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Over the last 2 and a half days I removed the front bodywork of my 2005 S40 non-turbo in order to replace a broken radiator tap, at the same tiime I installed new upper and lower hoses , new thermostat and coolant - well before I even attempted to start the motor I got 6 Lt of coolant in.

When I connected up the battery there was an unexpected healthy spark as I connected the negative terminal. Pressing on I checked out the lights, horn, radio etc and all was fine. BUT the starter motor will not operate.

I again removed the battery box and very carefully went over all of the connectors I disturbed when removing and refitting hoses and cannot see anything amis - so I put the battery box and battery back in and again I observed a spark as I reconneted the negative terminal of the bettery (Yes its in the right way, correct polarity), but still NO START.
All electrical stuff works - headlights, radio, driver seat, windows, door locks etc.
When I turn on ignition all expected lights on the dash light up. If I leave ignition on , but before attempting start, all of the lights other than hand brake (which is on as the car is on ramps at present) and the engine trouble light - the yellow one, then the rest go out as expected.
When I attempt a start there is a loud click from the motor area plus the sound of the brake vacume pump, and that stops after around 20 seconds. Then when I turn ignition OFF there are 3 loud clicks from the engine area.

I did not disturb the braided ground strap. It is still there and connected.

Have measured the resistance of the 2 fusable links PF1 and PF2 and they are both around 0.3 ohms plus I measured 12.66 volts at the positive terminal on the starter motor. Also checked fuse F26 (ignition switch) as OK. Fuse F13 starter motor relay is different type and I have not been able to remove it, but it looks ok .

To remove the Air Box (so I could get to the hose to the thermostat) I had to disconnect and subsequently reconnect BOTH multipin plugs to the ECU - which BTW is mounted INSIDE the airbox. When I could not get the car to start I unpluged these 2 connectors then reconnected them a number of times, just in case of a dirty contact. But that makes no difference.

As to the battery when it was out of the car I had it on charger and when I reinstalled it it was measuring 12.7 volts.

3:45 PM day 3. I have checked every fuse in the car, both the fuse box under the glove box and the fuse box in the engine compartment - not one blown fuse!
I applied +12V direct to the starter motor trigger terminal and the starter motor operated ok.
I hooked up a 12V test globe between the starter motor trigger wire and the battery negative terminal then tried to start the motor but the globe did not light, so I concluded that Relay R13 (typical bloody number) The Starter Motor Relay in the engine compartment fuse box was not closing when the ignition key was turned to start and thus not delivering the required 12V+ to the trigger wire.
I attempted to remove relay R13 from the engine fuse box so I could test it but could not get it to move and did not want to use excessive force for fear of (more?) damage.
R13 is activated by signals from the ECU. My conclusion is that either the R13 relay is toast or the ECU is not sending the signal to the relay.

Any suggestions on how to remove the R13 relay and where a replacement may be found? This seems the only way I can rule the ECU in or out of contention.

Oh and the gearbox (auto) is in park so that should not be inhibiting starting.

I am running out of ideas. HELP!!!!

BTW I made a small mod to the fan shroud that has made removal and replacement of the air box pretty easy. See photos. I cut away a small 'slice' of the upper fan shroud.

 

[375216]

UPDATE: Finally managed to remove the Starter Motor Relay and it tests out fine.

So the issue is that the earthing signal from the ECU to the relay is not happening - but why?

The gearbox (auto) is in park and the key is correct.

Still not able to get the starter motor to operate when I use the ignition switch

 

[375216]

Update: Just now I connected a length of cable to the actuator terminal on the starter motor. With the auto gearbox in Park I Switched on the ignition then touched the other end of the cable to the battery positive and THE MOTOR STARTED. BUT even with the motor running the gear lever remains locked in the park position....I used the emergency procedure to manually unlock the gear lever and still with motor running moved through the gears to neutral. I stoped the motor , re-conected the correct starter actuator wire and tried starting with the key and the box in neutral - still no start.

The gear position indicator on the instrument panel is NOT displaying any information at all - just a short horizintal line. So maybee the ECU does not know what gear the car is in and that would explain the no start. Where is the sensor that controls this and where are the associated connectors???

 

[375216]

Big shout out of THANKS to AutoGeek who told me about the 'secret' swedish method of battery reconnection in a P1 volvo, being " place the key in position II, reconnect the battery, key to position 0."

I started out today with the battery installed and the car would not start, even using the method recommended. So I disconnected the battery, then I put the key into position two and only then did I reconnect the battery - there was a healthy spark and I could hear the throttle body cycling. Then I turned the key to position 0 removed then reinserted the key and twisted to position 3 and the car burst into life.

So my drama is solved, lesson learnt and some experience gained.

Thank you to all who contributed.

Martyn