Tail/brake lights do not work on '93 240

I don't think there is a relay for the tail-lights. Your dash lights are working?? Check fuse 15 in the fuse box. That is, I believe, the tail light fuse. Would not affect the brake lights though - The FACT the center brakelight is working AND the signals are working leads me to suspect a damaged harness or connector in the trunk - something that has been put into or removed from the trunk has hit either the connector or the harness.

OR it could be the bulb failure warning unit under the dash part number PN 1362370 - behind the driver's side knee bolster near the stearing column - it should be red. I think there are 2 yellow wires coming out going to the brake lights - both should have power with the brakes on. The tail light assemblies on those cars are also NOTORIOUS for having problems. check for power at the connector to the tail-light assemblies. I think the power for one side runs through the other side

- can't say which one is the "common" side - but if it fails the other sides doesn't work either . It will be the one that the main harness connects to - I THINK it is the left. If it was here I'd likely find the problem in less than half an hour - but troubleshooting long distance on a car I have not seen or worked on in over 15 years is problematic - particularly without the manual/ wiring diagram.

Thanks for your help. IIRC, it was fuse 7 or 8 for the rear tail lights. In any case, I checked all the fuses, made sure the contacts were good.

I did check the bulb failure relay and everything seems good.

You are correct, the wire comes from the left (driver side) and feed the first tail light and then keeps going to the right tail light.

I tend to agree with your theory that it could be when something was put in the trunk. I just realized that since I also have a 90 240, I'll check if it is the same part for the tail lights and switch them to see if it solves the problem. Though at -10C (20F), I'll wait a few days beforte doing the work as the temperature is supposed to go above freezing in a few days.

Again thanks for all your help. I might send this car to the scrap in a few months. The car is still good, but I've been driving it for 12 years and the last two years it started having little things I don't bother fixing anymore. Like, fuel gauge not working, odometer working on and off, blower motor not working (yes, no a/c and no heat - though the a/c is working fine). Rust is slowly creeping out from the inside. Though the car has nice mags I purchased from a 940 and still looks pretty good.

I'll let you know in a few days.

Wellllllllllllll???????????????? Fix 'em yet? What'd you find?

/glenn

Hi Glenn, first let me say that I'm sorry for the bitching I've done, but I work 6 days a week and sometimes 7 days a week when possible, so it doesn't leave me much free time. And there is no way I'll go to a dealer or one of the two indep garages where I live. I've been ripped off too often.

Ok, funny you asked today about it cause I had decided to write about it today, but I had to travel out of the province and just came back.

To summarize: My 90 240 has all tail/brake lights working fine. So I decided to remove the left tail light from my 93 240 (where tail/brakes lights are not working at all) and connect it to the 90

And again, I can testify that it has nothing to do with fuses, nor the ground wire/connection.

I will take the time to print and read what you and the others have written to see what to do next.

Thanks for your help. I am just exhausted and those car problems ain't helping.

I decided that today I will switch the other tail light from my 93 240 to the 90 240 to see if I have the same results. I'm gonna wear gloves for sure with a widchill of -15C... I'll let you know.

Ok, I've got real news. I took the tail light assembly on the left side of my 93 240 and connected it to the 90 240. It allowed me to find out that when I played with a wire to make sure I had the ground ok, I accidentally burned two bulbs. After replacing the two bulbs, all the lights were fine.

When I coonected this tail light assembly back into the 93 240, I had the following results: The two 'red' tail lights are working, but if I press the brake pedal, the light that is supposed to be stronger, goes off on both the left and right side. Also, before if I were to put the car in reverse, the 'white' light would turn on, now, nothing happens.

I double checked by connecting a second (or third) time the 93 240 tail light assembly to the 90 240 and all the lights are working and working fine.

So to summarize: the tail/brake lights of my 93 240 are working, except for the 'white' reverse light and when I press on teh brake, I lose completely the 'red' light that is supposed to be stronger. The third brake light at the bottom of the rear window is working fine. Turn signal/hazard are working fine.

Thanks for your help and if you have any ideas, please let me know.

Guess you've pinned it down to a bad connection somewhere in the left tail light assembly.

CLASSIC bad ground symptom. You have a bad ground connection somewhere on that bad left tail lamp assembly.

I'm sorry if I didn't make myself clear. The 93 240 has now both tail/brake lights working with the following exception:

The 'white' light doesn't work when the gear is put into reverse (it was working before) AND if I press the break pedal, the light that is supposed to become very bright, turns off. But when I don't press the brake pedal, that light is ON. As you know, that bulb has two filaments (sp?) inside. Each one lighting up with a different intensity.

I honestly have no idea why now I have most of the lights working. I was going to say that Volvos work in strange ways.

All I basically did is take the tail light assembly from the 93 240 and connect it to my 90 240. When I did that, the 93 240 TLA worked perfect. When I tried the right tail light assembly from my 93 240 into my 90 240, it did nothing. Only when I tried the left tail light assembly, did it change the outcome.

But why am I losing the 'reverse' light when it was working before (when most of the other lights were not working) and the brake light goes off instead of very bright when I press on the brake???

IF the lights are a little dim, but lit, they are backfeeding from one to the other to get a ground. It sure sounds to me - who has worked in automotive trade - doing a LOT of automotive electrical troubleshooting over the last several decades, like a bad ground. I might be wrong on this one, but I doubt it. Replacing the blown bulbs on the left light allows the right light to backfeed to ground - which it could not do with bad bulbs.

What do you suggest I do next?

Thanks.

Get an ohm-meter and start checking continuity from socket shells to ground connection. Since you have 2 - one that works, compare connection status between the two and find out what is open.

I do not know if there may be any faulty sensors for bulb failure warning somewhere, and I do not know how sure you are of that all the filaments in all the bulbs are OK right now, and that they are mounted right in clean and functioning holders, but then I would probably start systematic rewiring, starting with the ground wires. Or better, Find someone that understand basic auto electronics.

Rotten earth cables on both sides? Was the car flooded recently?

Bulbs are ok?

I would not advise the original poster to do that himself - you could do something awfully wrong unintendedly. Electrical power in cars is powerful, despite the mostly low voltage. Find a friend who knows about these things.

Cheers, U.

Ooops, I had landed in the november postings. Sorry for the late aftermath.

Cheers, U.

It's all fused at about 7.5 amps back there.

Ooops, I had landed in the november postings. Sorry for the late aftermath.

Cheers, U.

Better late than not at all;-))

Pieter