i have a 1988 volvo 240dl and on my way home the service,battery,parking,brake all won't shut off and its dim so I'm wondering what would cause it the gauge lights are bright and so are the headlights when on and runs normal


any info would help tremenduiouly


thanks

 

they do shut off when i turn off the ignition and pull out the key

 

the 'service' light is on a mechanical 5000 or 7000 mile (I forget) counter, and it lights to tell you to change the oil or whatever other service is due, and is normally reset via a pushbutton, but I dunno where that is on a 240. on my 740, its behind a tiny rubber cover below/left of the speedo, you pull the cover, then firmly depress the button under it with a thin tool, this resets a mechanical counter thats attached to the odometer.

not sure what a 'parking' light signifies. never seen one. the brake light should go on when the parking brake lever is up, its controlled by a pushbutton switch under the brake lever, if the brake lever isn't fully seated it can stay on.

the battery light comes on when the alternator isn't properly charging the battery. check the battery voltage when the engine is running with a multimeter, it should be approximately 13.6-14.2 volts.

I can't think of any single failure mode that would make those lights and just those lights stay on as each is connected to a different circuit.

 

On the older 240s (89 and older) the service light reset is by a little lever on the back of the speedometer. It's easy to see if you pull the cluster out. Take a look at the LAST picture on this site:

cleanflametrap.com

Just to the right of the 299 you see a little black lever. Just push that lever up and it should reset the light. This can be done by reaching under the dash - if you know your way around by feeling.

In '90 and later 240s they put a little reset button in the lower right front of the cluster that can be pushed using a paper clip or small wire

 

thanks guy it turned out that the alternator died