The 97 960 Wagon again....

I met my teen downtown for dinner. On the way home while driving behind her, I noticed that her taillights only had a one section lit. On both sides, the taillight from top to bottom is red, clear, yellow, red. Only the bottom red glowed with her headlights, and got brighter when she braked. Her turn signals work as normal, but the top red lights don't glow on either side.

Is this normal? Do I need to replace the top bulbs? What's it look like on your 93-97 960 Wagon?

Thanks,

az

 

i have a 95 960.......just changed the tail light housings ...believe it or not your lights are correct....the top red lenses don't have wires hooked to them at all.....as a matter of fact on my car the pass side light has no hole for a bulb and the drivers side has a socket in there with no wires but has a bulb.....did they put a spare bulb in it from the factory??? can't say.....but your lights and my lights are the same anyway.....lol

 

Thanks Snow.

You are indeed correct.

Today I saw another 960 in a parking lot. The driver was just getting out. I asked him about the taillights. He said he had no idea how they looked (I guess he doesn't drive behind his own car very much) but he's be glad to step on the brake for me to see it myself. Just the lower lights glowed. How strange.

You'd think the Swedes would light the thing like a Christmas tree, especially with their rep for safety and those long dark Swedish nights.

 

i agree....it looks like they started a nice light set up and just didnt finish eh?.....lol

 

I just acquired a 96 960 today and it has a switch for the front driving lamps or fog lamps...but the switch has 3 positions and switched all the way in the opp. direction of the fog lamps... the left rear tail light on the top lights ...but theres nothing lit up on the upper right side...otherwise with the switch in the forward position has the head lamps,fog lamps, and lower tail lamps lit...But there is a working lamp in the upper left side it just isnt on during any normal operation of the car.

 

wow...your right ..mine does it too...........the only thing i can think of is, i used to restore older Porsche's and they have a European parking light, when you pull into a street side parking spot you put your left blinker on and then turn the car off....this then leaves the rear left side marker light on...im assuming for visibility....... maybe Volvo does the same thing...............?????

 

Could very well be...in addition to the American emergency flashers..I'm going to play around with the various combinations of lights to see if i can figure it out.

 

Yep. Left-top red is fog light only. Right-top red is blank. Bottom reds are tails + brakes (1157). No double tails like the 850s. And you also have the bulb failure sensor.

But here is my question -- you guys with the 95-97 should not have amber lens for turn signals. They should be white lenses. Yes, bulb is amber 1156, socket B15S.

 

Correct the lens covers are "white" or clear...and the reverse lights are above the amber turn signals...can be seen in this pic...

 

mine is identical to BNE.....only his brick is a lil shinier than mine....lol...my tail light lenses are new though ...nany nany boo boo

haha

 

Yep. Red, clear, clear, red.

I posted the original after driving behind my daughter's 960 at night. The directional looked amber so I missed that it was clear.

bne, you do have a really good looking car. I wish mine looked like that. Then again, I wouldn't have gotten it at such a good deal if it did.

One more question: snowboss called a 960 a "brick." I thought it was only the old 240's that earned the moniker. Is it the nickname for all Volvo's?

az

 

"Whites" are considered Euro, and are sought-after by the older RWD crowd.

I am jealous of BNE's hitch too.

Here some photos of my car....

 

Boxy-looking, traditional RWD. Even 850 is boxy enough to be called a brick. Although Drag Coefficient for 850 is 0.34. 960's is 0.38. My 244 DC was like 0.50.

 

Thanks..I had the good fortune to find this car to be in very good condition both mechanically and aestetically... Some mech. issues...driver's seat is off its track on one side...hatchback doesnt always latch closed...some worn suspension bushings that clunk under the car...and a melted sensor wire on top of the cat. converter throwing the CEL code...a slight leak at the head gasket area on the engine...more like a seepage than a drip type leak...gotta keep an eye on that one though.

 

Henry I am envious of your car too. I like the improved appearance with those rims..IMHO my Altair rims make the car look dorky. So swapping them out for the Persus rims makes even more sense to me. Thanks for sharing those pics.

 

Thanks. My rims are 15" and tried 16s and 17s, but I can't have them in the City.

Altairs are traditional RWD-looking Volvo rims. I like Altairs, but it's all a personal taste.

More important: if you load up the wagon, IMO those tires (Load Index 91) are not sufficient. Me and other 960 owners have had some discussions about this on Turbobricks, and we feel that for a loaded vehicle, a 93 or 94 Load Index works much better for stability, sway, etc.

Once the winter is over I will be getting 215/60/15.

 

Which tires are you referring to?...To the OP hope we answered the original question...sorry for hijacking this thread...one thing just leads to another...

 

Either 195/65/15 or 205/55/16.

 

my bad on the "brick" term.....im very new to the forum and assumed that all Volvo's were termed bricks...........i refer to mine as the pimpwagon or the Voovoo so if i misspoke please forgive my ignorance, lol

i love the persius rims.....from a matter of taste it takes it from "granny/soccer mom" to sport wagon...again a matter of opinion...i have the altair rims on mine and don't care for them at all

here's a couple of before pics of my 960......ive replaced the tailights, fixed 2 door handles, the hatch release a fuel pump and have to do shocks yet and the blower motor noise ...a.work in progress...paid 600 bucks for the old girl

 

That's great. I like red wagons. Is that rack aftermarket? Good thing about yours -- you have the front valance (black plastic band under the bumber cover). Are you upstate?