D5 Non Starter

[jasons6930]

Morning guys,

Popped into the shops yesterday, came out, hit the button and the engine just turned over and wouldnt start.

Called Volvo assist and the guy came out tried to fire it up and noticed the fuel gauge was reading zero, which was incorrect as i only filled it up Friday!

Anyway, he switched it off, and then just turned the ignition on to bring up the display, gauge reading zero, but then suddenly jumped to showing full. Hit the button and it fired up no problem.

So, at a guess, it is the fuel level sender unit in the tank so would like to get it replaced.

Now, as this doesnt seem to be a very common problem, i cant find out if the unit is accessible under the rear seat through a panel, if it is a job that needs the tank removing?

Anyone know?

[jasons6930]

Well, a little update as it happened again last week but this time refused to start.

Car was recovered to the dealers and was diagnosed as having a faulty fuel pump in the tank.

£1300.

Then, turns out the injection pump is knackered as well.

£1600.

Are these pumps that fragile on these?

The car has only done 115000 ish but obviously can’t vouch for any previous owners.

[Tatsfield]

Running the car after accidently putting some petrol in the tank instead of diesel can produce excess wear on the pumps which depend upon the diesel to lubricate them. If that was done, it would have shortened their lives and you wouldn't know until they failed..

[GrahamBrown1]

Originally Posted by jasons6930

Well, a little update as it happened again last week but this time refused to start.

Car was recovered to the dealers and was diagnosed as having a faulty fuel pump in the tank.

£1300.

Then, turns out the injection pump is knackered as well.

£1600.

Are these pumps that fragile on these?

The car has only done 115000 ish but obviously can’t vouch for any previous owners.

The high pressure pump is fragile to being starved of fuel. If the low pressure in tank pump has failed or caused a lack of supply to the high pressure pump then it can cause damage. Some have had to also replace the fuel injectors due to the pump contaminating the entire fuel system. I’d be tempted to put a fuel filter on it if you haven’t already.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by jasons6930

Well, a little update as it happened again last week but this time refused to start.

Car was recovered to the dealers and was diagnosed as having a faulty fuel pump in the tank.

£1300.

Then, turns out the injection pump is knackered as well.

£1600.

Are these pumps that fragile on these?

The car has only done 115000 ish but obviously can’t vouch for any previous owners.

Not a common failure I don't think.

Its an awful lot of money to spend on a 13 year old car... Something you'll have to consider.

[Sotosound]

I would speak to a Volvo specialist since Volvo dealers aren't known for undercharging, nor for understating the scale of a problem.

[jasons6930]

Thanks guys.

Hopefully picking it up tomorrow.

Must admit, i tried looking for a new injection pump for these and the cheapest genuine unit i could find was about £1600 but i guess there will be various types for these.

As for being worth it?

Well, the car was cheap enough so all in all, even after this and all the other stuff thats been done, its still not too bad i reckon.

[jasons6930]

Soooooooo, maybe a word of warning to the masses?

Got the car back and after chatting to the service guy, it was actually the connectors of the tank pump that had shorted out and caused near enough all the problems and failures.

And then, scanning through the invoice, there is a ‘service kit’ that is used for replacing the tank pump.

This service kit, is in fact, a Volvo repair kit for the extract problem I described above where the connectors corroded and eventually short out , so this does seem to be a reasonably common problem if there is a repair kit available.

Part number - 31407237

https://www.partsmonster.co.uk/genui...it-24456-p.asp


Now, if this was caught earlier would it have saved the main injection pump?

Who knows.