you can look at the big cable from the battery and make sure the
main post is getting good voltage as well. You can also tell a lot by watching
the voltage on the big post while you're energizing the solenoid.

If the voltage remains stable, then the solenoid may be belly up.
If you hear a clunk and see the voltage drop, you've got bigger problems,
but as mentioned, it's about the same as an alternator swap.


Good Luck!

[Sommerfeldt]

Sorry - I just couldn't read all that...

Wtf.

- S

Thank You for the constructive critisism.

Well... it was short enough to read, right? Sorry dude - you're usually always helpful, and I thought it was worthy a "wtf".

- S