97 Volvo 850 turbo no crank [ bad starter 10 years old Delco] Topic is solved

Post by **dcarlson12** » 15 Mar 2025, 13:35

Car has about 230,000 km. It had been sitting on a battery tender for a couple years and started occasionally to keep things lubricated.
Recently put it back on the road. Initially the alarm went off. Not sure what set it off but successfully reset the alarm by locking and unlocking the driver's door several times.
My wife drove it successfully for about a week and then the last time she drove it into our slightly sloping driveway and parking it, it would not crank the next time we tried to start it.

After lots of googling, including this site, several people say it is likely the pnp 'switch'/mechanism that has gone bad.
However I have no DTCs and the up arrow is not flashing on the dash. As I said, no 0705 code.

I read that the small wire with the female connector near the coil is a direct path to the starter. I tried connecting it to the positive battery post, both with the ignition key on and with it off.
Does anyone know if the 'bypass' wire completely by passes the pnp switch? i.e.should the starter turn over or does the pnp switch still prevent current reaching the starter solenoid?

Others have suggested that the starter is the problem. I tried shorting the battery cable at the starter across to the solenoid of the starter and it seemed to cause the starter motor to rotate at high speed for less than a second but did not engage the bendix into the fly wheel. I seem to be unable to duplicate this test. Don't know why.

As far as I know, there is nothing wrong with the ignition switch. i.e. no problems with lights .etc.

I tried cycling the shifter multiple times to clean the pnp contacts but it made no difference. Also my backup lights come on fine. I have read that a faulty pnp would stop the backup lights from working.

I don't want to replace the pnp or the starter unless I am convinced they either of them is the problem. I had the battery tested and it tested ok.

Main question is whether the bypass wire should cause current to go to the starter solenoid regardless of the condition of the pnp.

Help please!
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Post by **abscate** » 16 Mar 2025, 01:33

The starter bypass connection does not bypass thePnP switch, to do this for testing, pull off the small green wire from the starter and jump with a long piece of wire to B+ terminal to check for cranking.

Jumping the two big posts on the starter will make it spin, but not engage, that’s normal.

Post by **foggydogg** » 16 Mar 2025, 21:16

Plus one what abscate said, corrosion in the female connector on the solenoid signal wire is fairly common, especially on a car that sat for a while.

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 17 Mar 2025, 02:29

I would start with starter "S" terminal. Remove terminal "s" and inspect for corrosion. Sometime they are so rotten away that simply fall off. Get yourself a circut tester light(ideally I would make myself one using simple 2amp bulb with 2 wires attached to it). Connect one wire to batery negative and another to the wire that was going to "s" terminal. Ask someone to crank the car, or with long enough wires you can see it yourself from driver seat, or utilize camera. Problem here-do not let the connector touch the "ground" of the car(simply any metal part) while you commanding it to crank with position III of the ignition switch. Be gentle with front probing of the "female" connector to "s" terminal. If you will force circut tester too deep you can potentially cause reduced pin drag and as a result loose connection to the starter in the future. If you have power at "s" terminal with "cranking" command from ignition switch, but your starter is not turning-replace/repair starter. With your test at "b" terminal you confirmed presence of the current and good ground. Please start here and report your results back to us. (If you will not have current at "s" connector then you will need to go after starter relay and inspect voltages at its terminals to determine what is missing).
P.S. I am concerned that you were "not able to recreate..." possibly "b" wire or main engine ground are at fault. Use 5amp test light(highbeam headlight bulb) with 2 wires and connect to battery negative and "b" terminal. Should be bright(beware it will be hot) same can be done with switching one end to positive side of the batery and alternator housing(will test engine ground) this might help
viewtopic.php?t=87747

Post by **dcarlson12** » 17 Mar 2025, 13:42

Gentlemen thanks for the replies

To Abscate: My would the solenoid not engage/shift the bendix rather just cause the starter motor to spin when I touch the solenoid and battery cable at the starter using a large screw driver? i.e. assuming the battery cable is in good condition? i.e. shouldn't the solenoid operate fully as long as the 12v which it sees has enough current capacity?

To foggydogg: From what I can see, the 12v wire to the solenoid is held on with a nut and not a push-on connector but I will check it.

To Vova585: Please clarify the definition of the 'S'. Is it the wire is attached to the solenoid? Or are you referring to the female connector near the coil which is supposed to send 12v to the solenoid when connected to the battery positive post (assuming the pnp 'switch' is functioning properly)?

And as far as I know, this 97 850 does not have a starter relay. ?????

Thks,
Dwight

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 17 Mar 2025, 21:51

My apologies. I was not aware of such variable
This might help. It has a nice wiring diagram so hopefully will help you trace back your issue.

https://volvotips.com/850-2/volvo-850-s ... ir-manual/

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 17 Mar 2025, 21:55

Including Pic of the starter terminals.

Video of gentleman changing one.

Also this car has service starte option based on diagram. Found this post credit to Lee
Ozark Lee United States of America
MVS Moderator
Post 18 Apr 2014, 21:28

You can isolate things by using the "service" starter connector. The "service" connector is a green wire with a red stripe that sticks out of the wiring harness back by the left hand strut tower. If you connect + battery voltage to the connector it bypasses the ignition switch and the immobilizer and feeds the starter solenoid via the PNP switch.

If that cranks the car then the PNP is OK and the problem is either with the immobilizer, the ignition switch, or the wiring to them.

If it still won't crank check for + battery voltage on the green/red wire at the starter solenoid itself when the key is turned to position III. If you are getting voltage there then the starter solenoid or the starter motor is bad. If you aren't getting voltage at the starter then the PNP switch might be bad.

...Lee

Post by **abscate** » 18 Mar 2025, 00:57

The “ S “ terminal does two things, activates the Bendix which pushes the starter gear into the flywheel, and electrically connects the battery to starter lugs inside the solenoid

When you jump the two big terminals with a screwdriver or the like, you don’t activated the Bendix, it just spins the starter ( fairly fast, as it isn’t loaded)

Post by **dcarlson12** » 18 Mar 2025, 16:39

The attached photo shows my starter. Is the bare terminal the 's' terminal? If so, I will run a wire from it to momentarily touch the + battery post to see if the solenoid will engage the Bendix and spin the gear to rotate the fly wheel.

: 97 Volvo 850 starter.jpg (54.17 KiB) Viewed 770 times

: 97 Volvo 850 starter.jpg (54.17 KiB) Viewed 770 times

Sorry I don't no why it put two copies of the photo and don't know how to get rid of one of them.

Post by **scot850** » 18 Mar 2025, 17:31

Is that starter a Volvo one or aftermarket? I'm also more confused than normal, but your starter motor looks like it is fitted the wrong way around? Is the picture reversed or upside down?

I had an aftermarket solenoid on a starter once and for some reason it had 2 mail spade connector terminals. The 'extra' one was where your picture shows. I covered it to prevent shorts.

Neil.