And yet it didn't seem viscous enough to be un-pushable toward the motor (for apparently no fuel has been getting there of late)? Could a pump die trying to pump this crud? Should I turn the key to ON to eject some fuel from tank to see whether it was merely the filter that produced this horrid-looking stuff (or rather whether it is being produced by my corroding pump)?

 

"Firing up" is not a problem, just crank it and the fuel will get up there.
Don't worry about the lack of water droplets, water stays on the bottom, it's heavier.
The problem is that you should get the fuel out of the tank, drain the tank. That means ideally taking the tank out and all that. At least suck as much of the bad gas out as possible. How much fuel was in the tank? You can try pumping it out with the fuel pump or get out as much as possible getting it out some other way, then add some fuel additive along with new gas. The second alternative is not ideal but may be worth taking the risk...It all depends how bad the fuel in the tank is.

 

Hey Lev
The tank was half full for almost this whole time, lately I added almost another half tank naively hoping this would alleviate whatever might be sh*tty about the fuel. But yeah, water sits at the bottom. (So the fuel line that feeds into the filter doesn't pull from the bottom?)
Would simply turning the key to ON repeatedly to energize pump and move fuel down and out the line (with filter out) into a catch-tray or something be impractical/ineffective? Or did you mean that if the fuel is bad enough the pump shouldn't be used to get it out? Beyond visual inspection, how do I determine how bad this fuel is?
I'm ready to take tank out if necessary (unless that's something that a DIYer shouldn't attempt)...
To add gratuitously to this horror show: It seems that this same black goo is oozing from the bottom of the fuel tank...

 

what I'd probably do with a tank of bad gas would be to disconnect the main pump, then disconnect the hose from the tank to the main pump, and extend said hose into a gas container, then hotwire (see below) the in-tank pump and let it run til your container is full, dispose of the bad gas at a recycling center, and repeat til the tank runs empty. dump a couple gallons of some 95% denatured alcohol into the tank, and run the pump again until its dry, that should remove most of the moisture and other crud from the bottom... NOW reconnect the fuel lines, and fill the tank with a few gallons of fresh gas,

do be sure to have a decent fire extinguisher on hand any time you're playing around with gasoline.

wait, what year/model car *is* this? I just noticed you said MAP, so that suggests its a Regina car, which would be a 740 or 940 ? Regina has only one fuel pump in the tank, and its NOT the same in-tank 'feed' pump as Bosch cars use.

You should be able to power the fuel pump by removing fuse 1 and 11, and jumping from bottom of fuse 1 to the top of fuse 11. this can/should be done with the car switched off (fuse 1 always has power), and the pump will run as long as that jumper is in place. This jumper should work on all 740/940's, bosch or regina.

On a later model 240, you remove fuses 4 and 6, and with the ignition off, use an alligator clip-lead to jump from the left side of fuse 6 to the right side of fuse 4, the in tank pump should run as long as this jumper is in place. on early 240s, its different fuses, depending on the year.

 

Yes, 740 Regina. And that sounds quite simple! Thank you!! And OK re fire extinguisher, I do in fact have one in house...
Noted also the application of 95% denatured alcohol after drain and before refill.

 

"Black goo oozing from the bottom of tank"? That would mean a leaky tank... No choice then but to take it out. I've never done that but it doesn't seem that difficult for a car with no rust which is not the case here, unfortunately... Seems like this car sat unused for a long time for the gas to be this bad...

 

Hey guys:

Re: sat a long time, yeah, again it's been stuck in one spot since February; I only discovered the IAC connection problem that immobilized the car about two weeks ago. (FWIW, I actually don't think I've ever seen/smelled gas leaking out of the tank, and the pictured goo on the bottom of the tank, and on the "ceiling" over the fuel filter, smells not like gas but more like oil? Maybe rubber??...)

In the meantime I'm now afraid all the gas crud and black goo I've been seeing is from the ruined pump itself... as the pump seems entirely unresponsive.

This morning I put a jumper between bottom of fuse 1 and top of fuse 11. Silence. No gas came out. (Battery healthy, and assisted by jump pack.) Replaced fuses and tried turning key ON to see if any fuel would pop out on cue from relay. Relay clicked on then off, but nothing came out. I've already established good continuity/voltage at female end of connector in trunk (pink wire/brown wire), but today for the first time I put probes to the male pins whose red/brown wires lead (I'm presuming) to the pump (and its ground).

Continuity readings between:
1. "pink female" & "red male": .344 ohms
2. "red male" & "brown male": 1.3 ohms
3. "brown male" & pump ground at chassis: 1.3 ohms (I meticulously cleaned contact, no change)

(Also good continuity along jumper wire and between bottom of #1 & top of #11.)

