My poor daughter is now so disgusted with her 92 740 non-turbo, she is looking at a used Honda or Subaru. This Regina equipped "Clunker" has stranded her several times over the past few weeks. It starts right up at first, but after a good run, hot engine, etc., it fails to restart (no cranking, just a few clicks, dimming of the dash lights, etc). However, after a time and some cooling down, it starts right back up.
I have changed the terminals at the battery cable end, the Radio Suppresent Relay, the starter,the crank position sensor and (last year, the ignition switch),plus the whole shifter knob and neutral saftey switch).
What is a Dad supposed to do? She does like her 92 740, but she is getting ready to move to Austin and cannot afford to be stranded in a big city.

What should I look at, beside the Subaru Legacy my neighbor will be selling next year?

Couple of thoughts.

Cable corrosion. You mention that you replaced the cable ends - were they corroded? If so, the electrolyte that caused that corrosion could have migrated up the cable. That sort of corrosion introduces more resistance into the line, and when they heat up, the resistance increases even more. The result is not enough kick to trip the solenoid. That clicking sound you hear is the solenoid trying and failing to close.

Quite often, the corrosion hides under the insulation, and is not easy to spot. A palp test can help identify hidden cable corrosion. Gently squeeze the cables at various points along their length. If they feel lumpy, uneven and/or squishy (great technical term there), chances are that they have that green muck building up inside.

Engine bay temps. Do you have the aux fan? Does it work? It's easy to miss that the aux fan doesn't work - no drastic symptoms, just a higher than usual heat buildup in the engine bay, especially in the summer, and especially when the AC is running.

Ditto on the cable corrosion. Had numerous older cars over the years that did that. Hell of a time troubleshooting.
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Post Back. That's whats makes this forum work.

Will go home soon to 'finger' the cable up the protective skirt...wait a minute...did I just make a funny??
Seriously, is there any connector for the large red cable so that I can splice on a good end?

Will 'finger' the cable up the sheath later today (this sounds like something sexual, no?)

Electric fan works even after engine is shut off...

Yes,I cut away a portion of the corroded end of the large red cable, then cleaned with electrical cleaner and applied dielectric grease before clamping the bronze end to it. I suspect the smaller cables that carry positive current to the firewall.
Is it worthwhile to go to the U-pull-it and remove the cable assembly from a junk 940 ('95) and try to replace the OEM on our '92 740?
What do you reccomend to join large wires like battery cables together?

I have an unsolved cranking problem similar to yours.
Suddenly after weeks of good behavior the car wont crank.
It happened again Sunday morning, when I just use a screwdriver to short
the heavy starter lead to the smaller solenoid terminal.
Then it starts fine and usually will run again for weeks.

This scenerio indicates that the starter solenoid circuit is at fault.
I've tried another boneyard ignition switch which is a likely candidate
(Did you use a NEW ignition switch?)
Ive tried another interlock switch.
there's a few other connectors in series with the solenoid lead that
I haven't looked at, namely "D" Left suspension tower connector
and another connector "E" at the left A post
and then on to the connector "A" at the shifter

This has been a weird problem since it fails to crank,
then seems to behave for weeks after starting with the screwdriver.

Maybe there's a crappy solder joint or crimp at the solenoid lug?
since that is involved with getting the SOB to crank OK.
You could install a piggyback wire to the starter solenoid wire
and try starting with that to see if you're having the same weird problem.

It's an ongoing adventure,
I hope this helps, Bill

yes, the ignition switch was new last year ($80) but the Neutral saftey switch was from the boneyard..I think I'll replace it with another that I have in storage.

If there is no cranking, then it is (a) battery, (b) battery cables and connections, (c) ignition wiring to ignition switch, or (d) that thingamajig switch for automatics at the gearshift.

I would suggest jumping the starter solenoid the next time it doesn't start to see if it starts. If it does, then it's in the ignition wiring to ignition switch or that gearshift switch.

Also, the battery should read ~12.0+ volts first thing in the morning after a good night's rest and ~13.5+ V when the engine is running.

I will measure the 'resting' voltage later on today...I have to walk to work (25 min) since this volvo may stall at the University and leave me stranded.

have you removed and cleaned the Neutral Cable At The Block? You also did not say you replaced the battery, it is possible as it gets hot in the engine bay it could go into a failure mode, this happens on laptops all the time, id try another battery and clean the ground connection to the block before i would do anything else.

Battery is 3 years old...perhaps with South Texas heat it has become toast? I'll take it out and have it checked at a PepBoys or similar.
Will clean the ground strap at the engine as you suggested tomorrow after work.

I know this has a simple solution.
Thanks again.

Almost forgot...code flashes 1-1-1 so ignition system is OK.
Thanks for any help,
el Raidman