I've looked on a couple popular Volvo parts sites and it would appear the fuel level sending unit is pick-n-pull or similar like more and more parts, since it's a basic sorta part I thought I'd ask if there was a regular fix for this.
Thanks for any help,
Terry
V90 fuel level sending unit
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93Regina
- Posts: 2813
- Joined: 18 January 2014
- Year and Model: 93:240/940
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Maybe here
Volvo 9142959 : $668.49 EACH
120871 - $199.25 EACH Fuel Tank Sending Unit Assembly - 940 960 S90 V90 - 9445442
Footnote - Is your EFI a fuel return-less system? I have no idea which part you need. But, ebay sharks have these too.
If fuel gauge does not work...don't fix it, unless you do it your self. Secert, keep tank filled up...Kept It Simple Stupid:-)
Volvo 9142959 : $668.49 EACH
120871 - $199.25 EACH Fuel Tank Sending Unit Assembly - 940 960 S90 V90 - 9445442
Footnote - Is your EFI a fuel return-less system? I have no idea which part you need. But, ebay sharks have these too.
If fuel gauge does not work...don't fix it, unless you do it your self. Secert, keep tank filled up...Kept It Simple Stupid:-)
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TerrDawg
- Posts: 47
- Joined: 27 October 2017
- Year and Model: 97' V90/98' S90
- Location: Roseville Ca
- Has thanked: 7 times
- Been thanked: 13 times
Thanks, the gauge is stuck on 1/2 and I've been resetting the trip meter and keeping it full but it would be nice to have a reliable gauge. I can't afford to fix until I get back to work, cast comes off in 3 weeks then therapy so by summer I guess but if they interchange maybe picknpull
07' XC 70 Black/Lowered 136k mi
98' S90 blue 245k mi
98' S90 white super clean ! 274k mi
98' S90 blue 245k mi
98' S90 white super clean ! 274k mi
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93Regina
- Posts: 2813
- Joined: 18 January 2014
- Year and Model: 93:240/940
- Location: Sunflower State
- Been thanked: 65 times
My 940 was stuck on full when I got it...I assume some mechanic/DIY screwed the pooch when installing a new pump. I have not been in the mood to look at it, in some four years of owning it.
But, if I pulled unit out, I'd use an ohm meter, and see what happens on float movement.
I have another vehicle with same issue...but since I can hear the pump humming, I know its internal fuel pump was replaced by someone who didn't know how.
Just keep your tank filled up...this method has worked, for years/years.
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RickHaleParker
- Posts: 7129
- Joined: 25 May 2015
- Year and Model: See Signature below.
- Location: Kansas
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There is a write up on the brickboard by somebody that fixed his 940 sending unit.
https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/55 ... wacky.html
Next summer I need to address the sending unit on my S90. When I get to it I'll do a better job of documenting it. Perhaps write a rebuild manual for the fuel sender.
https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/55 ... wacky.html
Next summer I need to address the sending unit on my S90. When I get to it I'll do a better job of documenting it. Perhaps write a rebuild manual for the fuel sender.
Last edited by RickHaleParker on 08 Jan 2018, 08:15, edited 1 time in total.
⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙
1998 C70, B5234T3, 16T, AW50-42, Bosch Motronic 4.4, Special Edition package.
2003 S40, B4204T3, 14T twin scroll AW55-50/51SN, Siemens EMS 2000.
2004 S60R, B8444S TF80 AWD. Yamaha V8 conversion
2005 XC90 T6 Executive, B6294T, 4T65 AWD, Bosch Motronic 7.0.
1998 C70, B5234T3, 16T, AW50-42, Bosch Motronic 4.4, Special Edition package.
2003 S40, B4204T3, 14T twin scroll AW55-50/51SN, Siemens EMS 2000.
2004 S60R, B8444S TF80 AWD. Yamaha V8 conversion
2005 XC90 T6 Executive, B6294T, 4T65 AWD, Bosch Motronic 7.0.
-
RickHaleParker
- Posts: 7129
- Joined: 25 May 2015
- Year and Model: See Signature below.
- Location: Kansas
- Has thanked: 8 times
- Been thanked: 958 times
It is not dead, for some reason it does not work from here.
Here is the text for the link.
Ah, I was waiting for this to come up. I've just spent a fair bit of time on that very problem with my '95 940. In my case it was the tank sending unit. As a true brickboarder, I guess I have to dedicate some more time to pass this on to the rest of you. BTW I've heard of similar problems on the later 760's, apparently some were sending unit problems (same sender I presume) and some were gauge problems (apart from voltage stabilization problems and instrument connector problems, Volvo gauges are usually rock solid).
