Hello all, I'm new here and quite desperate at the moment. My 1990 Volvo 240, my daily driver, passenger side brake light won't work. I read the other threads and tried many of the tips, at one point I had the passenger side BL working, but then the driver's side wouldn't work, then none of the brake lights would work. So I went online and ordered an entire new brake light assembly, both sides. Installed them with no problem. AND STILL THE SAME PROBLEM, the passenger side BL will not work. I want to pull my hair out. I don't really have the money to get bent over by a mechanic at the moment, and have already been pulled over once (thankfully no ticket), so any ideas on what might be the problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

 

Is this a wagon or a sedan? Wagons tend to pinch their wiring over time since it routes through the hinges.

 

It's a sedan. 1990 240 DL

 

Also, I had the car inspected a few weeks ago. Brake lights were working fine then.

 

when i put dielectric grease on the wire connector at the printed circuit board end the lights magically worked.
again...
and check the grounds

 

Thanks for the reply silvermine. My baby is silver as well. The grounds are good, but I'll try the dielectric grease today and let you know how it plays out. If not, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and take it to the shop, I'll bring the remainder of the dielectric grease with me to the shop to help ease the....

 

As Silver said, check the circuit board. I had a '92 Sedan that occasionally needed the circuit board and light holder tabs adjusted due to poor contact. It wouldnt hurt to check your fuses too just in case, this will more than likely be a pretty sample repair.

 

God bless you silviermine! That did the trick! $1.68 of dielectric grease and everything is working again. I'm sure that was the issue the entire time... wish I had tried that first, before replacing the entire assembly on both sides, but they looks much, much better than my faded old ones. Thank you all very much for taking the time to read and reply, very much appreciated.

 

bravo, a cheap fix (i like those!). curiously, the previous owner of my car also replaced the entire rear light assemblies, lenses and all but they still failed without a good greasing ..so to speak. glad it worked out for you. you will find all sorts of other things in the electrical system to use that grease on as well so the 1.68 may get you further!

 

indeed, new lights make a old car look much fresher.

 

So the grease works for a few days, maybe a week, and then the brake lights on the passenger side stop working again- indicator light comes back on. I clean up and regrease and grease, and then get it to go off, only to come back on a few days later. To recap, Not sure where the issue is, other than it's one of connection. I've watched a video on youtube of a guy that hardwires his lights, but I would really like to keep it original, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

if the flexiboard contact surfaces are corroded, any 'fix' will be at best temporary.

 

The flexboards are brand new, as are the bulbs, and nearly everything else involved except for the white plastic connecters that plug into the tail lights, that's where I've been applying the grease.

 

put grease on the bulb holder connections to the circuit board as well ... that might help. 3 tabs on each holder...

 

Will try that today. Thank you.

 

those tail lights drive me nuts... worst design ever ... good luck...

 

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When I saw that Kevin Costner's character in "Mr. Brooks" drove a 240 I told my wife that's kinda silly. A murderer driving around in a car that has notorious taillight issues.

 

Haha. Very astute observation.
Update: I cleaned off all the di-grease build-up and reapplied a bead of it inside both white connectors that plug into the tail light assembly, now the brake lights are working again. I noticed that one of the little metal clips inside the white connector looks a bit scorched. Have no idea how I would replace these things, but am guessing that is what is needed.
Thanks again for the help here. Very much appreciated.
Still love the car.

 

yeah that grease got mine working again as well... i also did have to re-clean re-apply a couple of times. they have been working
ok for a few months now...
oh one other thing, i also removed the 'fog light' bulb on the driver's side.. could never get that to work right and it seemed to play
havoc with the system.

 

The scorch mark means it is getting a poor connection and overheating. To solve these sort of issues I removed the metal teeth from the connector and used a needle nose pliers to bend them so they grab the edge connector of the tail light better. This was a more permanent solution than the dielectric grease for me.