2003 V70se High Beam Permanently ON!

[ChrisVince]

I am appealing for help to resolve this problem.

I have owned a 2003 V70se for the last 16 years, been pretty good, usual failures, oil gallery plug fell out, intercooler burst, dim failure, handbrake shoes delaminated etc etc.

Newest failure seems to also be quite common, there are lots of posts on here, but no definitive answer.

When stopped, key out and locked, the high beam lights are on, these alone, nothing else.

I suspected the cm14 high beam relay, so swapped it with another from the same passenger compartment panel, and the failure was just the same, I have not ruled out that both relays may be defective?

It seems the CM14 relay is getting a feed from another defective source?

Please can anyone point me in the right direction?

I know the obvious source may be the lighting stalk, but until I am sure, do not want to throw a small fortune on a 20 year old car!

Can anyone confirm that these stalks fail on a regular basis?

Thanks in advance for your considerations.

UPDATE:
I have just realised that this car has the 'follow to your door' lighting feature, although we have NEVER used this, I now believe that this may have been unknowingly set by my wife when she last used the car.
I know that this feature is time limited, has anyone ever had this stay permanently on, ours is on 24/7!

[jonesg]

vida would show if DRL are turned on.

[chrism]

If you suspect that the switch contacts are hung in a closed position then maybe you could unplug the whole stalk/switch and see if the lights go out.
Also a faulty switch can often be (carefully) opened up, cleaned, and returned to serviceable condition.

[ChrisVince]

vida would show if DRL are turned on.

Thank you for your reply.
No it's not the DRL's as it is the high beams that are on.

[ChrisVince]

If you suspect that the switch contacts are hung in a closed position then maybe you could unplug the whole stalk/switch and see if the lights go out.
Also a faulty switch can often be (carefully) opened up, cleaned, and returned to serviceable condition.

Thank you for your reply.
I did see an article on Swedespeed about cleaning up the stalk, I will do as you say remove the stalk and see if the lights go out, this should then confirm the rogue power feed.

[ChrisVince]

Fault FIXED, plus this may help others with the same fault.
It turned out to be a defective relay that held contacts closed once it got hot, together with a dirty/dry left hand stalk, that failed to return to the high beam off position consistently.
BUT, and here is a warning for others!
The Volvo workshop manual was extremely misleading, along with nearly every piece of information on the internet and utube etc.
It all boiled down to, every source I looked at, referred to the high beam relay being CM14.
This is INCORRECT!
In actual fact, there is NO CM14!
The high beam relay is in fact CMI4, it is an I (i) NOT a 1!
Confusion reigned, because on the same CEM relay distribution panel there IS indeed also a CMI14!
Looking at the Volvo wiring diagram, given the extremely small font size, the similarity and closeness between the I&1, it is VERY EASY to miss the extra letter, and go for the CMI14 in error, also my eyes not being as sharp as they used to be (the reason I had to stop repairing Lexus hologram dash boards) the mistake is very easily made, it was my grandson who pointed out the extra letter.
Anyway once correctly identified, I bench tested the proper CMI4, and found it defective once warmed up, as a precaution I also stripped and cleaned the indicator stalk, and all is good now.
Thanks to everyone who offered advice, I always like to return fixes and experiences to get there.