OKay guys I really need your help. I have a 1993 Volvo 850 GLT. It's is a beautiful car but it has a few wiring issues. First, somehow my hedlights and moonroof are fused together. In order to turn on my headlights I have to first press the moonroof buttom to open (even is it only opens a little bit). Then I have to turn the headlight switch. In doin so the moonroof closes and the headlights turn on. How in the world can I fix this. The next problem is the hood latch. When I push the hood down the arms don't grab it to latch it. Anybody knowabout that one? Another problem is the trunk. I closes and latches but it won't lock. And finaly my seats. My power seats don't work. I can't figure any of this out for the life of me. If any of you can assist me I would greatly appreciate it.

 

I might be able to offer you so help on 2 of your problem I to have a 93 and I had problems with one of my hood latches. I took it apart and found out that the spring that locks the hood down wouldn't lock I put the spring in the correct spot but once you take apart that unit will have to tape it so just buy a new latch. And not to long ago my trunk wouldn't lock either so I took apart the trunk locking system and messed around in there. One of my levers wouldn't clear the other lever then I put that unit back together and it still wouldn't close but I pressed down on the trunk as hard as I could and it locked hope this helped.

 

I too am stumped about the wiring issue. Unless someone did some wire work in the cars past and really screwed something up, the only suggestion I have is that the control module that all of these tie into (power seats, moonroof, etc) might be bad. How did you figure out you had to mess with the moonroof to get the headlights to work in the first place. That whole issue seems really bizarre as the two are totally different from each other. Anyway, First step is to get a wire diagram for the car and start checking wires and connections.

Hope this helps

Glenn

 

Darkstarsinner, how long have you had the car? Are you able to speak to the previous owner about any electrical work? I have no basis for the following, other than a guess... Did the car have work done on the headlight electrical system? Did someone remove the old foglights and replace them withnew ones (and running new wiring to a positive lead)?... I'm not certain, but if someone was having problems with the original wiring and decided to run new wires to the headlights or the switch, it is possible (and I stress this is just one of MANY possibilities) that they have re-wired into the wrong line (the sunroof power wire).

I'm not good with electrical myself, and hopefully OzarkLee will see this before long, as he understands that side like I understand spiced rum. In the meantime, if you can, contact the previous owner, or, start by physically examining the wire from each headlight and fog light to see if it is still factory or if it has been spliced. Then pull out the switches for the headlights and foglights from the dash and see if they appear to have been spliced. That will tell you if you're likely or not to be dealing with a wiring issue. It could still be as Psaboic says as well, but my suggestion doesn't require anything but patience and your time (not the stealership's) to start with.

 

I hate getting called out like that when I have no idea what is wrong with it. The only thing that can be done is to grab the manual, see the file named system wiring diagrams.pdf, and start tracing. My guess is thatthe problemwill be obvious - once it is found.

 

Yes find a wiring diagram and make a day of it.

 

...sorry Lee, wasn't trying to put you on the spot, just that I have faith in your previous posts and information...

 

Max,

I appreciate the vote of confidence. In real life I'm an electrical engineerso the electrical stuff comes naturally to me. This problem is so beyond the norm that I don't have clue. I gave him the same answer over at Matt's site and just left it at that.

My only question is - How in the He** did he figure out that opening the sunroof would allow the headlights to come on? That is not on my list of procedures.

[sm=smiley25.gif]

...Lee

 

I agree on that how did he figure that out.
They are in no way connected unless someone somehow connected them installing something aftermarket or at one time something happened to a system and they used soemthing off the other system to make it all work again.
Even though it would have been nice if it was that way that someone would have fixed it the right way.

I would love to get my hands on this one to try to figure it out. It would be a good challenge.

 

Yeah, I agree, and hence why I suggest he start looking at the wiring behind the headlights and in behind the switches... I guess I thought maybe if someone had been running something (like fog lights for instance) and needed a power line, maybe, somehow, theoretically speaking, they tapped into the line for the power to the sunroof??? I dunno, just a WILD guess.

 

I too did some research via the electrical system diagrams and was going to post some suggestions, but since the original poster hasn't come back after posting the question, I decided not to bother just yet[8D].


JPN