Hi all, new guy.

Just bought a 2004 S60 2.5T off a family friend. Had it three weeks and already wish I hadn't bought it.

Getting this "Low beam bulb failure" issue that seems to be common. Driver's side. Changed the bulb - no dice (I wish it was that simple.) After doing a little online research, discovered the multitude of fuses in the car relating to headlights. Located the proper fuse (#18 in the engine compartment fuse box), and discovered it had burnt up. Changed it. No dice again.

I've since checked every single fuse in this car, inside and out. Every one other than 18 is fine. The headlight fuse (18) burnt out a 2nd time, so I am now on fuse #3, and I have yet to see the headlight ever come on.

Swapped out the driver side bulb and ballast to the passenger side. They work fine over there. Then read somewhere that the center pin of the plug that goes into the ballast/bulb sometimes burns up due to the high voltage, but that does not seem to be the case here. Both sides seem fine; shiny, uncorroded, equal thickness throughout.

High beam and low beam appear to be non-functional on Driver's side.

Of note: The driver's side headlight has condensation/water droplets in it, and the passenger side does not. No idea if that matters, just saying because it happens to be on the side that isn't working.

Also of note: with the headlight switch in "off" position, the headlight(s) is/are on (DRLs I'll assume), and I get the "Low Beam Bulb Failure" message. Turn the switch to 2nd position, which I assume is just position/marker lights, and the message goes away and the headlights are off. (This is how I got the car past inspection here.) Then turn the switch to the 3rd position, and the headlight does come on, and I get the Low Beam failure message again.

I need to get this fixed ASAP. I bought this car so I could drive it to work (~90 miles round trip every day) and now I can't drive it. The whole idea here was to have a reliable commuter car. Volvo wanted about $1000 to fix this problem, and it'll be a cold day in hell before I pay someone $1000 to fix a headlight. It's bad enough the bulbs themselves are $80.

 

How does the connector look? They are famous for melting and shorting out right where it connects to the bulb. I replaced mine with ceramic purchased off ebay which were much better quality than OEM.

 

Well, I thought the connectors looked fine, but maybe I'm not looking at the right connecter? I was looking at the wire that connects to the bottom of the bulb assembly. The way you're wording it sounds like maybe that's not what I should be looking at? If you have a link for those ceramic ones from ebay or elsewhere, I would be interested.

This might be more complicated than just the headlight bulb though, because now my drivers side turn signals have quit as well. And, I've noticed that the headlight on the passenger side shines much higher than it should. I'm going to try to attach a picture of where the headlight was shining against my garage just now. It's like head-high at maybe 20 feet away.

So this seems like it must be maybe a short in the harness on that side, or maybe a bad ground? This doesn't seem like something as simple as a burnt bulb or a bad connector.

How feasible is it to downgrade from these stupid Bi-Xenon headlights to normal bulbs? Will I need to change the whole headlight assemblies or is it just wiring and bulbs? These bulbs seem very much like someone just out-thinking themselves.

This car is just about undriveable at night. It's a miracle I haven't gotten a ticket.

 

Sounds like someone before you "upgraded" the headlights and probably had to change out the connectors in the process. It should have just normal halogen replaceable bulb headlights. Here WIRE PIGTAIL FEMALE H7 ONE HARNESS ADAPTER CERAMIC WIRING CONNECTOR LIGHT SOCKET | eBay is what should be there.

 

I don't think anyone added the bi-xenon bulbs. They were an option in 2004. If the fuse keeps blowing, there is a high amperage draw from some where.

When you say you swapped the bulb and ballast, do you mean the bulb and the part the bulb goes into? That would be the igniter. The ballast is under the headlight assembly and could be your problem.

Otherwise you need to trace the wire from the fuse to the headlight to check for a short.

 

Thanks for chiming in ES6T. I wasn't aware they were an option on the 2.5T, thought only on an R model.

 

Long story, but my 2005 XC90 was idling and I tried a new mechanic (dad said I should try his buddy) and computer code mentioned it was related to the mass air flow. Cleaned the mass air flow sensor and idling persisted, installed new mass air flow and idling persisted, mechanic ended finding a tiny hole in the air intake tube so he replaced it along with two other hoses, but it got the idling fixed. When I went to pick up my XC 90 I paid the mechanic $410 ($190 parts+$240 labor) sounds expensive to me but I was just happy the issue was fixed. When I got inside the car I noticed the "low bulb failure" and he said "by the way you driver side headlight light bulb went out while i was working on the car, just stop by the store and pick up a bulb" which was weird because the light bulb was not even a year old. I got home and noticed it worked again!, but it turned off after about 15 seconds of the car being turned on. It would stay on as long as the car was not fully turned (2nd position), but as soon the car turned on it would stay on for 15 seconds and I would hear a weird sound and the light would turn off. I read it could be the ballast, but wanted to know if anyways has a similar issue in regards to the headlight staying on and only turning off when you turned on the car and also checking to see if anyone knows if the electrical system is touched when changing the air intake tube? Just thought it was strange that when I brought the car in it didn’t have that issue.

 

Do you have bi-xenon headlights? If so, yes it could be the ballast. And it isn't related to anything the mechanic did.

 

No, I have Sylvania halogen bulbs.

 

Then there is no ballast. Probably a melted connector at the bulb.