My 940 wagon, 1993, has the combo single lamp / fog-lamp assembly. They were awful so I replaced the entire assemblies ($$$) I am still not satisfied with them. They are by far the worst headlights of any Volvo I've had. Is there a super duper bulb I should be using? The lights on my 850 are great and I'd like the 940s to be that good if possible.

Need a solution as we're heading out on a coast to coast road trip soon. TD

 

They are awful because they are made of plastic that deteriorates with age. Rest of the world got glass, the US, well, you know... You probably replaced them with aftermaket, also bad, even worse quality lights? What to do? You can get HID aftermarket set up or buy E codes (Euro version glass lights). That's about it.

 

I saw something a few years ago where someone used Lincoln headlights in a swap that looked pretty decent. I think it was from a Continental and about the same year-ish as your 940. Sorry I have no recollection what mods if any were required and can't locate the write-up. Anyway, that *may* be an option to look at if you don't want to go the e-code route.

 

the 940 headlights with integral fogs, the headlight part is glass, only the fogs are plastic.

I'm assuming you mean this style,


and not this,

 

You are correct Pierce. Two separate lenses, plastic fogs & glass HLs, just like the top photo.

What's the deal with E-codes? Is it just a different bulb or are they wired differently to suplly a higher voltage? It just doesn't seem like it should be this complicated with all the blinding lights we see coming at us all the time!

 

Europe has different standards for the lighting pattern than the DOT mandates here in the US. in fact, technically ECE headlights are illegal in the US, but in this day and age of maladjusted HID on lifted pickup trucks, noone much cares anymore.

the ECE spec reflectors have a better defined pattern, with less light above the cutoff line, and more light below it, more evenly spread, with a stronger 'hook' on the right shoulder side.

 

I suppose there's no place to acquire said contraband? Pot become legal in OR tomorrow maybe decent headlights will soon be also? There will likely be more sleepy drivers on the road maybe bright lights might help keep them awake?

 

sadly, replica E-codes (from Depo) are widely available for my 1990s mercedes, but not for the Volvos

I've gotten a little extra out of my non-fog lamps (that 2nd car above is my 740 wagon) by using the Sylvania "XV" (Extra-Vision) bulbs. avoid bulbs with blue tints, thats just smoke and mirrors. Do make sure the wiring to your 'stepper relay' and headlight sockets are all in good shape with no corrosion.

 

Good tip. I'll try those bulbs & I've always suspected that about the blue tints. Headlight sockets are all in like new condition but I'm not familiar with the "Stepper Relay"? Where is that located? Could that be something causing this issue?

 

the stepper relay toggles between high and low beams on demand, and switches the actual power to the headlights.... wait, never mind, 740/940 doesn't use one, instead the high/low current is switched by the instrument stalk. stepper relay must be a 240 thing, or maybe I'm thinking of my same-era Mercedes :-p

there /is/ a main headlight relay, which is turned on by a combination of the ignition switch and the headlight switch, its power input comes directly from the 'positive terminal' (on the firewall behind the instrument panel), and its power output goes to the high/low stalk switch. from there the high and low beam outputs go to the fuse/relay panel, where the high beam power goes through the left and right high beam fuses 17&18 and thence directly to the lights, and the low beam power goes through the bulb-failure sensor, then to the low beam fuses 19&20 and then to the lamps.

if you have a volt meter, it might be enlightening to check the voltages at the bulbs. put the meter in DC Volts mode, clip the black lead to the battery negative terminal. with the low beams on, check the voltage at pin 2 of each lamp socket (green or green/white wires), it should be as close to battery voltage as practical (around 12.5-12.6V with the engine off, and close to 14V with the engine on). also check the voltage at the lamp 'ground' (pin 3, black wires), that should be very close to 0 volts, if its more than like 0.1V, i"d be checking the ground wires. these readings should be taken with the bulbs plugged in and actually turned on, yes I know the backs of the lamps get pretty hot.

 

I'm finding two Sylvania grades of bulbs above the XtraVision. The top one is the blue tinted but is the UltraVision worth the significant price jump over the XtraVision?

