2000 v70 turbo wagon- problem with low gas light

ok, my wife keeps running out of gas (duh) so i am ready to tackle
this problem:
the gas gauge works perfectly, as well as the digital readout
(mpg,miles til empty,etc)
but the gas light does not come on when gas is low. the bulb lights
when you start the car,
so its not a burnt out bulb.
anyone know where the troubleshooting process starts?
Thanks!!
robbie

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

Yes, with the brain. You re-program it to fill up when the miles til empty
says 50 (say).
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Roger, you missed the part about where I said my WIFE keeps running
out of gas...I already told her to fill it before empty, but her brain
evidently CANT be re-programmed to grasp that concept!

 

In that case, you've got a user error. Replace user and press any key to
continue.

Honestly, next time she runs out of fuel, don't rush to get to her, it's
her own fault or put a can of fuel in the back of the car!

Richard
Web pages: http://www.caravanningnow.co.uk/ for caravanning,
http://www.rcole.org/ for my personal web site and
http://www.homeindorset.co.uk because I love the email address.

 

No no Robbie: You missed the concept of women!
Next time she runs out of fuel, do not answer any phone or don't help
her out of her misery and she will be learning extremely quickly....

I really don't feel sorry for you at all! ;-)

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

No I didn't. I didn't specify *whose* brain - and was aware that it was your
wife.

In that case, a light ain't going to make much difference!
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Well, you have to figure out what triggers the light. Is it driven by
a chip or by a connection on the gauge. Does the light ever come on
after she has run out of gas? In my situation I would just call the
service writer at my local Volvo dealer. He was a mechanic for many
years and knows the cars inside out.

BTW, I understand your predicament and believe it can be traced to the
missing Y chromosone in females. My lovely wife can ignore the milage
computer, gas gauge and warning light completely.

 

The red light is just the 2x4 that hits you over the head so you look at
the gas gauge. A car doesn't need the idiot light unless an idiot is
driving. The fix is to get a good safe gas can and put it in the back.
After she uses that a few times she will open her eyes. I guess the
problem there is she would just use up that gas and not fill the car AND
the gas can. She just needs motivation. It is like a friends wife that
kept over drawing their checking account. She couldn't figure out why
because she still had checks left.

Good Luck!!

 

Yes, now I see. Life's problems made simple by dictated solutions.
Must be a lot of fun at your place.

 

Naw, just work-arounds. When life deals you lemons you make lemonade.

I am not one to run to the shop for a trivial problem. I usually just
keep track of it and wait until I go in for routine maintenance. I
would much prefer to drive my Volvo rather than sit and wait for a
mechanic to work on some trivial problem like an idiot light. To each
his own.

 

Sounds as though your wife is a pampered sort (add-ethnic-group-
American Princess) who has never really learned the concepts behind
driving (auto maintenance, mechnics, etc.)

Quietly enroll her in a women's automotic course, and also tell her
that she has to refill the car at least once a week or more frequently
if she's doing a lot of driving.

My wife? She's a better mechanic and driver than I am. She's the one
with the red S40T while I chunk around in the silver V40T. The only
thing that I have to do for her WRT the car is to take it over to the
local shop (Suters in Aurora) on my work-at-home days when it's due
for maintenance.

 

there is seriously nothing wrong with the car ,its your wife thats the
problem .IT COST NO MORE TO KEEP A CAR FULL THAN EMPTY.Running out of fuel
is such a dangerous habit as to where it may happen .In the mean time tell
your sweet wife to fill the car once it gets down to a quarter of a tank
..The damage done trying to get the car running when its out of fuel is
enormous , besides the personal safety issue .

 

That is complete nonsense. The warning light IS NOT working on the
original posters car. He is looking for a solution and not the
ramblings of yet another internet troll.

Instead of posting purposeless messages why don't you try making a
contribution and find a solution to the problem with the gas gauge.
Of course for you to contribute something useful to this forum you
will have to some understanding about how Volvo cars operate. Your
comments lead me to conclude that you have little automotive knowlege
and really just enjoy the negative attention that comes from posting
nasty messages.

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

So do you have a solution to the original problem - or don't *you* have any
understanding of how Volvos operate either?
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
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My oh my, there seems to be a bit of tension on this topic...

I don't own a 2000, but I had a '98 V70XC and we had the same problem
happen. We narrowed ours down to an ECU problem. We took it in for a
emmisions test and when the idiot plugged the tester into the OBDII
port, he gave me a look that I knew something was wrong -- and they he
goes "Wow, I've never seen that before. Let's try resetting it."
Eventually we get done the emissions test, and they gave us a
complementary state inspection, and nothing was wrong...the only
difference was that the gas light didn't work. Everything else was
fine, gas guage included. Long story short, we took it to Bill Kidd's
Volvo in Maryland and the state paid for the ECU re-program. I can't
remember the price, but I don't think it was too bad.

Hope that helps.

 

I provided suggestions for checking out the cause of the gauge
problem, in answer to the original posters question. So far all you
two have managed to do is provide immature responses designed mostly
to draw attention.

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

All we have done is to point out that, whilst the light may be a 'nice to
have', it is by no means essential - and anyone with a modicum of
intelligence (without which they shouldn't be driving!) can easily
circumvent its absense.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
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And your response of course has absolutely no bearing on the question
asked by the original poster. It's nothing more than a way of playing
the juvenile game of look-at-me for the outrageous statement I just
made. The end result is of course you get to look back at all of the
messages you have trolled with your posting.

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

My word, you *have* got the bit between your teeth, haven't you!

I think that if you look at my posting record in this newsgroup, you'll find
that - on the whole - I've provided helpful answers to sensible questions,
but this . . .

[It would have been different if the OP had simply asked how to fix a broken
low-fuel light - but couched in terms of "my wife keeps running out of fuel
because she's too stupid to look at the fuel gauge" - it was less likely to
receive a sympathetic response!]
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

 

Useful and considerate comments like this: "Yes, with the brain. You
re-program it to fill up when the miles til empty says 50 (say). "