Petrol gauge vagueness

[Tomcat]

Noticed recently that the petrol gauge seems to have a mind of it's own, it can vary how much it's showing in between stopping and re starting, the same goes for the Trip computer as well. Anyone had any problems like this with the gauge in the V70?..

[Jamest5r]

You have to put fuel in you tight student :)

[Tomcat]

:mad:No...... Really?....Lmao. Thanks James, that hand't occured to me...

[Jamest5r]

Here to help mate :)

[partsforvolvos.com]

when its really low, the projected mileage to zero will alter a lot directly on what speed/throttle you are on.

if the guage is playing up, the trip computer will be changing as a result of the fuel it thinks it has(or not)



take the sender out tomcat, and move the arm slowly by hand to see if there is a position where it does not work on the circuit board.

the sender is on the left (passenger side) of the tank and it looks like it is the larger one of the 2 rings on the picture.

sometimes with senders you can find the solder has failed, and if you re do the wire connections again and it will work.
but if it is the circuit board being worn, then it needs a new one.



dont unscrew it though unless the fuel is definately less than half - otherwise it will flow out, and you need a new seal because the seal is below full tank level.

[Tomcat]

Thanks for that, I'll pull the sender at some point and have a look. What sort of price is the seal?, do you sell them or is it a main dealer part only?

[Dangerous Dave]

I've got to remove mine at some point as it gets to just below 2 gallons and then goes back up after restarting the car, run out of fuel a couple of times as it was giving a false reading :S

[Tomcat]

That's what mines doing so far (touch wood) I've not run out, doesn't help that besides the local filling station (which sells seriously crap petrol) the nearest petrol startion is about 3-4 miles away.

[Dangerous Dave]

Hmmm, not good then.

Think there is also something else wrong with it because sometimes (not very often) it will start then immediately die and after a couple of pump primes it works again but the pump sound odd when turning the ignition on.

Will deffo have to get the tank apart and have a look what going on.

[partsforvolvos.com]

it is a main dealer only item.

i think they are about £7

[partsforvolvos.com]

the only model i ever regualrly had a problem with was the s40/v40 . both of the ones i owned, if you filled a full tank, did about 100 miles so the guage moved down about 1 bar, and then went down a steep hill round a bend on my way to work , the sender must have been sticking at the top because it stayed at max until i did about another 50 miles, and then decided to work again after a bump jarred it loose.

that must have been a design problem.