posted by
someone claiming to be Billy Traweek
on
Mon Nov 13 01:24 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Hello all,
I am a new poster, I just purchased a rust free 1990 Volvo 740 SOHC Wagon in Birmingham, Al. and drove it back to Merritt Island, Fl. The car has 120K miles and runs very well. I need to do some cosmetic work on it, front seats, carpet, paint. The only mechanical problems seem to be that the rear shocks need to be replaced, it needs a wheel alignment, there is a slight "shimmy" in the steering wheel when braking and the fuel capacity seems whacky.
The owners manual states that the fuel tank has a capacity of 15.8 gallons (US Gallons?). I ran it until I had 240 miles on the odometer, the needle was in the red, and it ran out of gas. I fortunately made it into a gas station as it was cutting off. Yes I know about not running a car out of gas, cat converter, etc., but I should have been able to go another 100 miles or so on 15 gallons. I thought the fuel gage was wrong, evidently not.
When I fueled up it only took 10 gallons of gas from a "dry" tank. What is up with that? The fuel gage seems to work fine, for a ten gallon tank, but where is the other 5.8 gallons hidden?
Both of these symptons (only ten gallon tank & gas gage reading accurately) could be be result of a collasped tank, but it looks fine, any ideas? Surely there is not a ten gallon tank in this car.
Any help/guidance with these probs will be greatly appreciated. I just got over having the "Jaguars", but now I have Volvoitis. It is great to see such a great posting board, There is a comparable Jag board. Sorry for running on, I'll try to keep it short from now on.
Thank you all,
Billy in Florida with Volvoitis
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posted by
someone claiming to be Steve
on
Mon Nov 13 09:32 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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I've got a similar but opposite problem; mine has the 80 litre (21.1 gal) tank and it never runs out - I cannot squeeze more than 15 gallons into it after driving below red for days.
Assuming your car really did run out of fuel and the guage was right (plenty of people will enlighten you about the in-tank pump causing this problem when you're NOT empty), there are only three possibilities...
One, the tank is crushed from the outside, but it's plastic and you say you've already confirmed it's not.
Two, something (a plastic ball or a rag, perhaps) is floating in the tank and covering the filler pipe when the level reaches 2/3 full, causing the automatic nozzle to shut.
Three, there's something in the tank occupying about 16-20 litres of space.
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posted by
someone claiming to be john l
on
Fri Nov 17 21:36 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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> Three, there's something in the tank occupying about 16-20 litres of space.
hmm, sounds like a partial human corpse to me.
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posted by
someone claiming to be aaron
on
Tue Nov 14 01:15 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Funny thing is, i also have an 80 litre tank, and for the life of me, i have to agree with your first paragraph!!! The most i've ever been able to fit into the tank was 55 litres, and this was after 550km's of driving (now THAT is economy!). The guage appears to be spot on, but i am scared of running out of gas......i have run it down to just above the red line, but when i put 30 litres in it, is was about 3/4 full!! Strange........
Does anyone have experience with an 80 litre tank, slightly under 1/4 full and have the car stutter a little (like it isn't getting enough fuel) while turning a corner at a moderate speed in second gear? I can actually "feel" what appears to be this.......is that normal?! Please help!
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posted by
someone claiming to be Sheldon
on
Tue Nov 14 06:46 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Aaron: Are you sure you have 80 litre tank?
I have 90/740 16valve and the tank is nominal 60 litre. I have filled when empty and running on fumes with 63.5 litres. But this was when I coasted into gas station with all gas used up. When there is only a litre or two left I get a hickup while turning corner, this reminds me to fill up damn soon. My guage is quite accurate at the top and bottom and maybe a bit optomistic in the upper mid range. I generally get around 10km+ per litre (28+ mi/gal; Imp or 24 mi/gal US). This drops about 10% in the winter. I now have Amsoil in differential and RedlineMTL in 4sp+OD. we will see if this winter running will be better.
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posted by
someone claiming to be aaron
on
Wed Nov 15 01:17 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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My 740 is a single cam and it is an 88 model, if it doesn't have an 80 litre tank, what i wanna know is, what the hell is that big lump behind the back seat?!?!?!?! It is a sedan, and the "front" alf of the boot is virutally tank......
Another thing i REALLY need to know, how the hell, if i do have the 80 litre tank, do you get the fuel pump/sender unit out?!
from what i can gather, where the screw down cover should be, there is the (supposedly) extra tank! My only guess is that somehow the cover plate must be mounted between the extra tank and the side of the wheel arch, is that right?! Help appreciated!
