Volvo Repair: warn start problem, green triangle, volvo v40

Question
My '99 volvo V40 won't start when warm after a short stop. It happend twice
after a 30 miles trip (never happend after a short trip). First time it happened when I stoped to pay at the
high-way toll. After that I turn the key, I have got all the indicators in the
panel except those two at the bottom right corner -a green triangle and a car
crossed-, and the car won't do anything -any noise from the start engine-. After
a few hours it starts at once! The second time it happend I have tried with a
different key, but I didn't worked neither. The next morning, again, it was
starting with no probs. I have noticed that I have this problem only if the two
lights at the right bottom corner of the panel are off.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Daniel. Barcelona, Spain.


Answer
Well your most likely problem is in the immobilizer system.  It reads the transponder inside your key to see that the right key is inserted and then allows the car to start.  If everything looks alright and it should start thats where the problem lies.  I cannot be 100% sure about this however because there are other things that could be causing this problem, like a loose connection somewhere.  You're going to have to take the car in to a dealer to have the on board diagnostics checked.  I am pretty sure that there will be some sort of record of what was going on when it happened, possibly some sort of diagnostic codes.  With that information the problem should be very easily diagnosed.

James