740 GLE - delay with the starter

I have a 1990 - 740GLE 16 Valve Wagon and live in Gaithersburg, Maryland,
USA

I got it in February this year. I love the way the car drives. It runs
great. Has comfortable seats. I am very relaxed in it.

However - whenever I turned the key to start the engine there was a delay
until the starter would kick in which gradually got longer and longer.

Then one morning when the humidity was very high I turned the ignition key
to start the engine and nothing happened.
I was unable to start the car.

When I tried it in the evening - I turned the key and it started up after a
short delay.

The Volvo shop said that everything was OK. Hower they also told me that
they "resoldered the system relay" just in case.

After that "the delay with the starter" was gone for about six weeks. Then
it came back again. I count "21" after that the starter comes on. And when
there is great humidity I have a longer than usual delay for the starter to
kick in - maybe 3-4 seconds.

I am worried that this problem may cause the engine not to start at all
sometime when I really need the car.

Any ideas how to permanently remove this "delay with the starter"

Thanks,
Robert

 

Was the delay before the engine even starts to turn over, or do you mean
that the engine needs to turn over for much longer than usual before it
actually starts up?

 

Yes - the delay happens before the engine starts to turn over.

It happened this morning again. We had a very humid atmosphere. I turned
the key and "nothing"

Thanks,
Robert