There is an intermittent problem on our 245 where the bulb sensor light comes on in the instrument cluster when the brake pedal is pushed. I've checked and the brake lights are working fine, but the sensor is coming on in the cluster. Any ideas what's going on?

Assuming this did not start happening after you replaced bulbs, check to be sure the high mounted brake light is not intermittently working because of wiring problems in the tailgate hinge. This may be the more common trouble resulting in your exact symptom, but there are certainly other causes.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.

Thanks guys. I'll do some more checking to see if the 3rd brake light is the problem.
I picked up some new bulbs the other day, so I'll go ahead and swap them in.

Tom

Couple of amateur tips on chasing BFWS (bulb failure warning sensor) troubles:

1) Remove the D+ wire at the alternator (small red) if you want to check things with the motor not running, like in the garage. Just be sure to put it back.

2) Use a stick (like a snow brush?) wedged between chair and brake pedal.

3) Work at dusk or later. It is easier to see differences in light intensity, and also, it takes less effort to peer through the windows to see if the warning light is on.

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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

So does the 3rd brake light wire pass through the driver side or passenger side tail gate hinge? I bypassed the hinges a couple of years ago so the wires are easy to access.

Tom

Tom, I truly don't remember and never made a note of it. Book says it is a blue/black wire you're looking for.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

I swapped out the brake light bulbs last night on the 245.
The passenger side tail light is a replacement aftermarket unit. The replacement unit is of lesser quality and it appears that the plastic for the brake light bulb has melted and deformed. I guess this causes poor contact with the bulb holder.

I guess this weekend I'll hit the junk yard in search for an original Volvo tail light for the passenger side.

The 3rd brake light works fine.
The bulb sensor light in the dash still comes on when I press on the brakes.
The brake lights all are working, but the passenger side light is dimmer even with brand new bulbs.

I know what you mean.

I'd never discourage you from having a wonderful time at Crazy Ray's, but if finding any 240 with decent tail lights seems impossible, consider getting your soldering gun out and hard wiring the dual bulb. It seems pretty obvious from your comment about being dimmer, the socket contacts are in bad shape electrically. But I'm surprised you didn't say wiggling things there caused it to be OK temporarily.

Don't be fooled into thinking the bulb's heat (from making light) melted the plastic. It was the contact at the bulb holder making poor connection causing the heat. When the plastic got soft, the contact pressure got poorer, and the heat generated by the high resistance connection increased.



This is an aftermarket lamp. The metal is not easily soldered like the Valeo/Cibie lamps Volvo put in, so having a real Volvo socket helps if you want to bypass the contacts with wire. The brass terminals are two-on-one spade adapters... Maybe at the autoparts store.









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Art Benstein near Baltimore

I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.

Art,

SO is a dab of appropriately placed OxGard advisable for these after market lights to help make a better contact and avoid the heat?
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Paul NW Indiana '89 744 Turbo 175K/ '90 745 turbo 145K

Thanks Art. I just picked up some of those brass adapters from Radio Shack today. I'm about to work on it now.

I wired up the bulb holders and those double male spade connectors on the brake light bulb and am still having problems. The bulb failure light still comes on in the instrument cluster when the brake pedal is pressed. The brake light seems to work though, so I'm not sure why the warning light is coming on. I'm off next week and will have some time to look at it again.

Ok the problem has been fixed. Following Art's example of soldering those double male connectors to the tail light lens and running wires to the back of the bulb holder did the trick on the melted after market lens.

I was still getting the bulb out warning light in the dash due to the driver's side brake light. Looks like I didn't get the bulb holder secured back into the lens correctly when I installed a new bulb.

My son is happy to report that the warning light has been out for over a week and we verified that all the brake lights are working properly.

Many thanks to all.

13

Perfect Art! Thanks again for always being helpful.
Yes, rotating the bulb holder temporarily helps. I'll look into doing the hard wiring project to see if that might help. If not, I'll give Crazy Rays a try. HaHa.

same kind/brand of bulbs in those sockets? Have seen this happen when using different branded bulbs