240 Wagon Taillights

[oldox]

The 1986 240 Wagon has a stack of lights at each corner on the rear.
It seems like:
top - Red - Taillight
next - White - Back Up
next - Amber - Turn Signal
bottom - Red - combo Break and Taillight

PROBLEM: The top lights on both corners (Taillights) do not light up
under any conditions.

Are these dummies or are they intended to work?

I found the same problem last week on a 1988 740 wagon. No voltage at the driver's side (Right) lamp socket. When I jumper from the lower Taillight source for the combo light, both Top Taillights work OK.

I thought maybe a broken wire on the 740. Now the same condition on the 240.

any clues?? please.

ed

[Kmaniac in California USA]

I'm not sure how new you may be to owning a Volvo. I bought my first, a 1986 740 GLE, last August. When I bought it, I discovered a "Fog Light" switch on the dashboard. I thought this was rather strange, given that there were no accessory fog lights on the front of the car. I then decided to read the manual in the glovebox. Turns out that this Volvo is equipped with "Rear Fog Lights". Activating the fog light switch causes extra light bulbs on the rear of the car to illuminate, making the car more visible to those cars following in the fog. This was an ingenious concept that I had never seen on any of my American cars.

Take a look in both of your Volvo's and locate the "Fog Light" switch. Turn on the switch, then see which lights on the rear of your car illuminate. If might be in for a big surprise. Let us know what you find.

[oldox]

Chris,
Thanks!

Both the 240 and 740 wagons have foglight switches on the dash. The cars belong to my Daughter and her husband and are relatively recent purchases.
Neither were aware of the existence of Fog lights. Now they are.
My only Volvo was a 197? 164 sedan.

It seems to me that rear Fog lights must have some issues with use in the US given the fact that they appear to be steady break lights. Or has that become a non issue.

My European built Sprinter has the same stack of four lights as the Volvo wagons but the top light is in fact a companion taillight to the bottom combo unit.

I have one other problem with the 240 Volvo lighting, but I'll make that the subject of a new post and close this one out.

thanks again,

ed

[forty years in volvos]

That switch on the dash on switches on the brake light circuit. This is meant to let the vehicle behind see you better in a fog. However if you apply the brake they can't tell as the brakelight bulbs are already on.

about the other bulbs not lighting: Make sure you have a good ground to that printed circuit from the tab on the lamp socket.

[Volvord]

I am not sure about the 200 series but the 700 series have a seperate rear fog light that is totally independent to the brake light and it's circuit. The intensity of this rear fog light is equivelent to the brake light and I can understand how some drivers behind may be initially confused but the first time they see the brake lights come on they should be able to figure it out.

[Bobby Joyner]

I just bought a 1986 240 dl sedan & my top right tail/brake light was not working. I first checked the bulb & it was ok. These bulbs are are located behind a panel (in the trunk in my case) that has a twist lock to remove to get to printed circuit board & blubs are in round twist out plastic sockets. The bulb was fine, I used a digital volt/ohm meter to test for 12 volts. There is a small white plug in harness that plugs into the printed circuit board. The contacts were dirty & coroded on the the plug & receptacle. I used some CRC electronic cleaner & cleaned the contacts & now all is working fine. I talked to a volvo mechanic & he said this was a common problem especially if the car has a lot of age on it. Another thing that you can do is use a small needle nose pliers & press on the contact gently to close them for a snugger fit. Hope this helps. Bobby Joyner