Volvo wagon fails to start...

So I'm standing there with a poopy diaper.... hustling to get my daughter cleaned up and out the door and off to daycare. I get a new one on her, get her dressed and out to the garage while she screams bloody murder....After I drop her off, I will then have a short period of time before I have to get to my first of two job interviews today.... so I finally get her in the car seat, Im ready to go and the 940 turbo wagon, black betty, fails to start..oh the lights come on and I don't see any switches that were left on over night but I got no cranking...

It was the start of a beautiful morning.

Anyone have any ideas? Anyone?

Dead spot in the starter is my best guess if it isn't even cranking, but you have power. Did you hear any clicking or anything like that?

Step one: Test battery voltage.

Automatic or manual? If it's an auto, jiggle the shifter or try neutral instead of park. Safety switch is known to fail/stick.

I don't know about Volvos, but on a few manual equipped cars, the part of the pedal which actuates the neutral safety switch is a piece of plastic which can come out after being in the car for a bazillion hours. I threw a round head screw in there instead.

Its a new battery, its an auto and yes, I tried it in Neutral as well as moving the steering wheel back and forth. thanks for the ideas though.

tap on the Starter solenoid?

In reply to plance1:

Anything happen? Lights go out/get dim when attempting to crank? Click-click sound? Radio shuts off? Fuel pump can be heard whirring for 2 sec?

Turns out it was just a loose wire down at the starter....I'm back in business!

But you missed your interviews? Were you able to call and give sufficient notice for a rescheduling?

Well... since you asked....

It all worked out...I scrambled upstairs, googled Cincinnati taxi and got a cab to come pick up my daughter and I. I was previously told I had to have my daughter at the daycare by 9 am. I called and asked if I could be late and they said sure. By the time the taxi arrived, I got the babyseat out of the volvo and called and arranged a rental car for the day with downtown cincy avis. So the cab took us there. I got a rental car, got the babyseat in it and went off to the daycare, left there after another baby meltdown (Maddy) and wrinkled white shirt (me) and got to the interview with a few minutes to spare... Interview was for a part-time position with enterprise rental car. Imagine the irony... had to rent a car from avis to get to enterprise all for an 8/hr job washing cars. They offered me the job (maybe it was the clean appearance of my car that impressed them?? lol). But... I could not accept because I told them I already had scheduled another interview later in the day...for a local driving school. They told me to call back Monday and let me know what I decided.

Ok, here comes a lot of embarrasing part, if all of this isn't already...I got home, looked the car over, could not find the problem. I got it towed to my local shop. Then went to my second interview.

Turns out the local driving school is hiring for multiple positions but the one that works best for my schedule is an evening instructor, that other people don't seem to be interested in. The guy I met with said he is having me come back for a second interview next week.

Shop called, said the problem was simple wiring issue. I gassed up the rental, fought rush hour traffic and took it back to downtown cincy avis right before they closed. Walked across the bridge to northern kentucky and got back right before my shop closed to pick up my car.

I most likely am going to be able to do both part-time jobs based on what I was told regarding the schedule of each position. All's well that ends well.

I felt like this guy most of the day...

And yet Im on the way to being a driving instructor...

Afternoon/evening driver instructor likely means more highschool kids and less adults who can be away during the day. I suspect this is why the other instructors did not want the position.
Congrats on getting them both to work out.
Will you be teaching the youngsters about late apex turns?

Haven't been offered that position yet, still have to get passed the 2nd interview. First order of business is to get comfortable with the curriculum, see what is being taught. I would love nothing better than to teach some basic car control but I assume most parents might frown upon it. If given the chance, I might try my best to deprogram the kids who have brainwashed themselves on brainless fast and furious movies... we'll see.

Dude - seriously nice work keeping your cool and getting everything done. Most guys would've stayed home. You deserved those jobs.