Hey this is my first post on here, i have a 1988 volvo 240 sedan and the other night i noticed my brake lights were stuck on whether i depress the brake pedal or not. When i turn the headlights off the brake lights go out and dont function when the brake is pressed. Though it is only the left and right brake lights that are stuck on, the center window one doesnt come on at all anymore. I do not know much about cars so any and all help would be awesome, thanks.

 

Sounds like the wrong bulbs...

Dave Riedle

 

I wish it was that, the bulbs have been functioning fine in there for years with new ones here and there, it just started happening, it all worked fine the other day.

 

wait, if the headlights are turning on the brake lights, that sounds like a bad ground at the tail light cluster.

 

Thats what i was thinking but i couldn't locate where the issue was. Now the brake lights are constantly off, out of no where they just stopped working whether pedal pressed or not. Bulbs and brake switch are in tact and were functioning fine the other day so i doubt its those.

 

First rule of problem diagnosis...never take anything for granted.

Test you bulbs, test to see if your brake light switch works. You do this with a test light...if you don't have one, get one. Invaluable tool, made even better by the fact that they are really inexpensive.

If nothing more, it rules out two possibilities.

Brake lights are one of the easiest things to diagnose on a car. If you have power to the brake light switch and it functions, you than test to see if you have power coming to to brake lights.

You can test the ground to the rear cluster by first checking to see if there is power with the test lamp connected to the ground of the cluster. If it works, great.

If the test light does not work, test with the ground to the chassis. If it works then, you have your problem.

I took a quick peek at the wiring diagram of an earlier 240, and I can't see anything that would kill both brake lights at one after the brake light switch, so I might start there.


Dave Riedle

 

Check your bulb integrity relay

very mush so not likely to be it, however if it failed in a very spectacular way then anything is possible

 

get a test light or a volt meter set for DC volts. where I say 'power' or 'hot', I mean any voltage around 11-13V, or test light on. in all these tests, the black lead of the test light or meter should be on a convenient chassis ground nearby.

1) green-red wire at brake light switch (arm of brake pedal presses against this when the pedal is not being pressed) should be always hot.

2) blue-red wire at brake light should be hot if the brake pedal is depressed.

3) at left tail light connector, yellow-grey wire should be hot if the brake pedal is depressed (use a 2x4 or something braced against the steering wheel to depress it if you don't have a helper)

4) at right tail light connector, yellow wire should be hot if pedal is depressed.

5) at both tail light connectors, the black wire should be grounded, test this with a continuity tester or a multimeter in 'ohms' mode (the resistance should be quite close to 0 ohms).


if (1) is dead, check fuse 7, else if (2) is dead, the switch itself may be bad.

if 3 or 4 are bad but 2 is good, then the bulb out detector, or the chassis wiring is bad.

if you disconnect the bulb out detector, there should be continuity (low resistance) between pins 9 to 5, 9 to 10 and 9 to 11.

on a sedan, the ground screw for the tail lights is right next to the tail light inside the trunk.


if the bulb out sensor is bad, a kludge to fix/bypass/disable it would be to cut it open, gut it (remove the mess of coils and glass tube 'reed switch' inside), then hard wire pins (2+6+7) together, pins (5+9+10+11), pins (12+14), and pins (13+15). this is specific to the one used on mid/late 80s 240's in USA and Canada, other markets and other cars may have different detectors

 

I got so fed up with the bulb sensor that I deleted it entirely

*see photo*

 

So I'm dealing with the same issue as the the guy that started this thread. (In my 91 240) My break lights are constantly on as long as the head lights are, minus the top light in the rear window. I've replaced the break light switch under the kick board. That didn't have any affect so my next step was to order a new bulb sensor (red round thing) but I was wondering if this solution shown in the picture worked for you. And why you ended up doing it?

 

The 5 watt parking lights (supposed to be 2 on each side) are on with the headlamps. If you think the "brake" lights are on - that is the the 21 watt (brighter bulbs) are on with the headlamps - either someone has put the the wrong bulbs in or if this is a sedan someone put the right bulb holder in the left side. To explain - the lower outer brake/parking light bulb holders are not the same left and right. A white holder fits the right side and a black holder fits the left. If someone swaps them the outer brake lights are on (the brighter filament) all the time with the parking lights. My personal opinion is someone screwed up designing the taillamps and Volvo made a white bulb holder to fix the problem for it was cheaper than building new right taillamps.

