I've got a 95 940 that the dome, or courtesy light, has totally disintegrated over the years. I ordered a replacement from Volvo and it is a totally different beast from what was originally installed. From what I can tell, there's no place to connect the wires from the original light. I hear that when a replacement is sent from Volvo, instructions for wiring are also included. Has anyone experience this and what was your solution?

This is basically the guts of the original dome lamp with the two prongs for electrical connection.

This is the "new" type Volvo fixture. Any ideas how to wire this thing?

 

What they sent you is a 960 dome light.

 

So would be wired like a 960?

 

I suppose, but the 960 dome light is different--it has a temperature sensor, goes into the notched brown plate on the right. The wiring part may be you can improvise, it should be similar to the 940. The '91 940SE uses this type of dome light so it will fit OK in the head liner.

 

I found this wiring harness for a 1995 Volvo 960 for converting to LED lights, although I suspect that the wiring is almost the same. Since the 1995 Volvo 940 has only 2 wires to the existing light, it should be a simple matter of splitting the power to the two bulbs, and tying the grounds together?

 

Looks like it. The 960 light really has the same functionality as the 940 plus the temp sensor so it' just about making the wiring connections work.

 

Looks like it. Now I just need to figure out the circuitry on the board. There's really no input anywhere so it appears that the connections will have to be soldered to where ever the main power input is on the board. That will be a task in itself. Thanks for your input. I was stumped!

 

There has to be an "input"! The plug is different for sure but there has to be a place for it somewhere on the light. Best thing to do would be to acquire the plug from a junkyard and splice that in, not solder it in permanently. Try voluparts.com--he can enlighten you and may have that plug for sale.

 

Thanks so much. I certainly appreciate your help on this. I'll post my results.

 

Here's what Voluparts.com has available. It's the pigtail from the wiring harness that goes to the plug on the light for a 960. I'll see if I can adapt mine to accommodate it. Not before thoroughly testing first!.

 

Should work. The biggest difference is the temp line for the 960 light and that's not even a wire connector as I recall. The rest of the functions are the same: two spot lights, and a dome light so wiring it should be easy.

 

You would think so. But then nothing on these older Volvos is. And all I wanted to do was install a new dome light fixture!

 

Well, you should try fighting with newer Euro trash like BMW, Audi, and Mercedes! The older Volvos are a dream compared to other makes today including what passes for Volvos today. You can't even change the battery or a tire sensor with out a visit to the dealer or similar; and they are designed to last 60k miles, until the end of the lease.