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Have another project on my '87 740GLE. I picked up an instrument cluster on Ebay with the two optional gauges I'd been looking a long time for. However, in addition to the voltmeter, what I thought in their unclear picture was an oil pressure gauge turned out to be an oil temp gauge. Undaunted, I inserted both in my existing cluster so I didn't have to swap the speedo module.
I checked with the Volvo dealer and the sending unit for the temp gauge was so rare that they no longer have a part number for it. It was a simple oil drain plug with a sender threaded in it. I will have a machine shop make me one from a new drain plug and a temp sender. But I can't find any schematic to show me the wiring for it. On the salvage cluster the oil temp gauge has three wires on its back, red, black and yellow. They go 4 inches to a connector that the yard clipped the outbound wires from the dash harness. No clue their termination. In the connector, the red gauge wire goes to a red/blue wire, black to black and yellow to red/green. The only schematic I have is my Haynes 740 manual and the schematic shows blank for that part of the cluster schematic. Does anyone know what wires connect to power/ground and the sender? Can I assume the red to 12v power, the black to electrical system ground and the yellow to the wire to the connector on the sender? If that's the case, I'll simply thread a yellow wire down to the sender from the dash. Hoping for simple!
I intend to activate the oil temp gauge but I will still keep looking for the illusive oil pressure gauge.
Thanks once again for your help!
Roger
Southern CO
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'85 240 DL B230F 4spdOD 330K; '87 740GLE B230F ZF22 340K
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Have a look at the eGuages.com website for VDO senders for their gauges. VDO was a main supplier of instruments to Volvo (along with Yazaki for some 700-cars). One of those names may be printed on the back of the cluster. A VDO oil temp sender is likely right for your gauge.
Cautionary note - I got a VDO drain plug sender many years ago from a local shop which supplied aftermarket parts for Euro cars. The guy showed me the VDO catalog where it said the sender was correct for my drain plug in the B23F. (Pretty sure it's the same drain plug in all red blocks: 3/4 x 16). It doesn't fit - it's loose, so maybe a metric M18x1.5, sorta close to the 3/4-16.
Your oil filter has that same 3/4x16 thread spec so you can check the fit of a sender on a spare filter without having to drain oil and check the pan threads. Or get a spare oil pan drain plug and drill and tap it for the 1/8-27NPT VDO sender.
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Bob: Son's XC70, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (Chev LT-1 V8), 98 S90 (recently sold) and 2010 XC60. Also '77 MGB and four old motorcycles
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You must have read my mind! Yes, I plowed around egauges site and in fact emailed them a question to clarify and was told that the 300 deg oil senders will work with VDO gauges. And I also came to the conclusion after talking with local Volvo parts dept (that plug sender is so old, no parts numbers exist now) that my easiest solution was to get a replacement oil drain plug and an egauges sender and have a friend drill and tap the drain plug for the egauges sender. I chose the sender with the longest temp probe tip so it will extend beyond the end of the drain plug into the reservoir of oil for a bit more accuracy. I chose the 1/4 NPT thread sender. The local parts house got me a plug and their book also said 3/4 x 16 so I'm all set. I'll visit a friend at his machine shop and have him do the drill and tap. I'll be sure to put a small bead of silicone around the very top of the sender threads when I tighten it in to be sure of no leakage. That will ensure electrical path to ground with the plug and pan since the sender will never be removed, only the plug. Then just a matter of running wire from the sender to the cluster and the gauge. Hoping for simplicity and no "Murphy's Law" interference. Thanks for your input! BTW, I'm still looking for the actual oil pressure gauge for that cluster spot but if I can't come up with one, I'll probably just put an egauges side window post oil pressure gauge kit in.
Roger
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'85 240 DL B230F 4spdOD 330K; '87 740GLE B230F ZF22 340K
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I used to prowl the PnP junkyards for many years as a hobby and always looked inside Volvos of any year or model to see if there was anything unique that I might grab. I never saw an OE oil pressure gauge in any 700/900 cars. It might be a European thing on some models. You could try searching Euro eBay listings.
Let us know on this BB what you find!
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Bob: Son's XC70, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (Chev LT-1 V8), 98 S90 (recently sold) and 2010 XC60. Also '77 MGB and four old motorcycles
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UPDATE: A friend's machine shop completed the drill and tap project for the oil drain plug temp sender Friday. Changed the oil and filter and used the new drain plug. Wired in the gauge using the above wiring "guess". Gauge red to positive connection on cluster, black to dash ground frame. Installed a yellow wire connected to the gauge yellow and connected it to the sender center terminal. So far, no indication that the gauge is alive, no temp reading. Will have to do further continuity checks, making sure my 12v source is real and there is electrical continuity at the sender. Only used thread lock on the sender threads as it will never be removed, only the drain plug. That shouldn't have affected the electrical continuity of the sender. Any suggestions from the group? My take, if the engine operates at the thermostat temp of 190, the oil temp should rise at least in the 160 degree range. Open to ideas.
Roger
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'85 240 DL B230F 4spdOD 330K; '87 740GLE B230F ZF22 340K
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Disconnect the wiring from the gauge. Use your multimeter to check cold resistance at the sender terminal to engine ground. Then check the disconnected wiring at gauge between your Yellow and Black wires. Should be the same. Check again after a drive has heated the oil up - minimum 10 mi. You can then call Egauges and ask if those numbers seem right. If sender resistances are ok you must have either no 12V to gauge (easy to check) or a dead gauge, or the wrong sender resistance range for that gauge.
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Bob: Son's XC70, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (Chev LT-1 V8), 98 S90 (recently sold) and 2010 XC60. Also '77 MGB and four old motorcycles
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Problem solved, checked the resistance at the sender gauge wire, about 500 ohms which is ball park according to an email from egauges.com so the problem was found in a further check of the voltage at the gauge + terminal. Only 0.72v so way low. Don't know what the terminal was for that I connected to center cluster on the back of the speedo but it was obviously the wrong one. Looked at the back of the cluster on the right side and found a red wire from the harness connected to a bayonet terminal. I suspected it was the harness connection for main voltage source to the cluster. Ignition off, zero volts, ignition on, 12.25v what it should be. Moved my gauge connector to it and got the 12 volts at the gauge. Driving next day, the gauge began registering as expected. Problem solved and gauge operational! It only came up to about 1/3 of the scale between the 120 and mid gauge value of 210. Guessing the unmarked lines seem to be in 30 degree steps so the gauge came up to about 150 or so on a drive around the area in 60 degree weather. Winter hit on Thanksgiving so the gauge was not so active, as expected but it still rises. All is good. Thanks for your input!
Roger
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'85 240 DL B230F 4spdOD 330K; '87 740GLE B230F ZF22 340K
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At what temperature does the scale start? I had an oil temp gauge on a split window VW Bus--it took a good 15 minutes driving on the highway before it would start to move off the 140 degree minimum. Driving around town never got the needle to move. -- Dave
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The low end of the gauge is 120 degrees, high end 300 degrees. In 60 degree weather the gauge comes up to about 150 or 160 degrees, what I expected.
Roger
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'85 240 DL B230F 4spdOD 330K; '87 740GLE B230F ZF22 340K
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