For the 940's, the early symptoms are a fuel tank gauge that appears to stick, often reading too high. Then it progresses to the point where it won't always go below a certain point or above a certain point. Driving over bumps or filling the tank will often cause the gauge to jump and read more correctly. Eventually the problem gets so bad the gauge will rarely move. No matter how bad it gets, you can probably still get it to move if you take a mallet and carefully pound the top of the tank around the sending unit (under the access plate). I would say that is the ultimate diagnostic for this particular problem.
Quite simply, the fuel level sending unit in the tank is shot. Specifically, the internal sliding contacts are totally worn out. This only affects the sending units in the later 940's with the enlarged ~73 litre tank. It is fundamentally different from the earlier 900's and 700's with the ~60 litre standard tank or the ~80 litre expanded tank. It's about 1.5" longer and uses a different pre-pump attachment. Additionally, the resistance values probably don't match so a different or modified gauge is likely required (probably just a resisitor or jumper wire). The 940 also needs the maximum sender resistance to correspond to the proper tank level as it triggers a bright low fuel LED on the dash.
Based on reports here, the problem did show up on a few cars during the warranty period and will probably show up on more as these vehicles age. The problem likely correlates with mileage and rough road usage. In my opinion this is nothing short of a design flaw -previous designs worked flawlessly for many years. If you saw the flimsy little metal contact strip that causes the whole problem you'd see why. In their usual style, I highly doubt Volvo or Scantech will admit to anything at this stage.
It's an expensive problem to fix. It almost goes without saying that you can't get the little contact strip worth only a few cents. You need the whole sending unit. Apparently Volvo only sells the sending unit with the entire tank pickup assembly including the pre-pump. You're looking at about U$500 plus hours of labour (I'm guessing around U$200).
There are really only two other options:
a) Find a working used sending unit and have it installed. As these later vehicles are not in abundance, alive or dead, you won't find much of a parts supply. If you find one, insist on a warranty -used electrical parts are often not warranted. Even then the replacement part may almost be worn out. Plus you've got all that ugly labour each time to get it in and out. I started out by going this way, came close, but couldn't get my hands on the part.
b) Attempt to remove the unit yourself and repair the sender. I already had the old unit out and I really had nothing to lose so this is the route I've gone and so far it's been very successful. Unfortunately, it's a b*tch of a job and more art than science at the moment. I'll document what I know here.
Basically you remove the tank sending unit, remove the sender barrel (fast, high heat de-soldering), crack it open without damaging anything (non-trivial), carefully slide out the float assembly with the worn contacts, repair the contacts, put it all back together. If you're lucky it will still work. If you're good it will be better than new. If you want the nitty gritty, read on.
For a start, follow standard procedures for removing the in-tank fuel pump as a guide (see also 700/900 FAQ). Although the book calls for dropping the tank, I did it all through the access hatch and from underneath. Either way, this is a knuckle skinning, back wrenching and grunt labour job. The sending unit itself is undocumented territory so at every step you've got to take careful note of how things went together or (like me) you'll be forced to reverse engineer the whole design until you eventually figure out how it goes. I'll give you some hints on cracking it open around the mid-seam: warm it for a little flexibility in hot water; try to *slightly* push in the tabs with a slot screwdriver while also prying on one end to help loosen the friction bond around the inside lip; crack it open in one big move either by solidly clamping the lower half in a large padded vise so you can push the top end away from you or by holding the ends and firmly pressing the mid-section over a protected edge with the little notch in the seam facing toward you (it's much like cracking an egg; it takes a lot of strength, just be prepared to stop quickly once it separates so you don't bend the internal rods; it sounds awful when it finally comes apart). Once the guts are exposed, you'll easily see that one or both contact fingers on the float have jagged ends where they used to have wide pads that would slide up and down the resistance coils (you can even see this before you start by looking into an open hole -see quiz below). These pads were too thin and have simply worn off. Your job is to figure out how to re-build these pads. (Our Don Foster would totally love this challenge.) Carefully crimping on a tiny strip of very thin nickle plated sheet metal (scavenged out of some old broken toy or electronic item) is what I used. The tricky bit is to make sure the pads are solidly attached, do not have sharp edges, aren't too big and can still move freely with light outward pressure. If the resistance coil rods are handled the coil wire may become loose and will cause binding. If this happens, carefully re-wrap the coil back and forth a number of times to eliminate the loose area (hint: follow the original coil marks when doing this; carefully fold over any excess wire at the top only). You'll need to make sure the little contact frame doesn't get bent out of shape. It must be able to slide up and down without binding (hint: tweak it carefully to restore proper contact; the rods have notches at the ends for alignment in the sleeve holes; doesn't matter which rod is in which hole; the float assembly only installs one way so that the contacts fit all the way up into the head area). Re-assemble and visually test the sender sleeve unit by immersing it in a pail of water. Try using an ohmmeter between the coil posts to watch the resistance gradually change as you move the sender up and down in the water. It may take a number of tries to get the new contacts working smoothly. Test it as much as you can before re-installing it in the tank (you won't want to do this again). Clean and allow the sender to dry before final assembly and installation. Putting the tank pickup assembly back in takes a lot of careful twisting (hint -start upside down at 10:00 o'clock; rotate counter-clockwise as you push it in; pull the spring loaded sender sleeve back as you rotate it so the pickup filter will clear the anti-splash pan lip at the bottom of the tank; hand "bump" the unit up and down until it seats *fully* in the rubber gasketed opening at the 6 o'clock position; the threaded locking collar will strip easily if taken much beyond hand tight). Cross your fingers. It is very easy to blow a day on this repair and the Volvo price does start to look a little more attractive by the end. For safety, people who need to light-up a cigarette when they're frustrated should not attempt this job!
