over the summer we bought a 93 240 wagon with front end damage (otherwise in pretty good shape.) i repaired it with parts from a 77 240 - including front fenders and grill and lights. the 77 had the two large round headlight set up. i cut off the 93 headlight, running light and blinker connectors from the 93 main wiring harness and spliced in the 77 connectors.
all the lights work, but the headlights are a little dim. as a rough guess i'd say they put out 70 percent of what an 85 quad set up puts out.
also the dash high-beam indicator stays on for both high and low beam settings. and when changing from bright to low beams, the bulb failure indicator light flashes on briefly.
the 77 headlight bulbs themselves have been on a shelf for five or six years. before that they were in use for a couple of years. maybe new ones will be brighter - could anything else be going on here?
thanks,
harvey

ok guys - switched the wires as suggested and the lights are good now. many thanks - would not have figured that one out.
harvey

Good on straightening out the wiring issue!

Now get yourself some e-codes. They will be drop-in replacements for what you have now. See
www.rallylights.com (Hella brand) or
www.danielsternlighting.com (Cibie)

If you've been hanging around here for a while then you probably know what I'm talking about.

If not, it's all about beam pattern. The beam patterns mandated by DOT specs waste significant amounts of light by sending it where it is not helpful. The beam pattern used in the euro-countries is far superior to what was mandated by the DOT until only one or two years ago. Current DOT specs seem to nearly mirror the DOT spec, if you look at the output pattern of newer US-market cars with higher performance lighting.

Most efforts at improving headlights here in the US are centered on color or on illegally increasing wattage (which can overload the existing wiring). You will actually get far more improvement by switching to an e-code assembly. A two-headlight system from Hella (Rallylights) will cost you about $100. Adding relays is also a good idea but going to e-codes is like night and day.

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DAMHIK: Don't Ask Me How I Know - - - Sven: '89 245. 951 ECU, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15's, IPD sways, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors. 500 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

checking back in - i've just now had a chance measure resistance at the headlight plug terminals - do seem to get higher resistance to the high beam terminal, slightly lower to low beam.
these bulbs are ge halogen - as i said they're old but they shouldn't make the bulb failure light flash on.
anyway i'll have more time tomorrow and will look closer at the wiring.
thanks again for the info.
harvey

looking over posts and just realized something.

re:
Also be aware: the small rectangular bulbs used in the quad rectangular system do NOT have the same connector designations (pinout) as other sealed-beam bulbs having the same connector layout. That is, all the big glass rectangular sealed beam bulbs [so far as I know] use the same three-lug connector layout. However, the designation of which pins are ground, high beam positive and low beam positive are different in the small rectangular bulb.

i think i'm using old headlight plugs from an 85 with small square beams, not the original 77 plugs - this could be the trouble. will check tomorrow.

Yup - I'm sure that's your trouble.

I think that's also why you found high resistance across what you thought were the high beam connectors. From high beam positive terminal to common ground terminal should be the lowest resistance you can find on the back of the bulb.

As in, lower resistance = more current flows through = more watts and more brightness. Higher resistance = less current = less watts, thus not as bright.

That's measuring resistance on the back of the bulb, unplugged from the car.
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DAMHIK: Don't Ask Me How I Know - - - Sven: '89 245. 951 ECU, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15's, IPD sways, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors. 500 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

many thanks. tomorrow i will investigate with a multimeter and report back.

Congratulations on doing a major job - retrofitting a '93 to take the earlier headlights. Some of us have done similar projects, only to free ourselves from the haze-o-matic lenses used on the '86 and later 240s. Once you get the wiring sorted out, you can install e-code bulbs where you now have high-beams, and have truly excellent lighting.

I think there has to be a wiring error somewhere. Only a wiring error would explain the high-beam indicator being lit regardless of the high-low selection. But hang in here till the "Also be aware:" paragraph below, that might be your answer.

The high-beam indicator is powered by a wire from the step (high-low) relay located on the fender wall behind the battery. The lead may take off directly from the relay connector, or may be split from the output wire further downstream in the wire harness. In any case, the high beam output from the step relay is split three ways: one lead to the indicator and one to each of the two headlights. As jdsullivan pointed out, the high beams are not wired to the bulb failure system.

Also be aware: the small rectangular bulbs used in the quad rectangular system do NOT have the same connector designations (pinout) as other sealed-beam bulbs having the same connector layout. That is, all the big glass rectangular sealed beam bulbs [so far as I know] use the same three-lug connector layout. However, the designation of which pins are ground, high beam positive and low beam positive are different in the small rectangular bulb.

For pinout diagrams of the bulbs, try rallylights.com and/or danielsternlighting.com

You can test with voltmeter/ohmmeter to figure out which pin is which. Here's how.

Read ohms resistance across the three different possible combinations of pins.
Sort them out as high-medium-lowest. Your readings will be very low, maybe less than an ohm for the high-beam filament. Ultra-cheapie analog meters are not the tool to use here since they won't usually read down in that low range.

- Highest resistance will be across the two positive (non-ground) connectors.
- The third connector will be common/ground. That one's now identified.
- Lowest resistance will be between the ground (ID'd above) to the high-beam positive terminal.
- Medium resistance will be between ground and the low-beam positive terminal.
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DAMHIK: Don't Ask Me How I Know - - - Sven: '89 245. 951 ECU, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15's, IPD sways, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors. 500 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

Ahhhh! That's the key I forgot about... the wiring to the hi-beam indicator. In later 240's, hi and low beams share a ground on the negative side of each filament. When the the hi-beam (+) and ground wires are swapped, the low beam then "grounds" through the high-beam filament to the relay and then through the high beam indicator to a true ground. Result is dim lights and high beam indicator on. When in high beam, circuit runs "backwards" through the high beam filament to ground, but appears to work normally.

-Ryan
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Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 130k M47, E-codes
1991 745 GL 280k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club

Like Ryan_R, I miswired older sockets into a more modern wiring loom, because I assumed that the color codes would match. When I picked low beams, the electricity had to go through both the high and low beam filaments in series, and they barely glowed. So you might want to see if you are really getting the power to the correct prongs on the sealed-beam bulbs.

I believe the bulb-out sensor is supposed NOT to know anything about the high beam situation. As yours seems to be complaining about an imbalance on both low and high beams, I wonder if there is some difference between the way one socket is wired and the way the other one is wired.

Finally, if all the wiring is OK, and the low beams still are inadequate, I believe you can find higher-wattage sealed-beams to install. You ought not to have to worry about them melting anything, as they have their own lenses.
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jds

Do you have clean grounds? I'd see what kind of voltage you have at the headlamp plugs.

Actually, now that I think of it, I bet you have you highbeam and ground wires backwards from the original headlight connector. Check your wiring with a test light or voltmeter. I had the exact same problem when I wired my E-codes using a bad wiring diagram that had the highbeam and ground reversed.

Let us know how you make out!
-Ryan
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Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 130k M47, E-codes
1991 745 GL 280k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club

Try sylvania sealed beam halogens 7" round once you get wiring sorted out.
@ $20 ea always worked out well on my 145 & 1800 .
Ken 145

Hey does anyone know where to get a cheap set of the double light round headlights? The more I look at them, the more possibilities I see for something really cool! Thanks in advance!
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1987 240DL...new Flame trap, Sport Air Filter, soon to be sport exhuast(non turbo)...