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posted by
someone claiming to be scott martini
on
Wed Nov 15 10:02 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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aaron,
your 88 is supposed to have a 60 litre tank (12. something imperial gallons, 15.8 us gallons) if it has something bigger I don't know why. now the question is what do you mean by a big lump? do you mean the hump just behind the back seat that is a bit higher than the rest of the trunk floor (I can still get a couple of tote boxes to keep the trunk organised ontop of mine) (the ski pass through goes here too) if so then this is the normal hump in the 740 sedans, it is there for the axel and the fuel tank (the tank is in front of the axel) the sender unit should be reachable by taking the the carpet off of this hump and there should be a plate you can unscrew there and see the sender. hope this helps
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posted by
someone claiming to be aaron
on
Thu Nov 16 00:30 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Yes, i know about the small hump, when i say hump, i mean HUMP! hehe. It's big enough to nearly render the ski hole useless, if i wanted to i might just be able to squeeze one ski through the hole........i am talking about a decent sized hump here....and it is metal, or if it isn't has a metal cover over it! i have about 20 cm or so between the top of the hump and the bottom of the parcel shelf.........
damn, this is confusing!
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posted by
someone claiming to be aaron
on
Thu Nov 16 00:34 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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i am guessing that i have an 80 litre tank, somehow........is the 80 litre tank two seperate tanks, or was it just one big one? my odometer is now at 750k's and i am almost entering the red zone........if it isn't an 80 litre tank, am i the worlds most economical driver?!
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posted by
someone claiming to be scott martini
on
Fri Nov 17 08:10 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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sounds like someone has done a mod to your car at somepoint, I am don't think volvo would have made the 80 litre tanks out of two peices. your milage does make it sound like you may have a larger tank though, very confusing I admit. Hope you figure it out.
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posted by
someone claiming to be Bob Weber
on
Wed Nov 15 08:16 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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My 88 wagon gets 25mpg around town - better on the highway and is a 15.8 tank.
Was this wagon bought on EBay in Birmingham AL? I saw that car and almost bid on it!!
Bob Weber
SW Ohio
45 Volvos since 1979
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posted by
someone claiming to be Billy Traweek
on
Fri Nov 17 00:50 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Bob,
Yes it was on Ebay, I picked it up at the airport in Birmingham and drove 10 hours at 80-90 mph home with only the fuel problem. However, it needs a paint job and interior work.
Billy
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posted by
someone claiming to be scott m
on
Tue Nov 14 04:12 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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as far as I know the 740's all came with the 60 litre tank unless they were a diesel in which case they had a 80 litre tank, your car would be a bit uniquie if it is gas and has a 80 litre tank. As for the sputtering I have only have that when I let the tank get to low. Your feul ecomomy sounds about right, I can go a little more than 600km on 55 litres (all highway). If I'm REALLY good (ie. don't drive over 100km/h) I could probably almost get 700km to a tank. Around town it goes to about 400 - 450 km to a tank.
Hope this helps a bit
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posted by
someone claiming to be Steve
on
Tue Nov 14 03:45 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Just about anyone here can tell you that starvation issues related to fuel height are due to failure of either the in-tank pump, or more likely, the rubber joint that connects its outlet to the pipe.
I wish my economy were that good (25 mpg), my beast would have swallowed 65-70 litres in that distance (20 mpg).
If the guage were correct, we'd be left with 6-8 litres (1.5-2 gal) at the top of the red band.
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posted by
someone claiming to be Sheldon
on
Mon Nov 13 09:06 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Billy: Here are 2 possibilities:
1. The tank may be partly collapsed, I had a 65/122 wagon which deveoped a gas cap that would not let air enter and it partially compressed the tank. I fixed it with a jury rigged fitting fron an inner tube and a rad cap and went to the tire air fill up to expand the tank. And replaced gas cap. The other give away is when the cap is opened after using quite a bit of gas, there is a gasp of air going into the tank.
2. the more likely is that the pickup hose has a crack in it such that you can't get all of the gas out. So even if some gas left youare literally sucjing air.
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posted by
someone claiming to be Tim K.
on
Mon Nov 13 04:50 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Making sure that all fuel mixture input sensors are functioning correctly is always a good thing when you have a fuel mileage concern. If the engine runs too rich, it will consume raw fuel at a faster rate than it is supposed to. For example: If the O2 sensor is malfunctioning and tells the ECU that emissions are too lean, you will have a constant rich mixture.
