Volvo RWD 700 Forum

INDEX FOR 10/2025(CURRENT) INDEX FOR 3/2017 700 INDEX

[<<]  [>>]


THREADED THREADED EXPANDED FLAT PRINT ALL
MESSAGES IN THIS THREAD




  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Instrument cluster /fuel gauge issue 700

Many years ago I istalled an Instrument cluster obtained from ebay into my 91 740. I did so because the speedo in mine stopped working. Installing new and similar values capacitors into the original ( which I still have ) did not fix the speedo. After installing the newly bought one I noticed that the fuel gauge reads backwards. When the fuel tank is full the yellow empty warning light illuminates and when the tank is nearing empty the gauge reads full. The cluster as much as it is the same shape and fits, is from another series , maybe a 940? I really cannot say for sure. What can I do to make the fuel gauge reads true. The fuel tank sending unit has four wires coming from it. A large pink and black wires which are the wires powering the fuel pump. The others are grey and brown IIRC. These are the wires to the unit that send signal to the fuel gauge in the cluster.. I am no elecctrical guru here but could I simply reverse these wires to make the gauge read true? I have lived with this condition and have learnt to interpret what I see on the
gauge while driving. For instance when the gauge reads half I know that I have about 100 miles to drive before the tank is empty.








  •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

    Instrument cluster /fuel gauge issue 700

    Hi Chuffsy,

    Did you replace the fuel level sensor?


    Bill








    •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

      Instrument cluster /fuel gauge issue 700

      Swap the Green/White and the Brown wire from the fuel tank to the connector.
      That should do it.

      Bill








      •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

        Instrument cluster /fuel gauge issue 700

        The cluster was a replacement and a direct drop in for the one I removed from my 91 740. However I am not sure of the donor vehicle. I merely removed the old one and installed the replacement. The connectors at the back of the unit were just plug and play. Hard to make a mistake there. As far as the connections at the sending unit I did not mess with the wires for the sending unit part. The wires are green and brown. I have replaced the fuel pump before ( only one intank for Regina system) and had to desolder and resolder the wires to the pump. The wires are black and pink.
        It seems to me that the sending unit is passive in that it is not powered to make it function. It looks like it is just a variable resistor.








  •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

    Instrument cluster /fuel gauge issue 700

    I have not come across the issue of the gauge reading backwards after a cluster swap before. My experience is that making the swap resulted in a non working gauge.

    I worked with another brickboarder at modifying the later cluster to obtain a working gauge. Perhaps this is of no help to you, but it is all I have to offer.

    https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/ElectricalInstrumentClusterInterchangeability.htm#FuelGaugeClock

    Randy
    --
    Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal








  •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

    Instrument cluster /fuel gauge issue 700

    Hi,

    I have never thought about polarization to a resistive load but 240s don’t have low fuel lights.
    Warning: I’m not familiar with the 700 or the 900 series but I cannot help thinking that they are built internally in a likewise fashion.
    The low fuel light is out of my league.
    It probably involves a transistor circuit that either responds to a Voltage drop reading or grounding current?
    How it triggers backwards well, it just might be polarity?
    Trick is how did that happen with plug and play socket systems?

    On a 240 the gauge can get wacky.
    Actually it is the wiper finger is “over traveling” a coil of resistance wire inside the sensor housing.
    The wiper finger is not centered on the resistance block with the float arms travels.
    Rare but there could be a dirty wire section from gelled fuel at either end too and it loses contact.

    To me it’s unusual to have it happening at both ends.
    Slipping off the top it will say empty, when it’s totally filled, until some fuel usage drops and it back down on the wire.
    With that it can show empty too late as the reserve section is raised and there will not be as much.

    Losing a contact to the wire causes the gauge needle to fall down because lack of current stops heating the gauge up.
    240s can have this happen if the float arm gets bent or is missing one or both a limiting stop tabs on the outside of the sender housing.

    Has the cars gas tank ever been heavily jolted while it was nearly empty of fuel?
    The float can bobble around pretty violently and the gauges do not respond very quickly.
    Driving too fast pass through some open ditches, used for rain control above ground of city streets, can do it.

    I’m sure someone will have seen this on a 700 and hopefully will clue us both in with their experience or knowledge of the 700.
    It seems like it’s on the sensor end rather than a polarity issue.
    I wonder why the in-tank pump, if there’s one, would not be affected in this case.
    Four wires means two circuits so maybe?

    Phil







<< < > >>



©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.