I'm still battling the intermittent no-starter-engage on son's 2001 S60 T5 manual. Every few days, the starter will not engage when the key is turned to position III (clutch pressed to the floor). Cannot feel the starter solenoid click, but I've never had a solenoid problem after hundreds of thousands of miles on older Volvos, so I don't think that's the culprit. When it was at the dealer, they said they weren't reading any codes. I have tried all sorts of bizarre things to try and duplicate the problem: restarting multiple times, moving the steering wheel up and down, leaving it in gear, leaving the door open, etc. But I can't "make" it not start, it just does it randomly every 2-5 days. Sometimes it'll start after a couple of tries, other times it takes several hours. The most logical thing to me is the antenna ring that surrounds the ignition key. Any ideas on how I can either solve this problem or duplicate it so the dealership can diagnose it before the warranty runs out? All help appreciated. Thanks.
Marlin
Addendum: After I posted this message, I went back out to start the car and the starter wouldn't engage. I tried removing the key and re-inserting it, engaging and disengaging the clutch, turning the key from I to II to III with 2 seconds between each. None of these worked. Finally, while holding the key in position III with R hand, I reached over with L hand (not touching anything else) and moved the gearshift to Reverse....the starter engaged and the car started. This is really wierd...Could it be the solenoid after all? Could the slight jerk from the transmission by putting it in reverse would be enough to jar the solenoid?