I would dearly love to hear of someone coming up with a more elegant fix. I'd go away happy if Volvo or Scantech would simply make available a few gross of those wimpy little contact strips as a goodwill gesture ...
Here is the text for the link.
Ah, I was waiting for this to come up. I've just spent a fair bit of time on that very problem with my '95 940. In my case it was the tank sending unit. As a true brickboarder, I guess I have to dedicate some more time to pass this on to the rest of you. BTW I've heard of similar problems on the later 760's, apparently some were sending unit problems (same sender I presume) and some were gauge problems (apart from voltage stabilization problems and instrument connector problems, Volvo gauges are usually rock solid).
For the 940's, the early symptoms are a fuel tank gauge that appears to stick, often reading too high. Then it progresses to the point where it won't always go below a certain point or above a certain point. Driving over bumps or filling the tank will often cause the gauge to jump and read more correctly. Eventually the problem gets so bad the gauge will rarely move. No matter how bad it gets, you can probably still get it to move if you take a mallet and carefully pound the top of the tank around the sending unit (under the access plate). I would say that is the ultimate diagnostic for this particular problem.
Quite simply, the fuel level sending unit in the tank is shot. Specifically, the internal sliding contacts are totally worn out. This only affects the sending units in the later 940's with the enlarged ~73 litre tank. It is fundamentally different from the earlier 900's and 700's with the ~60 litre standard tank or the ~80 litre expanded tank. It's about 1.5" longer and uses a different pre-pump attachment. Additionally, the resistance values probably don't match so a different or modified gauge is likely required (probably just a resisitor or jumper wire). The 940 also needs the maximum sender resistance to correspond to the proper tank level as it triggers a bright low fuel LED on the dash.
Based on reports here, the problem did show up on a few cars during the warranty period and will probably show up on more as these vehicles age. The problem likely correlates with mileage and rough road usage. In my opinion this is nothing short of a design flaw -previous designs worked flawlessly for many years. If you saw the flimsy little metal contact strip that causes the whole problem you'd see why. In their usual style, I highly doubt Volvo or Scantech will admit to anything at this stage.
It's an expensive problem to fix. It almost goes without saying that you can't get the little contact strip worth only a few cents. You need the whole sending unit. Apparently Volvo only sells the sending unit with the entire tank pickup assembly including the pre-pump. You're looking at about U$500 plus hours of labour (I'm guessing around U$200).
There are really only two other options:
a) Find a working used sending unit and have it installed. As these later vehicles are not in abundance, alive or dead, you won't find much of a parts supply. If you find one, insist on a warranty -used electrical parts are often not warranted. Even then the replacement part may almost be worn out. Plus you've got all that ugly labour each time to get it in and out. I started out by going this way, came close, but couldn't get my hands on the part.
b) Attempt to remove the unit yourself and repair the sender. I already had the old unit out and I really had nothing to lose so this is the route I've gone and so far it's been very successful. Unfortunately, it's a b*tch of a job and more art than science at the moment. I'll document what I know here.
Basically you remove the tank sending unit, remove the sender barrel (fast, high heat de-soldering), crack it open without damaging anything (non-trivial), carefully slide out the float assembly with the worn contacts, repair the contacts, put it all back together. If you're lucky it will still work. If you're good it will be better than new. If you want the nitty gritty, read on.
