Bought two new rear tail lights no dual filament bulb which we us here in Australia all single. Looks like i must have to transfer the circuit board from my old lights over as well. Nothing is ever easy.

Uncle volvo426,

You could:
- Swap the old taillight circuit boards into the new tail light assemblies, allowing you to use single filament bulb in the bottom outermost light bulb chamber.
- Rewire the wire harness to tail light circuit board connection. You run position (or parking, or running light) +VDC voltage to the #1157 (not model number sure) low amp filament. Yet you need the left (black) and white (right) dual filament brake light / running light lamp holder like from a junkyard in North America or see if your Volvo parts vendor offers these. The rear fog lamp function should be wired the same everywhere on the tail light circuit boards.
- See if the black mono filament bulb holder (same for reverse, turn, and rear fog lamp) contacts the parking brake light + VDC and - VDC (earth) connection. You may have to cut the bulb holder install stops out of the taillight material (and maybe from the bulb holder also) so you can bulb holder gain electrode alignment with the silver solder circuit board contacts.

A lot of people will merely install the current slough of 240 tail lights, whether from Volvo or the Estonian after market kind. I believe that installing the single-filament bulb holders forces the single filament bulb in the bulb holder to illuminate, create excess heat, and cause the lens to distort from the excess thermal loading.

The same thing may happen if someone has properly wired up 240 taillights, has both the left (black) dual filament bulb holder and right (white) dual filament bulb holder, yet have the bulb holders reverse, left to right. Or maybe one side. I forget.

You have some options that merely may take a little time to get sorted.

http://www.volvowiringdiagrams.com/

Se the difference between the, say, 1985 240 sedan (saloon) taillights and the 1993 240 sedan taillights. Yet you may have to make changes at the wire harness connector end and / or the bulb holder mount stops so you can use the three filament flexi cicuit board.

Maybe consider LED bulbs?

Hope that helps.

Turkey Day Game

After taking them apart the left hand housing looks the same with the cut outs in the bulb holders.

The RH housing is all the same except for the dual filament white bulb holder the three cut outs in the housing are in slightly different spots. This one i will have to modify to get the white dual filament to work.

Hard to get parts in Australia, they only had the six socket ones. My car is 5 socket as one light is empty.

Seriously, post a picture or 3 if we are to help.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Girls always liked microwaves better than Barbecues.

Uncle volvo426,

Like Uncle Art suggests, images would help.

Yet I'm a little confused on the details.

You say you have two new Volvo 240 sedan taillights. May I ask:
1. Where you bought them (Volvo OEM, Valero, Hella ... I dunno.
2. This is new set of Volvo 240 sedan tail lights are the final year six lens (or panel) with the dual filament brake light / running light combo, with the white three-prong (if you'll allow) bulb holder on the right (Australian market driver side, or right hand drive side) tail light assembly, and a black three-prong (if you'll allow) bulb holder on the left tail light assembly (Australian market passenger side)?
3. Yet the center lens / reflector in the top row of the tail lights is the panel without a light bulb, yes? (I believe it is the same world-round when the wrap-around six-panel lights came into service around 1981 or so? It is merely a reflector. May have been used for a parking light in some nations? I dunno.)

You may have received properly configured circuit boards for each of the tail light housings left to right.

The reflector side of the assembly, where the bulb holder secures, may have cast the position specific brake / running (or position, or parking) lights incorrectly. Unless these are Volvo OEM 240 sedan taillights?

I don't have the specific, three-prong bulb holders (Black is left side, white is right side) to display a photo image, as well as the circuit boards, and the mechanical bulb holder bayonet mount (is it a bayonet mount?) to show you what's what, and how you get it to work no matter what you have to work with.

Forgotten in earlier posts are changes in the bulb out relay between the area of no high-center brake light and a with the high-center brake light. I think you have the high-center brake light in Australia since the mid-1980s.

I have an 1982 left or right rear tail light working on the 91 or 92 sedan with the three-prong brake light bulb holders and circuit boards. The older tail light assemblies are much sturdier, if not exposed to ongoing daylight over the years.

If you answered (2), you merely have to change some wiring at the harness to tail light PC board connection. Identify the position between both sides of the interface. I'm unsure whether you move wire position or if you add one to each side to convert from a "single brake light filament harness to the dual filament brake light assemblies". And you have or need to get the dual filament bulbs.

The single filament brake light bulb holder (same as reverse and signal holders) have the contacts at opposite ends. So it may be hard to align these with the dual filament brake light circuit boards.

Some time at the junkyard may help to look at bulbs and lighting.

Anyhoo, there you go. Some details may help.

Hoope that helps.

Waiting for the holidays to be over.

All worked out fine i put the single filament housing in with my old circuit board and re used all my old bulb holders including the white and black dual filament ones.

The rear tail light i got where part numbers 1372447 & 1372448 6 panel lights.

The ones i should of ordered are part numbers 1372449 & 1372450 5 panel lights one bulb holder is not used.
These were not available in Australia out of stock so i had to use the other style and convert them, was real easy to do, no modifications other than spending time and carefully transferring the circuit boards and bulb holders across.