Your bulb out relay is not the problem - so don't purchase one if you can avoid it. The picture shown is someone simply bypassing the bulb out relay - there is really no reason to did that other than misunderstanding what the relay does. Take the cover off yours and you will see very little electronics - And the transistors you see are only related the the 3rd brake light.

 

[QUOTE=hoonk;504663]
so I tried switching the white and black bulb holders but the problem remains the break lights are still on minus the top light in the rear window. But only when the head lights are on. Is there possibly another relay or fuse I haven't heard about I should replace or test? Any information is appreciated I'm new too electric work and it's dark quite early where I am kinda worried about getting rear ended on the freeway. Also break lights worked when I bought the car a month ago if that helps. Haven't messed with the bulbs or anything except replacing the break light switch under the kick board


(91 240)

 

[QUOTE=brick obsession;504665]The white bulb holder is installed on the right side. The black bulb holder is on the left. If mounted the other way the 21 watt filament (the brake light) will be on at the wrong time - unless someone has put single filament bulbs (21 watt /1156) in a dual filament bulb holder that should have a dual filament 1157 bulb in it.

Something to do when the outer brake light sockets melt is move the brake light function to the fog light position - the upper inner red lenses. Just swap the wires in the multiconnector at the taillamps.

 

[QUOTE=hoonk;504666]I am having a similar issue with my 1985 245. All the lights worked just fine when I first bought the car. Then I began seeing the orange bulb indicator on the dash while depressing the brake pedal. Now, my brake lights do not come on when the brake pedal is depressed at all and the orange bulb on the dash went away. The brake lights will come on when I flip the fog light switch to the "on" position while headlights are on. I've checked the brake light switch as well as the wiring. My car has the bulb integrity relay that is black. Not sure if its factory... its a 'hella' brand. I'm assuming the relay went bad and am considering bypassing it. What else could be the issue? Any help is appreciated. I am not new to working on automobiles but I am new to Volvos and Forums haha. Thanks in advance.

 

The bulb out relay has nothing to do with the rear fog lights. There is no reason to bypass it - you should be able to easily check with your $5 test light where power is or is not.

That relay only has the wiring for the rear parking lights, 3 brake lights and low beam headlamps. It cares about no other bulbs.

I would check the fuse for the brake lights first - it could have blown because the wiring for the 3rd brake light goes through one of the tailgate hinges - the wiring fails there and can ground out.

Are you certain your brake lights come on with the fog lamp switch? Or do bright red bulbs (in the upper position?)come on with the fog lamp switch? That's what is supposed to happen. The rear fog lamp bulbs are 21 watt, same as the brake bulbs. Parking filaments are 5 watt, brake, turn signal, reverse and rear fog are 21 watt.

The wagons don't have the problems associated with the "white versus black" bulb holders, and rarely have the melted connection problems the sedans have.

 

Thank you very much for the quick response! I was curious about the wiring going through the hinge. I was also unaware of the "rear" fog lights. Another safety option from Volvo i suppose? I will check the condition of the wiring through the hinge. I just assumed my car had been pieced together because it doesn't have fog lights in the traditional sense, or at the front of the car but it does have the switch. The upper portion of the tale lights are what light up when the switch is turned on. I visibly checked all the funky fuses and the seems fine but haven't verified with test light or meter. Again, thank you for the response.

 

Front fog lamps if installed would have a rocker switch with the others in the center console. The rear fog lamp switch is next to the headlamp switch - and turns on what you noticed when light switch is turned on.

 

Alright! Well hoonk, I sure appreciate your help. I can't believe the knowledge you have with these cars. I really appreciate the responses and all your help. Just to verify, I've attached a pic of the switch that I'm hitting that turns on those rear fog light...

 

Yes, that's the rear fog lamp switch. With Volvo (240) the front fog lamp switch icon has wavy lines pointing down not straight out and has a green lens in the switch.

 

I thought I would give some insight on my findings while trouble shooting today. I received lots of help from hoonk during this process. I was still unable to find a blown fuse and my car doesn't have a 3rd brakelight (possibly modified by previous owner) and there was no sign of a harness running through the hatch for 3rd brake light. I then stumbled upon a video from ipd where they state 200, 700 and 900 series WAGONS only have issues with the brake light bulb getting hot after extended use and melting the taillamp housings. The fix is either buy new taillamps or switch leads from brakelights to the rear foglight bulbs. The brake lights are relocated to the top position of the lamp now but work great! Here's the link to ipd's video... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6DOWyBdvKqA