Gas Tank Problem!

vivalajesus2304 · Post by **vivalajesus2304** » 26 Sep 2009, 05:22

So I just got my first Volvo. It's a 1984 244 GL, 4 cyl. I love it. I need some help though. Here's my problem.

My car runs out of gas at the half way mark. The meter works fine. When I "fill up" the gauge goes to full, and lowers accordingly. That is fine. What the problem is, is when I get to half a tank, THAT means I'm out of gas. So, I "fill up" again, and it only allows me to put in 14, 15 dollars at most in. About, five or six gallons. What happens, more specifically, is at about half a tank, the gauge starts to rise a little bit (about an 8th of the whole meter) and then lowers back down to half. It does this for a little while. Luckily it's consistent, because that is my warning that I only have x amount of miles left. So I have a few questions.

1. Does anybody know what is causing this? ha. It is the sending unit? Is it the fuel pump? Maybe the fuel filter? I don't know.
2. Is my fuel pump on the inside of my gas tank, or the outside?
3. Do I have one fuel pump or two?
4. Do you know where to get cheap parts for my car, or volvo's specifically?

That's about all the questions I have for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot

-- Ruben A.

Post by **billofdurham** » 26 Sep 2009, 12:15

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

1. It could be the tank sender unit causing the problems. It may be tired and not registering properly or it may be misaligned in the tank and the float is restricted in its movement. I doubt the pump or the filter would cause this as they have no connection to the fuel gauge.

2 & 3. Depending on the engine fitted you may have an in-tank and an external pump.

4. We have five sponsors at the top of the forum who supply most parts for the fuel system.

On the 1984 model one of the service items was to clean or replace the in-tank filter every 15,000 miles or 15 months whichever came first. This necessitated removing the tank sender unit which had to be replaced in the correct position. The position was marked by an arrow, often overlooked. If it is replaced incorrectly the float can snag.

Bill.