Intermittent headlight
 

So my issue is this. I have a 1999 S80 and the driver side low beam works when it wants to. The problem is more pronounced in temps below 50 degrees F. I try cycling the headlight switch (replaced about 1 month ago, but the issue was present before then) and I have wiggled the wiring harness, checked connections, etc. High beams work great. Passenger side low beam works great. Any thoughts?

Can’t solve your prob, :( but can add mine to promote attention to this thread. ;)


My V70 driver side low beam went out last night. Didn’t check the precise ambient temp, but it must have been round 50F. This morning I stopped at an auto shop to buy a replacement bulb. In the car park, I popped the bonnet and set about removing the bulb (to compare it to whatever was on hand in the shop). Got a shocking surprise. :eek:


The do-it-your-elfers here will all know that the 2nd step, after unscrewing the cap, is to remove the ‘circuitry plug’ (not the proper technical nomenclature). Never made it that far, as the light in question audibly snapped back on as I gripped the plug in preparation to begin tugging in random directions. :D A couple hours later, same outage, same solution. :rolleyes:


My layman’s sense suggests the problem lies in this circuitry plug—not the bulb. I’m curious to learn whether buying a replacement plug and installing it myself is ‘amateur’ feasible—as opposed to ‘expert mechanic’ feasible, and how dear they are. I can see this procedure getting old fairly quick, if it looks like falling into a hobbit. :rolleyes:

Pull the rubber grommet off the back of the headlight and check that the wire clip holding the bulb is fully in place.

On holiday, the problem (described above) began worsening to the point that I’d have to pinch the wires every 2 hrs. Happened to be passing through Vegas at the time, looked up Volvo specialists. Google had a great evaluation of a little hole in the wall shop, which I went to. The place was called Bright Volvo, and I wrote a glowing eval of my own. ;)



The mechanic astonished me by fixing the problem thus: using pliers, crunch the electrical/computer pod (obviously I don’t know the name) until it disintegrated. This was the offending element. Then he simply reconnected the wire leads directly to the bulb leads. This was not easy, owing to the cramped space and angle, which was not easy even to throw light on (ironic insofar as this repaired a light).


I realise this radical jerry-rig solution may strike some of the by-the-book types as heresy, but I haven’t had any trouble since (been about 4 days). I offer it as a low cost, do-it-your-elf solution.