92 240 reverse light mystery

there is a switch on the tranny, might be defective, or perhaps just a wire disconnected... as for the fog light, to the best of my knowledge, there is only one, not two. Go figure.....

Aha, so its on the tranny itself and not down in the shifter area. Cool, I'll crawl down there next oil change and poke around. Thanks for the guidance.

Remove the cover for the left rear tailight assembly. The two adjacent black wires in the 90 degree edge connector are bridged on the circuit panel. Contact between the conector is notoriously poor. The plastic is not very heat resistant and deforms under normal operating heat loads. Remove the plug and check for current on one black wire, if the neutral safety switch is good, there will be current on that wire (key on, motor off, shifter in R or reverse). If there is no current there replace the n/s switch. If there is current there, fabricate a narrow strip of copper or brass shim stock the width of two contact spaces and form it over the edge connector on the light assembly where the black wire connectors make contact with the board. Reinstall the plug. The reverse lights should both be working barring burned out bulbs.

Bob

When you see where that switch is you will not be terribly happy. Mine is also faulty and I have been putting off changing it out.

And in N. America at least, there is only one rear fog light. Seems N.A. drivers (U.S., anyway) Aren't bright enough to figure out that in the fog that two very bright red lights ahead means that ther eis a vehicle attached to them, and 2) that these should only be turned on when it is actually foggy... __ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvo '93 960 Estate

I think you're mistaken to say that US drivers aren't smart enough to know that two bright red lights would be better than one bright red light in the fog.... we simply didn't have any choice in the matter! However, I fear you might be right about us not being smart enough to use them only when in fog! So maybe it's better that we just don't have any "fog" lights at all.......

Let's back up a bit... there are a lot of drivers that aren't smart enough to know not to use their high beams in the fog (or when another car is coming towards them).

Similarly, some cars use the high beams on low intensity as running lights. Most cars like that don't light up the instruments when these running lights are on. How many times do you see some idiot tooling along in the middle of the night with running lights only? How dumb can somebody be to not notice that their real headlights are not on, when all it takes is to look down and see you spedometer is dark, the gas gauge is dark...

Back to your original point, maybe no fog lights are better. I fear you and I may be in agreement! :)

As for to two bright red rear fog lights vs one bright red rear fog light, I used to think one was better, so it isn't confused with brake lights, but then again, a lot of people probably only look for the central brake light as a cue, and on the other other hand, a lot of people have burned out third brake lights...

Auugh!

I am afraid that there are a lot in the UK that do the same. Maybe a flashing warning lamp on the dash would be a good idea. Similar to the seat belt warning but maybe green or amber.

Taff.........

I have been riding a motorcycle in the US since 1981 and had ridden some even before that. I have also some experience in Europe as well. Add to that my service as a volunteer firefighter for five and one half years, part of my area of responsibility was along a mountain highway. You just don't want to start a discussion with me as to the ability (, lack of) of American drivers.

There are a lot of folks still alive only because it is illegal to carry a loaded firearm on a motorcycle in California, and it is a felony to shoot people talking on a cell phone (although it would be the genetic equivalent of adding a bit of chlorine to the (gene) pool.

Go out into any rural, and particularly desert or farming community and find some long, straight stretch of road. Find a bend or turn in it, and count the number of skid marks leading into it. This is not a sign of competent driving.

It is no accident that I bought a Volvo. __ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvo '93 960 Estate

Hi Douglas,

Regarding your rear fog lights on the '92 240: Do you know if both ever worked?

When our '93 240 wagon was delivered (new), I was surprised to find only one rear fog light worked. Our previous 240, an '86, had both working. I found out that the offending fog light had a bulb already installed but no electrical connection. I simply ran a wire from the "good" light to the "bad" one, and the '93 has run like an '86 ever since................

(I won't get into the pros and cons of one rear fog light versus two. We've been down that road already on this NG............. at great length!)

Good Luck. Andy I.

I'd rather someone behind me think I'm stopping when I'm not than the other way around!

Someone mentioned a while ago that in europe the rain light needs to show on the passing side of the car. In LHD countries that would be on the left side of the car.

Bob