I have an 86 740 with the B230F and I've been averaging 17mpg in the city and about 25mpg on the highway. I don't know what the factory sticker originally claimed the fuel mileage to be, though. I would highly suspect that your extreme case would most likely be a mechanical problem in the fuel tank itself. I would agree with the previous posters. What I pointed out would be for less extreme cases, but I would definetly check out your fuel mix inputs as a secondary approach.
The shimmy in the steering wheel when braking...I would check your strut rod bushings. These bushings aid in keeping your wheel assembly from moving towards the back of the car under braking loads. If they are bad, you will experience this shimmy or in more worse cases-shuddering. A visual inspection of these components can be done. But, according to most bricksters they are in need of replacement at 100000 miles. Hope this information is helpful. And as always, for further information about these or any other symptoms/ problems.....use Steve Ringlee's FAQ or the archives.
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posted by
someone claiming to be Billy Traweek
on
Mon Nov 13 06:16 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Thank you Jason Ira & Tim,
I will Inspect the fuel filter in the tank this weekend. Old VW bugs would do the same thing - clogged sock - run out of gas when here was still some in the tank. You say I can go through a panel from inside the car for this job, does that also apply to my Wagon? That stil doesn't explain why the gas gage read empty when I could only put 10 gallons in the tank. Hmmmm, strut rod bushings. I will try to look at that. Are they user friendly to replace?
Thanks again,
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posted by
someone claiming to be Jason Kneier
on
Mon Nov 13 04:16 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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There is a secondary fuel pump inside the tank that has a filter sock and a rubber pickup hose associated with it. A common failure mode is the hose degrading and not being able to draw all the gas from the tank (also causes stalling out in turns below a certain level in the tank due to fuel sloshing.) Replacing the filter sock and hose is probably a good idea - you can do it in the driveway via an access hatch in the trunk floor, or have your indie mechanic do it for you.
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posted by
someone claiming to be Billy Traweek
on
Mon Nov 13 02:14 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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Hello all,
Has anyone pulled a fuel tank from a 1990 740 Wagon?
Thanks,
Billy Traweek
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posted by
someone claiming to be Peter Cohen
on
Mon Nov 13 14:58 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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I have never pulled my tank, though it doesn't look too hard. Unless you can see it caved in, though, I don't think you will accomplish anything by pulling the tank that you can't do by pulling the sending unit / fuwl pickup.
Behind your rear seats is a spring loaded panel. Lift it up,and you will see the bolts that fasten it to the floor. Remove the bolts and the panel. Under the panel, behind the left rear seat is a plate, held on by 4 bolts. remove this plate, and you will be looking at the sending unit. The sending unit is retained by a giant round plastic collar. Unscrew this collar (counter-clockwise), disconnect the wires from the sending unit and remove the sending unit. (Before you take it out, note its orientation and how it comes out of the tank. It is really challenging to get it back into place if you weren't paying attention.)
Preferably, you are doing this with a minimal amount of fuel in the tank, so you can shine a light into the tank & see what's in there/ also, you have the fuel pickup in your hand, so you can see if its clogged or damaged.
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posted by
someone claiming to be scott m
on
Mon Nov 13 02:03 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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billy,
your car should definately have the 15.8 gallon tank in it. I would have to say you need to get your tank checked thouroughly to find what is wring (maybe replaced with an incorrect tank???)
scott
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posted by
someone claiming to be Ira Eisenberg
on
Mon Nov 13 03:52 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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You may not have run out of gas. Suggest you check the fuel filter inside the gas tank. I am pretty sure this model has one. It could gummed up so that once it got low enough in the tank to where the fileter is clogged, fuel stopped flowing.
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posted by
someone claiming to be fieraci
on
Mon Nov 13 13:04 CST 2000 [ RELATED]
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I had an International Harvester Scout II once........and the vent tubes coming from the tank were pinched closed. There were two of them. One went from the top of the tank back up to about six inches down from the gas cap on the the filler neck, That one somebody had blocked off with a hose clamp for some ungodly reason. The other went from the top of the tank to a dead-end filter fitting mounted on the chassis (This one was pinched closed accidentally when some amateur replaced the rotted floorboards......that would be ME). Anyway,..When filling up I could not get more than a bit more than half of a tank in there, total, because when the fuel level reached the halfway mark, thus blocking the filler neck inlet which was in the vertical middle of the tank (and thus the only remaining air OUTLET) The air kept the fuel displaced and 'viĝla', there you have it.
Possibly insight to a possibly solution.
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