Is there somewhere else (besides the pump's disintegrating innards) that I might search for this apparent ground fault? (To be clear, I'm ready to search those innards too, with guidance.)

Sorry to be so gloomy. I was really looking forward to purging the tank this morning. Thanks again for all your help.

 

the pump is inside the tank, and accessible only from above, through an opening in the floor behind the back seat. there are no openings on the sides or bottom of the tank, so if you're seeing goo dripping from the tank itself, that suggests the tank has rusted through. OTOH, that goo could be from your differential or something else back there, or it could be dripping around the sides of the tank from the hoses on top.

here's an extensive writeup on Regina tank pump R&R on a 740/940...
ReginaFuelPump

 

Hey pierce:
Jumping on this reading. Thanks.
Goo on tank not actually dripping (fuel does not seem to be either). And again, it's also apparently sprayed onto "ceiling" over filter saddle. Though I think I also spied a little black drop creeping out of fuel line to filter when I got it free. Dunno. Could very well be coming from somewhere else. Hope it is.

UPDATE:
Brown/earth wire goes into pump, but what emerges from pump to the ground at chassis is a much thicker black wire.
From (A) "brown male" at connector to (B) where brown wire enters pump: 0.00 ohms.
From (C) where black wire emerges from pump to (D) ground at chassis: 0.00 ohms.
From (A) "brown male" to (D) pump ground at chassis: 1.34 ohms, briefly, before dropping out to a straight-up, rock-solid .OL lol. (Gas gauge also out.)
I hope it's only the ground connection that's broken in there. I guess we'll find out.

 

The tanks are plastic, they don't "rust", rarely hear of a leak. The "goo" may be undercoating, oil, some combination but it sounds like the pump will need to come out... PIA if a sedan. On the bright side, with the pump out you can siphon the bad gas out much easier...
Old gas there since February, that's not that long. I have had old gas over a year and it was OK--may be other factors, don't know for sure...

 

Relieved to hear about tank. I'll take that take on the goo. And on the easier siphon (but man, was I looking forward to the elegance of pierce's tank-hack)...
Yeah, the pump will have to come out. And yeah, it's a sedan. But that write-up pierce linked to illustrates steps for removing from a sedan, and the author has a couple helpful tips on how to stay relatively comfy even if one is not dwarf-esque...

 

Yeah, that's Art Bernstein's write up on the fuel pump, and he is truly a "guru" on RWD Volvos. Follow it, you can't go wrong!
On the wagon, it's easier than the sedan, but you'll get through it!

 

54 responses to a very easy fix. yall cant see this cat is just clowning yall!!!!! Read the signs of the game my friends
Goldenblock

 

Hey man.

I am indeed a fool, but no clownin’ here, very much seeking help in good faith. It’s been a long education, I’ll grant, but I’m actually not the cause of all 54 posts on here; you might accuse me of hijacking a thread on timing, but I did start with a question about that, and am now thanks to Lev and pierce down to the actual problem (I sincerely hope), and I’m truly grateful for the soundboarding they’ve put up with and for the handholding they’ve lent me...

Update: Cleaning up, pulling apart, getting ready

 

Remember, this is the internet, some posters have "issues", best to ignore...

 

OK guys, apologies in advance for my anxious verbosity aka TMI here...

So in fashioning my "B'Laster wraps" for that big banjo bolt connecting that upper hose (fuel outlet?) and for the clamp on the hose below it (fuel return?), I jostled the electrical connection and it just fell right off. As it happens I did abuse that connection a bit in my ignorant beginnings (i.e., gently pulling on it until I thought to myself "I'll bet that's not supposed to come off"). Don't know what I was thinking back then, I'm sure it wasn't intelligent. Maybe that's how the rust got in, or maybe the whole mess is due to that moisture-trap of a trunk (much decaying matter in there when I cleaned it out this morning). Anyway, pretty sure that's where my lethal resistance readings for the path between points (A) and (D) were coming from, as described in previous post. I take it cleaning these contacts is pointless? How FUBAR is this situation?

(FYI, FWIW, left to right on electrical connector: red power wire which connects to pink wire at trunk connector; brown earth; gray wire way down in there which connects to gray-white wire at trunk connector, black wire grounding pump to chassis. Don't know how these correspond to contacts on pump or to points inside the circle I'm holding towards camera; I can figure that out if that would be useful. Also: Battery disconnected throughout this adventure.)

Thanks again for being there.

 

Ouch, that's ugly! I'd try to source a new one of these, I'd hate to fight all that corrosion...

 

what year is this car? looks like that lid assembly changed in 92, so there's one lid for -91, and another for 92-

several of them on ebay, not sure they have the regina fuel pump, but you could always change that out.

 

I seriously doubt that they are different '91 to '92 regardless of what ebay listings show-- the are wrong most of the time.

 

the PN's are different in VADIS.