For a start, follow standard procedures for removing the in-tank fuel pump as a guide (see also 700/900 FAQ). Although the book calls for dropping the tank, I did it all through the access hatch and from underneath. Either way, this is a knuckle skinning, back wrenching and grunt labour job. The sending unit itself is undocumented territory so at every step you've got to take careful note of how things went together or (like me) you'll be forced to reverse engineer the whole design until you eventually figure out how it goes. I'll give you some hints on cracking it open around the mid-seam: warm it for a little flexibility in hot water; try to *slightly* push in the tabs with a slot screwdriver while also prying on one end to help loosen the friction bond around the inside lip; crack it open in one big move either by solidly clamping the lower half in a large padded vise so you can push the top end away from you or by holding the ends and firmly pressing the mid-section over a protected edge with the little notch in the seam facing toward you (it's much like cracking an egg; it takes a lot of strength, just be prepared to stop quickly once it separates so you don't bend the internal rods; it sounds awful when it finally comes apart). Once the guts are exposed, you'll easily see that one or both contact fingers on the float have jagged ends where they used to have wide pads that would slide up and down the resistance coils (you can even see this before you start by looking into an open hole -see quiz below). These pads were too thin and have simply worn off. Your job is to figure out how to re-build these pads. (Our Don Foster would totally love this challenge.) Carefully crimping on a tiny strip of very thin nickle plated sheet metal (scavenged out of some old broken toy or electronic item) is what I used. The tricky bit is to make sure the pads are solidly attached, do not have sharp edges, aren't too big and can still move freely with light outward pressure. If the resistance coil rods are handled the coil wire may become loose and will cause binding. If this happens, carefully re-wrap the coil back and forth a number of times to eliminate the loose area (hint: follow the original coil marks when doing this; carefully fold over any excess wire at the top only). You'll need to make sure the little contact frame doesn't get bent out of shape. It must be able to slide up and down without binding (hint: tweak it carefully to restore proper contact; the rods have notches at the ends for alignment in the sleeve holes; doesn't matter which rod is in which hole; the float assembly only installs one way so that the contacts fit all the way up into the head area). Re-assemble and visually test the sender sleeve unit by immersing it in a pail of water. Try using an ohmmeter between the coil posts to watch the resistance gradually change as you move the sender up and down in the water. It may take a number of tries to get the new contacts working smoothly. Test it as much as you can before re-installing it in the tank (you won't want to do this again). Clean and allow the sender to dry before final assembly and installation. Putting the tank pickup assembly back in takes a lot of careful twisting (hint -start upside down at 10:00 o'clock; rotate counter-clockwise as you push it in; pull the spring loaded sender sleeve back as you rotate it so the pickup filter will clear the anti-splash pan lip at the bottom of the tank; hand "bump" the unit up and down until it seats *fully* in the rubber gasketed opening at the 6 o'clock position; the threaded locking collar will strip easily if taken much beyond hand tight). Cross your fingers. It is very easy to blow a day on this repair and the Volvo price does start to look a little more attractive by the end. For safety, people who need to light-up a cigarette when they're frustrated should not attempt this job!
I would dearly love to hear of someone coming up with a more elegant fix. I'd go away happy if Volvo or Scantech would simply make available a few gross of those wimpy little contact strips as a goodwill gesture ...
⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙⸙
1998 C70, B5234T3, 16T, AW50-42, Bosch Motronic 4.4, Special Edition package.
2003 S40, B4204T3, 14T twin scroll AW55-50/51SN, Siemens EMS 2000.
2004 S60R, B8444S TF80 AWD. Yamaha V8 conversion
2005 XC90 T6 Executive, B6294T, 4T65 AWD, Bosch Motronic 7.0.
1998 C70, B5234T3, 16T, AW50-42, Bosch Motronic 4.4, Special Edition package.
2003 S40, B4204T3, 14T twin scroll AW55-50/51SN, Siemens EMS 2000.
2004 S60R, B8444S TF80 AWD. Yamaha V8 conversion
2005 XC90 T6 Executive, B6294T, 4T65 AWD, Bosch Motronic 7.0.
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TerrDawg
- Posts: 47
- Joined: 27 October 2017
- Year and Model: 97' V90/98' S90
- Location: Roseville Ca
- Has thanked: 7 times
- Been thanked: 13 times
That's a good read, since I have a cast on, I'll give it a try since I'm prone to those frustrating fits of rage.... And when it comes off in a couple weeks, I'll have to go back to work ... Of course
Thanks for that, I'll document as much as possible and take pictures, maybe design a fix for these.... Or just keep a full tank heck that just sounds too damn easy
Thanks for that, I'll document as much as possible and take pictures, maybe design a fix for these.... Or just keep a full tank heck that just sounds too damn easy
07' XC 70 Black/Lowered 136k mi
98' S90 blue 245k mi
98' S90 white super clean ! 274k mi
98' S90 blue 245k mi
98' S90 white super clean ! 274k mi
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