1983 DL Wagon 245 automatic.

My fuel guage accuracy seems to be bad. When the needle gets near the lower part towards "empty," there is still 1/3 of a tank of gas left. Do Volvo's do this normally?

Just wondering...

The fuel level sensor is attached to the intank pump. There is a float arm that that acts as a reostat. If you look at it, you will see that the coil of wire that forms the reostat is non-linear (the wire does not have an equal spacing). You can do a coarse set on the gauge by manually adjusting (bending) the float lever (be careful, you do not want the float ball itself to come off the lever - it will if you are not careful - then you will spend several hours trying to get the ball out of the tank).

My gas gauge never hits full. Just goes from 2/3 to sahara. I have always used the odometer reset method anyway. I thought it was a "How 'm I doin'" thing.

BTW, the only Volvo I owned that didn't have an odometer had a working gas gauge!

I treat that gauge as more of a "fuzzy logic" fuel presence indicator (FLFPI) - sorta get used to it after a few years.......know when to fill up.

I do remember the first 240/260 I owned....it always baffled me how the car got worse mileage the lower the gauge read :).. (Go 150 miles on the first "1/2 tank" and 50 miles on the second "half"!!!!!!!!)

My experience is the same as Don's (although I'm about 10 Volvo's short of his experience level) - the fuel guage is non-linear. Goes real slow then takes a dive into the red while there is still 3 or 4 gallons left. I also set the trip odometer and start looking for gas at about 275 miles. It's a Swedish thing - they don't want you to ever run out of gas. As my teenage says - "Deal with it" or "Get over it" or "Whatever" - take your pick.

Every 240 I've owned (and it's around 12-15 now) has had a non-linear gas gauge. When it gets into the red, the tank usually has five or six gallons remaining, more or less.

Years ago I learned to use my trip odometer to judge when to fill up — I usually start looking for gas at around 300-325 miles. Most of my 240's sputtered or ran dry between 350 and 400 miles, depending on variables.

Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

It sounds like the compensation brd in the dash right at the temperture and fuel gauge. Was it always this way or did it just start acting up? this comp. brd works both the fuel and temperture gauges. My Temp. gauge was all over the place. I think it was Don who had photos that he sent me on what the heck it looks like. a little time and a little solder and mine works perfect now.

If you are willing to take the dash apart click on the envelope next to my name so you can e-mail me direct. I will try to give you a blow by blow.

Not that I know of....but then, what do I know??....anyway if you

have a bentley's, there's a quick and easy check for accuracy using the

ubiquitous(?) 68 ohm resistor and some wire...

good luck!