Ignition tumbler or parasitic drain?

[Smittystingray]

I have a 2004 V70. A few months ago the ignition started to be sticky, but I could turn the key after a little jiggling and moving the steering wheel the limited amount in its locked position. Eventually the key stopped turning altogether, resulting in the battery dying from sitting around for 2-3 months. Yesterday we had a tow truck come pick up the car to take it to a shop for inspection. He hooked a jumpbox up and the key turned in the ignition. We let it run and drove it down to the shop, but now of course the mechanic isn’t experiencing the problem we were having. We suspected the ignition tumblers were worn out, but now I’m wondering if it’s a battery thing. Any thoughts?

[oragex]

Maybe insert a little bit of grease (push it with the key inside). It doesn't look like the battery is related, 3 months is quite long for a battery to stay unused especially in hot weather. I wouldn't be too worried if the car is being driven on a regular basis (otherwise perhaps just undo the negative post at the battery)

The ignition barrel goes bad especially when we try to turn the key while the steering is locked - I like to turn the steering a little in the opposite direction of locking, and keep it there, before inserting and turning the key

[dj_v70]

It sounds like you have 2 things going on:
a) Your battery died after 2 or 3 months with the car not being used. Sounds fairly normal to me.
b) Your key intermittently won't turn in the ignition. I am going through this right now also. My 2003 V70 broke down while I was on vacation last month and still isn't fully resolved. I am on the verge of giving up on my volvos after 30 years of owning at least one continuously!

My understanding is that there are 2 known key turning problems that occur.
1) The first is when key will turn to position 1 and no further. This is well documented and there is a hack to fix this. No parts required and just need to dremel out the base of the ignition.
2) The second is when the key won't turn at all. That can be a big problem and, of course, it is the issue that I am having. My googling leads me to believe that it is the tumblers. I have read about someone who has hacked the tumblers, but most replace the ignition cylinder. The part alone is $200-250 and it is hard labor to replace. Well ..., maybe not too bad if you have a 90 degree drill to drill out the security bolts. I only have one security bolt removed at the moment, the 2nd one has been more problematic, but the key has started working again. I have hacked the ignition such that I can never get stranded by this again while I wait for opportunity to fix it properly. If you have this issue and need this hack, let me know.

[Smittystingray]

Maybe insert a little bit of grease (push it with the key inside). It doesn't look like the battery is related, 3 months is quite long for a battery to stay unused especially in hot weather. I wouldn't be too worried if the car is being driven on a regular basis (otherwise perhaps just undo the negative post at the battery)

The ignition barrel goes bad especially when we try to turn the key while the steering is locked - I like to turn the steering a little in the opposite direction of locking, and keep it there, before inserting and turning the key

We used graphite and it didn’t seem to help. The car sat for two months because the key stopped turning in the ignition altogether. We couldn’t get it started. Then the tow truck guy hooked up his jumpbox and voila, the key turns in the ignition now.

[cn90]

You have nothing to lose by doing the mod: removing the bottom plate of the tumbler.
I post the DIY in the forum.