Our 240 recently had mysterious no crank, no start issue which appeared seemingly out of nowhere. I finally determined that wiggling the automatic transmission shift lever would eventually result in the car starting. So, I removed the top trim and sprayed a bit of contact cleaner into the neutral safety switch assembly. Everything worked great ... for a few days! So, yesterday it was off to Carlsen Volvo for a new switch. $45 with the VCOA discount compared to $68 for the same part at Smythe Volvo. Eeuroparts.com has the Scantech replacement for around $16, but I didn't want to wait and I have lingering concerns about the durability of Scantech parts.

Put the new switch in, aligned the little sucker and all is well now. Just for fun I took apart the old switch to find out what was wrong. It turns out that the spring action on one end of the sliding contact had failed. I was able to bend it back and restore the function, but still threw it away. In a pinch careful disassembly, cleaning and restoration of that switch looks quite doable. I've done such things to the ignition switch on my '67 Jaguar when the only new ones available were priced at over $200! That said, I would spend $16 on the aftermarket part before trying the repair/refurbish route.

These must be a common failure item as both local dealers had the part in stock.

John