Un-related question; I've got an intermittent voltage supply to my AC compressor. I'm thinking there must be a sensor somewhere in the circuit, or maybe a relay? If so, where? When I hot wired it for a few minutes the AC worked great.

 

Are these still "sealed beam" type bulbs where you replace the complete light, lens and all, or are they the composite lens and H4 bulb style lights where you just replace the inner bulb?


If is the sealed beam type you can get a better lens / housing from Hella that uses a H4 bulb. It made a big difference on my 240.

 

in Europe, Osram sells a high xenon doped halogen bulb under the brand SilverStar that are noticably brighter, and NOT blue tinted. the SilverStar they sell here in the USA are blue tinted, which is a waste (blue tints work by subtracting yellows, and yellow is the strongest part of the spectrum from an incandescent lamp).

I've not seen those ultrastar yet, but its been about a year since I bought headlights.

 

these are all replaceable bulb headlights, either H4 or some 9xxx number, I forget.

sealed beam lamps have been pretty much obsolete since the days of round lamps in the 1970s.

 

Found that the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs improved headlights ... but another weird problem has developed. I have gauge cluster lights when I turn headlight switch to position #1 but they go out when headlights are turned on. When switch is in the full #2 position and I pull the gauge light slider down, the headlights go off. When switch is in #1 position (parking lights only) moving the gauge light slider down makes headlights come on. I know this sounds like a "CarTalk prank call" but this is really happening. What gives? has my headlight switch spontaneously shorted out? TD

 

FCPEURO.COM carries the Scan Tech E-code replacement lense for the 700/900s but not sure if PN 3518587 works for both styles. $17 each - not too bad...

PS - I still have a pair of 4x6 Hella H4 high beams new in the box for somebody looking to upgrade an older 700/900 with the four light set up. I was going to throw them in my 84 Audi 4000Q but wound up selling the car first...

 

I might be interested in them if they would slip into my "93 940 with a minimum of hassle. I presently have the four bulb system, two being fog lights. TD

 

amazon2, what you're saying about the dash dimmer sounds like a bad ground in the circuit to me.

 

I found the culprit for some strange anomalies I was experiencing in my headlight switch and dash-light fader. There is a melted wire (one of three yellow/white wires) in the headlight switch plug. It had actually shorted out to a couple other wires, fortunately not a ground wire, and was causing the dash-light fader to turn on the headlights in parking light mode.

What could have caused this and where does this wire go? It seems as if I should replace it in it's entirety. Seems like this could have caused a serious fire? TD

 

I merged this back to the same thread. had to look there to remember what car you had.

my wiring diagram for a 1993 940 suggests the headlight switch has 4 wires...

pin 1 - blue-yellow - ignition key pin 15L (on in accessory and
pin 3 - red - from the battery positive rail in the fuse/relay panel
pin 4 - yellow-white - headlight relay pin 86 (relay coil) and radio pin 6 (light dimmer)
pin 7 - white - headlight relay pin 87 (powered when relay on)

the white wire also goes to fuse 21 and 22, which are connected to the parking lights.

the red wire is always hot. the headlight switch connects red to white when its set for parking lights, this powers then directly without the ignition key. a short in the parking lights should blow a fuse, but it might overheat this wiring.

when the headlight switch is "ON", it connects blue-yellow to yellow-white, which energizes the headlight relay, which powers the headlights. it also tells the radio to dim its lights, IF thats connected to your radio properly and your radio supports this feature. blue-yellow is powered off the ignition switch in ON and START (not accessory). when the headlight relay is on, it powers both the headlights (via the beam selector switch), and the parking lights (the white wire to fuse 21-22)

odd, though, that is a THIRD yellow-white wire. yellow white should be low current circuit, its just the coil that turns on the relay. are you sure you have the correct headlight relay ?


oooh, you have factory fog lights? thats *also* a yellow-white wire, that powers fuse 25, which goes to pin 6 of the fog lamp switch, and provides power to the REAR fog lamps (and the dashboard rear fog indicator). the front fogs are controlled by a relay on a different circuit and powered by their own fuse off the main positive terminal.

so... my guess is... either your rear fogs or your radio is sucking too much juice off yellow-white.