When i turn my key its not catching. theres a peice that has teeth on it and they are worn.whats that peice called?

Hi,regarding your Volvo s80, have you noticed recently in the past that it almost did not want to start and maybe sometimes it did start?
I am asking to see if you noticed this recently?
If you do not hear your car even click, when you turn the key,
Have you checked your battery,and the battery wires to make sure the battery is good?
Maybe the battery needs to be replaced or a wire is loose and there is no connection with the battery,and wires, please check your battery first.When was your battery last replaced? Check the battery cables to see if there is any
noticeable corrosion that you can see that might be interfering with the contact.(If you see green and or white powder try cleaning off this area with a battery terminal brush)
Remove the terminal wire clamps, most can be loosed and removed from the batteries positive and negative terminals with a flat head screwdriver.
Then clean the area with the battery terminal brush ,if it has the green/white corrosion,you will be able to see if it does.
Be safe and protect your eyes always with safety glasses.

I just went through this with my daughter's car.
The Volvo s80 also has what is called a flywheel. (Very expensive to buy new from the dealer, it will cost a few hundred dollars)
Tip, If it is the flywheel you can shop around for prices depending on your budget and preferences./(New or used)
Yes,you can replace the flywheel even with another used flywheel,just make sure the teeth are not damaged,or worn.
A used flywheel could save you money, which most likely will be needed to pay someone to replace and do the work,if it is the flywheel.

Replacing the flywheel entails taking apart the entire front end,
the entire suspension needs to come out if it is a front wheel drive,
the engine needs to be dropped,
and the transmission needs to be separated.

Second and very important tip make sure if you are replacing the flywheel that the new or used one is an exact match for the one that is in your car.
(It must have the same exact number of teeth.
(I learned this the hard way)
Some flywheels have 133 teeth and some maybe 142, so make sure it is an exact match.
You do not want to have your car taken apart,and put back together again and find out it is not starting after all this work because you bought the wrong flywheel.
If the flywheel in your car has 133 teeth then a flywheel that has 142 teeth will Not match and you don't want that to happen,because your car won't start after all that work and you have to do it all over again which will cost money.
The flywheel is a large almost 12 inches in height and 10 or so inches in width,heavy metal circular shaped piece that has grooves(or teeth that go all around the metal,if any of these teeth are worn down what happens is when you try to start the car it will turnover but the car won't start.
The reason is the flywheel rotates to catch on the grooves and sometimes over years there could be an area were maybe even 2-3 of the grooves(teeth on the flywheel becomes worn.)
If the flywheel has damaged or worn teeth ,it won't be able to turn and catch,and the car won't start.
If you do not have someone to do this type of work,take it to a transmission shop and they replace flywheels

I hope maybe all you need is a new battery.
Keep in mind the flywheel ?

My daughter's car is a Volvo s80 2003.
I'm not sure how many miles are on your vehicle or if you just bought the vehicle,but over time If the teeth are damaged or a few,even 3 teeth in a row are worn down,this can happen and the car won't catch to start.

As I mentioned the cars flywheel turns and the teeth have to catch on the starter and the flywheel rests on the starter enabling the car to start once the teeth catch.

We also replaced the starter which went through a toll from her continuing to try to start the car.
If it is the flywheel it is always good to replace the starter also in th s80.

I hope this information is helpful to you.
If your wondering,we went with a used flywheel and new starter and now the car starts great.

Sincerely,
Carrie

I'm not familiar with your vehicle, but I've never encountered a vehicle needing shims on a starter motor.

What may happen is the teeth on the ring gear - the teeth on the outside of the flywheel - become worn. The starter meshes with these teeth and spins the engine to start it. If the teeth are worn the starter cannot mesh with them and consequently, can't turn the engine over.

Because of compression the engine usually stops in the same position - the worn teeth are at the starter.

Try turning the engine by hand/with a wrench through 180 degrees so that any worn teeth are away from the starter, and then try starting it. If the engine spins - the fault is worn teeth on the flywheel.

