thanks for the tip, George. I'll check it out and get back to you. this "mechanic" is not really the most qualified (they are a small, independent shop and i feel that they really have no clue what they're doing) and I've really only gone to them for oil changes and watched while they performed them. for anything else I've gone to a volvo specialist here in town.

I guess at the time i was desperate and hoped that simply replacing the starter would have solved my problems.

the problem still remains, though, that even after the starter motor has been replaced that the engine will not always catch even though the starter is cranking. after a while of cranking (and not turning over) the motor eventually loses its juice and I have to push-start the car.