The Brick Board has been great in guiding me through the diagnostics on how to determine if I have a bad starter followed by the process to remove that nasty top bolt on the old starter (BTW - completed without an impact wrench, I have the bruises to show for it).

New starter is in and working great, but......not with out any problems.

Let me start by saying the car sat for 4 months before I could find time to replace the starter.

Once the new Bosch starter was in, turning the key resulted in a loud clunk but the engine didn't crank. I tried this several times with the same result. It sounded like the starter was trying to engage, but couldn't.

Becasue the car sat for 4 months, I thought possible the battery had drained so I put it on a charger and got the same results. I took the battery to NAPA to be tested. Battery is good with 700 cranking amps.

I had previously inspected the positive cable to the starter and it appeared to be in good shape. I looked for grounding wires to the block and found one going from the firewall to the valve cover. I disconnected it and cleaned it and reconnected it.

I tried to start it again and got clunks on three succesive tries. But on the fourth try, the engine cranked and the volvo started.

I can't figure out what is going on here and if I still have a problem I will run into again. Do I have a bad starter or an electrical issue not fully solved? Could letting the car sit for 4 months have anything to do with it?

Tom