You may be using a worn key. If you recieved more than one key at purchase, try a different one.If you are still having a problem, then you will need to replace your lock cylinder. This is not a big job as long as you can still get it to turn in to the on position. Don't wait too long, because if it is a bad cylinder, and it gets bad enough that you can no longer turn it to the on position, then the cylinder must be drilled out. Try a different key first, if the problem remains, then get it to a qualified mechanic right away, and have the lock cyliner replaced. Not a very expensive repair as long as you can still get it in the on position.

Sounds like the bendix, the part that pops up and catches the the teeth of the flywheel, isn't catching the flywheel.
Since you've had the starter checked and it was good...I'd say look at the teeth of the flywheel.
I suspect worn or broken teeth on flywheel.

Hope this helps...

There are a couple of likely areas: the starter drive, and flywheel teeth. Pull the starter and get it bench tested. Look in the hole where the starter goes in and look for worn or broken teeth.... Hopefully a starter drive as flywheel replacement is a big job.

it would be alot simpler to replace the whole column than to try to replace the component parts. the whole column you can purchase for 75.00 or less with the key there are like 4 bolts some have 6 and then 1 or 2 nuts to release the universal joint at the floor totally replaced in a half an hour maybe a bit longer
if that gear or ladder bar are messed up inside the column it woud be caused by binding due to excessive wear. rebuilding the column can be done but it takes time and expense and in the event of tilt wheel, air bags ect some special tools and experiance to get the job done.

The flywheel is worn in that specific area. Engines tend to stop in the same one or two positions, and it is those teeth that get cachunked every time you turn the key. This is ok if the bendix does a good job of threading the gear into the flywheel teeth, but the problem is that now that the teeth are half worn away, the starter attempts to mount its gear to the teeth, but before the gear is fully seated, the contacts in the motor make, the motor starts to turn, and the not-yet-seated gear bounces off of the flywheel teeth. This is what causes the teeth-grinding sound (your teeth grinding in your mouth too!) when you turn the key. . There are two solutions: The first is to, of course, replace the ring gear. . The second is hard to explain, but a good starter rebuild center (if there is such an accessible animal around anymore) will know what I'm talking about: The starter gear must have the lagging edge of each tooth ground so that each tooth will look like a chisel. The "pushing" side of each tooth must be straight and come to the point (and not be beveled). The "non-pushing" lagging side of each starter tooth should have the bevel ground in on that side. This grinding is done easily by a small angle grinder or a Dremel Tool with a cutoff wheel. . This does one thing: It assures that the gear will "spin in" without bouncing. If ground correctly (it's not hard to do), you will get successful starts every time. This is a common fix for Toyota 4-cyl with this horrible all-too-common problem. Good luck.

the teeth on your starter or the teeth on your flywheel are broken or possibly your starter isnt engaging all the way

try turning the engine by hand and giving it another try...if able as the starter is out of the way look at the teeth on the flywheel make sure they are not chewed up. if so there is your problem and a big job to replace that...if not just buy another starter and give it a try...your old starter my be having problems engaging the teeth...

From what u describe, I believe u have a starter and possibly a flywheel problem. When u turn the key to start the car, the starter gear engages w/ the flywheel, turning the flywheel, which turns the engine over. It sounds like the teeth of the flywheel and starter are worn, (they should mesh together smoothly) which would make the grinding noise u describe. If this is the case, the flywheel and starter would need to be replaced, and its a labor intensive job, as engine and trans. have to be separated to remove/install the flywheel. The rrrrrrr sound could be the starter gear spinning but not engaging. The starter gear extends on a shaft, then engages the flywheel. It is possible the gear isn't moving forward on the shaft, just spinning w/out engaging, making the rrr sound. So, I would recommend u remove the starter and have it tested (many parts stores will do this for free) and check the teeth on the gear to see if they are worn or broken. U will also be able to see a portion of the flywheel after the starter is removed, and u should check the teeth on it also. Let me know what u find, hopefully it's just a starter problem, and the flywheel is ok.