hi sages- thank you for a brilliant analysis of the full range of causes. it was reminiscent exactly of my experience with my 77 dodge slantsix starter which is very similar to the volvo starter except that it was a gear reduction starter. btw my 92 245 volvo starter system has not crapped in the last 4 years. anyway , i checked all the items when it was behaving just like in this volvo story. the car had 360k on it with its 2d starter. all the checks were negative. finally took out the starter , jumpered it on the floor. mostofthe time itworked but occassionally it didnt. then i intermittently and repeatedly switched it on the ground and it eventually turned normally. took it apart following uncle moes advice which suspected an out of line armature/shot bearings. thats exactly what it was. put in new end bearings which were hard to find, lightly sanded the armature surfaces ,solving the problem. no more problem until the car rusted out so badly(nj salt) no welder would help me out. they threatened even if they did ,the car would come apart @ 75 on route 95 near stinking creek, md and it would be curtains for me and the dodge. can you imagine them saying that to me. dodge went to the squashing machine and i went over to 240s where that would never happen. thanks tons oldduke