Has anyone 3d printed headlight wiper delete caps?

[scot850]

I am torn on this. The wipers are good in our environment, but many warmer areas they are really boat anchors.

We have an 06 with the headlight spray washers. As long as you use winter washer fluid (we leave it in year around) and clean the ice off around the caps, then the sprayers are easier to maintain. Downside is they use a lot more fluid!!

On a P80 which we also have, they are a pain to work on as the RH one runs behind the main engine harness which makes it a pain to remove to service or repair. The LH one is slightly easier. Great when they work, but they are now NLA (at least on one side). Most repair by replacing the overload resistor (that fails with age) with a piece of copper wire. This is not smart because the resistor is there to prevent the motor overloading if the wiper freezes in place. On the copper wire replaced units, if the motor overheats it blows the fuse for all your wipers and some other stuff and can damage the wiring. If you go the copper wire route, I strongly recommend adding an in-line 10A fuse. The main fuse is 15A if I recall. This should hopefully prevent lasting damage to the rest of the circuit.

Now if someone knows the overload resistor value, then it may be possible to add a lower value fuse inline which would prevent motor overload.

I have on my many planned experiments some replacement motor end-caps for the door actuators which have the overload resistor in there. I hope to try and find out if they are the same for the headlight motors and then swap them in there as needed instead.

I did read a long time ago about someone who figured out the resistor value and managed to find an overload resistor and solder it across the contacts as finding the thick film resistors seems to be impossible.

Neil.

[matthew1]

I imagine in Calgary you'd want dual 30 gallon tanks... for washer fluid.

[myname]

I think you should fix your headlight wipers instead. They are generally pretty easy to fix and maintain and as someone who does a lot of winter driving in mountainous conditions, they are invaluable. It’s a shame that Volvo dropped them on the 06, 07 P2’s and subsequent models.

ive never been in a snowstorm where my headlights were so dirty I needed them to be wiped. In Quebec we use more salt than anyone, and still I really dont need it.

[Blacklab467]

I'm thinking winter road conditions with wet salty slushy road conditions where the spray from other vehicles and highway trucks obscures your headlights, and night. I've driven home from the ski hills after dark in these conditions where the headlight wipers were a godsend more times than I can count. They wouldn't be particularly helpful in a snowstorm. I also like all installed equipment in my vehicle to be serviceable.

[br0dy519]

I deleted my rear wiper after fixing the motor 3 times, and wouldnt hesitate deleting the headlight wipers if I had a proper cap. Headlight wipers are just as useless as they are ugly. Strongly disagree with replacing and fixing something only burn up the motor during the next ice up. Silly feature never should have been implemented. It's the main reason us Volvo owners are laughing stocks, and I understand why. /rant

[VPrints]

Once we get a 3D scanner we will be reproducing the caps. $90 is a bit steep. Thinking more like 45-50.