740 B230 E coughs and fuel guage goes up
 

Weird situation for a newbie on this forum.
I have a 1989 Volvo 740 with a B230E engine, just had head gasket done about 4 months ago.

My problem is that its a bit hard to start in a morning , funny bit is that when pressing the throttle it coughs at about 900rpm and the fuel guage goes up. Once its up about 1200/1300rpm its fine.

Hi,

Have you tried to read any codes from the code reader?
See here:
FAQ: OBD Codes...

Des. . . ;)

check the earth lead has not snaped of close to the o/s engine mounting,had this on a couple of cars.

Would it have an OBD? Mine is an '89 B230E and has K-Jet so no OBD.

Fuel supply / filter problem?

Hi,

Check Here:
OBD?

You'll hopefully have a diagnostic box on the suspension turret on the drivers side.

Des. . . ;)

there are no diagnostics on a b230e,another thought it could still be a headgasket/head problem,if left for a while after run coolant could get in to a cylinder and cause a misfire until the coolant has burnt away,is it using coolant ?

No code box so no codes. Just found a snapped earth coming from the bulk head, but cant find where it should link to. There are 2 earth leads, one is short and straps the the top of the engine at the rear, the other is long and seems to go down the rear on the passenger side of the engine. Any ideas anyone ?

both the earth leads connect at the rear cam cover nuts,not found these to cause any problems unconnected,with you mentioning the gauges dropping down when running i was thinking possiby a broken main earth,follow the battery lead down to the o/s engine mount area and check its not snapped,this would cause poor cranking though.

as mentioned earlier coolant could be finding its way into a cylinder which can cause a misfire untill for a few seconds until its burnt off,recomend check coolant level to see if it drops after a few hundred miles.

Misfiring happens no matter how long the car has been running, did 50 mile round trip the other day and it was still happening. The only guage that moves is the fuel guage and it goes up not down. Coolant level has not moved since cylinder head gasket was changed some 6 months ago.

New alternator and battery fitted about 8 months ago and new dizzy cap and rotor 7 days ago. When i replaced the dizzy/rotor the problem seemed to reduce , but is now back as before.

Pulled a 2 tonne trailer about 1 month ago for 587 miles and it did not miss a beat. Problem started about 2 weeks ago.

My guess would be earth on the fuel level sender and fuel pre-pump in the trunk. I believe that there is one, most likely corroded.