Temp Gauge gremlins. Now a fail to start help required please.

[Husqyman]

02 2.0Hdi @130,000 miles
I couple of times recently while driving the dash stop light and beeping alarm has come up while the temp gauge climbs to the red, by the time I had pulled over & as I was about to shut down the gauge returned to normal (just below 1/2 way normally) alarms cleared. fans did not appear to be running but it all cleared so fast could not tell. I am thinking temp sensor unit ?.
This morning the wife popped to the local shop Approx 2 miles away (starting off from cold) when she went to restart all of the normal warning lights came up and went out, as the key was turned the engine cranked but would not fire appeared to have no fuel (the other halfs description) she let it rest turned off the ignition tried the same way anothe few times (4 in total) still no start, she called me and I leapt into the trusty old Volvo 940 armed with my Son and a tow rope. long story short etc tried to start it before towing it home fired up straight away ! got it home have started it several times with both keys and cant replicate the fault can anyone help point me in the right direction (does it have a fuel shut off solenoid??)

[steve valentine]

The temp guage problem is the sender unit attached to the thermostat housing, cost about £15 but be wary there are two types, a three pin and a two pin plug. Both fit the same, taking only a couple of minutes. There's a metal clip to pull down then the unit just pulls out. Watch out that you make sure that the new one has an o ring on it, if not re use the old one. When you pull the old one out be ready to plug the hole with your finger or you'll lose all your coolant. If your quick you'll only lose a little. Make sure you do the job when the engine is cold!

[Husqyman]

The temp guage problem is the sender unit attached to the thermostat housing, cost about £15 but be wary there are two types, a three pin and a two pin plug. Both fit the same, taking only a couple of minutes. There's a metal clip to pull down then the unit just pulls out. Watch out that you make sure that the new one has an o ring on it, if not re use the old one. When you pull the old one out be ready to plug the hole with your finger or you'll lose all your coolant. If your quick you'll only lose a little. Make sure you do the job when the engine is cold!

Thanks for the reply SV, Reading desperatedes's saga I think the starting problem may have been the battery(not enough cranking speed) causing no fuel? after all it is the same age as the vehicle:whistle:

[Husqyman]

New Battery from Bosch =no repeat problems so far