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98 T5 V70 Dead headlight (not the bulb) V70-XC70

posted by  someone claiming to be johnk on  Sat Nov 15 17:35 CST 2008 [RELATED]

1998 V70 T5, 138,000 miles. I am having trouble with my right low beam headlight. I got the error light on the dash, and my right low beam was not working. Then the headlight started working again by itself and the dash light went out. Then the headlight went out again and the dash light came on again. I replaced the bulb, but the headlight would not light. I checked the fuse (#22) and it was good. I tried the same bulb in the left headlight socket and the bulb was good. I put the test meter on the headlight leads and got 11.7 volts to the wires when the wires were not connected to the bulb. When I connected the bulb to the leads, and checked for power with the meter, the meter read zero power to the leads. I bypassed the ground wire by using a separate ground wire, but still could not get the bulb to light up. This has me baffled and I need some ideas on what may be the problem. Why do I have power to the leads when there is no bulb attached, and then no power to the leads when there is a bulb attached. Another weird thing, when test meter reads 11.7 volts, I short the leads out and there is no spark, and it does not fry the fuse. Thank you for any ideas on this problem.








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    98 T5 V70 Dead headlight (not the bulb) V70-XC70

    posted by  KlausC on  Sun Nov 16 16:57 CST 2008
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 10:15 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    Because of the high heat, one of the wires may have broken. Buy 2 new plugs and wire them in correctly.

    There was a recall on the plugs, IIRC. My 1998 had extensions put on both headlight plugs, per dealer. That moved the old plug out of the headlight housing about 6 inches. The new plug was supposed to be better with the heat.

    My right plug is now doing the same as yours and I am about to replace it.

    Klaus
    --
    Just driving a 1998 V70R :)








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    98 T5 V70 Dead headlight (not the bulb) V70-XC70

    posted by  checksix on  Sun Nov 16 12:14 CST 2008
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    last visit: Fri Aug 10 22:07 CST 2012
    [RELATED]

    I've heard other forum members previously comment that the connector gets "crumbly" over time. The ones on my 01 V70 T5 are in excellent shape, but this might be your problem. Perhaps plug in the bulb and then take a straight pin and push into the wire cover prior to the plug and check the voltage there. This might be a means to verify the problem is inside the plug. Good Luck let us know how it goes.

    Jerry
    01 V70 T5a








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      98 T5 V70 Dead headlight (not the bulb) V70-XC70

      posted by  someone claiming to be johnk on  Sun Nov 16 12:51 CST 2008 [RELATED]

      The plastic plug on both bulbs were so brittle that they both broke off completely. I am plugging the wire clips directly onto the spade connectors on the back of the bulb. Pretty sure I've got good contact between the wire clip and the bulb. I am leaning towards the relay being bad, but still hoping for additional suggestions. Thanks.








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        98 T5 V70 Dead headlight (not the bulb) V70-XC70

        posted by  TimeToBakeTheDonuts on  Sun Nov 16 17:57 CST 2008
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        last visit: Thu Aug 29 16:10 CST 2013
        [RELATED]

        High resistance in the wiring/connection would cause the symptom of seeing voltage until a low resistance (bulb) is attached. It also would tend not to spark when shorted, since the high resistance causes a low current. Could be a broken wire.

        The other responders have given good suggestions and illuminated (pun intended) the root cause of the problem. As a '98 owner this is good information. Good luck.








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          98 T5 V70 Dead headlight (not the bulb) V70-XC70

          posted by  KlausC on  Wed Nov 19 14:23 CST 2008
          Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
          last visit: Fri Oct 24 10:15 CST 2014
          [RELATED]

          My right side light just developed that problem last week. The hot lead on the plug inside the housing was getting corroded for some reason. The heat output is tremendous!
          I scraped the metal on both sides of the connection and plugged it back in. It is working good enough to sell the car.

          Klaus
          --
          Volvoless. Sold the R. There is now a void...








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            98 T5 V70 Dead headlight (not the bulb) V70-XC70

            posted by  someone claiming to be johnk on  Wed Nov 19 15:36 CST 2008 [RELATED]

            I'll try that. The headlight has been going on and then off again for the past few days. Same with light on the dash. Hope that will fix it. john k







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