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Headlight Woes

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70
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TrishP
Posts: 25
Joined: 14 December 2015
Year and Model: 1998 S70 T5
Location: CT
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Headlight Woes

Post by TrishP »

Hello All:
Have been dealing with seemingly dim headlights when driving at night.
My husband replaced the lenses and headlights to no avail.
Today a mechanic said the causation is from dulled coating on the reflective surface/panel :|
Appreciate any thoughts, opinions on most economical way to remedy this.
And.....Happy Holidays!
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101
Posts: 135
Joined: 11 March 2013
Year and Model: 98 V70GLT, 98 S70T5M
Location: Cincinnati

Post by 101 »

Unfortunately this is a known issue and there's no solution to restoring the reflective coating on the headlight. The only option is to replace the headlight assemblies with new OEM Volvo ones or aftermarket assemblies. Others might share some experience with replacing the bulbs with LED or Xenon bulbs.

Both of my cars (98's) got so bad I was afraid to drive them at nght. I bit the bullet and replaced the headlights with newer "jewel" headlights from the 2002-2004 C70 cars. It makes a world of difference.
101

1998 white V70 GLT 230K "Elsa"
1998 white S70 T5m 180K "Anna"
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BEJinFbk
Posts: 4067
Joined: 5 January 2008
Year and Model: '98 V70 R
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
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Post by BEJinFbk »

Sad but true that once the reflective coating is gone, it's gone...

You may get lucky finding better headlight assemblies at the
junk yard, but that's really hit or miss. +1 on the jewel option.
This seems to be the far and away favorite new replacement
headlight for the P80 cars. OEM and aftermarket are available.

The good news is that the headlights are a pretty easy swap.
'98 V70 R - Well Equipped for Life Up North... ;)
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TrishP
Posts: 25
Joined: 14 December 2015
Year and Model: 1998 S70 T5
Location: CT
Has thanked: 7 times

Post by TrishP »

Hi!
Thanks for your answers....
Just so I am clear, the two solutions are either replacing the bulbs with the jewel bulb, or replacing the entire assembly with an OEM or aftermarket?
I trust the latter will be more costly?
Is the former as simple as switching out?
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polskamafia mjl
Posts: 2640
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Year and Model: 1995 Volvo 854 T-5R
Location: Hershey, PA
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Post by polskamafia mjl »

Not quite, 'Jewels' are a type of headlight (entire assembly), not a bulb.
'All my money is gone and I have an old Volvo.' - Bamse's Turbo Underpants

Current: 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R Manual - Bringing it back from the brink of death
Previous: 1996 Volvo 850 GLT - Totaled
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BEJinFbk
Posts: 4067
Joined: 5 January 2008
Year and Model: '98 V70 R
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
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Post by BEJinFbk »

Here are a couple of links:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Headlight-Lamps ... 2257829632

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... ls#p128971
'98 V70 R - Well Equipped for Life Up North... ;)
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rspi
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Year and Model: 850 T-5R Wagon
Location: Cincinnati OH
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Post by rspi »





'95 855 T-5R M, Panther - 22/28 mpg, 546,000 miles
'95 955 T-5R Yellow Wagon, Lemonade, 180,000 miles
--------------------
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E Showell
Posts: 3275
Joined: 16 October 2008
Year and Model: ‘07 S80 3.2
Location: Long Valley, N.J.
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Post by E Showell »

I've got a couple used headlights, OEM Volvo, with reflectors that look very good that I'd be willing to part with $75 ea. plus actual shipping. PM if you're interested.
'98 V70 NA FWD 5 spd, silver sand metallic (sold)
'99 V70 NA FWD Auto, dark blue (sold)
'99 S70 NA FWD Auto, black (sold and resurrected -- Don't cry for me Argentina . . . )
'07 S80 3.2 FWD Auto, Barents Blue Metallic
'06 V70 R AWD Auto, Sonic Blue Metallic (sold)
'04 XC70 Ruby Red Metallic (sold)
'95 855 auto (sold)
'86 245 manual (sold)
'05 V70 T5 M (totalled)
'06 V70 FWD Auto (totalled)
'02 Honda Insight CVT
‘04 Honda Insight CVT — “Yesterday’s car of tomorrow” (sold)
‘06 Honda Insight CVT
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blkbeauty
Posts: 32
Joined: 3 March 2014
Year and Model: V70 T5 1999
Location: South Carolina
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Post by blkbeauty »

I bought a pair of DEPO brand 2003 C70 Jewel Assemblies from Amazon. They are night and day compared to OEM. Exact fit assemblies.
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Tremelune
Posts: 8
Joined: 7 January 2017
Year and Model: 1994
Location: Brooklyn

Post by Tremelune »

This is an opportunity to improve your lighting above what was available in the US from the factory. I wouldn't trust anything but OEM E-code housings and a good set of bulbs (Hella, Philips, Osram, Narva, Flösser):

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... hp?t=13150
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