Any particular reason I continue to blow out headlight bulbs? I've had the car 3 1/2 yrs and can only get bulbs to last about 9 months. Low beams, not high beams. I have changed both at the same time along the way. Headlights are always on while driving.

I have the same problem with v70 and s80, both 2004. This is a known issue on the board. There has to be solution. I never had this problem with a 200, 700, or 900 series volvo. These bulbs are ten bucks and I keep a set in the glove box. I get six months.

Is it voltage? I've never checked what goes to the lamp. If it's consistently too high let's splice a resistor. If it spikes, is there a way to control it.
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I'm stuck on Volvo and Volvo's stuck on me....

Had this problem on several cars when using the Sylvania SIlverstar headlights. $50 gets you 6 months of use. Threw some "regular" bulbs in, and so far have no issue. Contemplating some LED bulbs next, seems the technology exists, bright enough while having color temps that are effective in lighting the road - and not the obnoxious aftermarket HID type.


Steve

I just bought a Sylvania bulb and looked on the back. Life span for an OEM bulb was 4 bars. Life span for the Ultralight or 1 grade up from OEM was 2 bars. I paid $20 apiece for the Sylvania's at O'Reilly's and $35 apiece for the OEM's at the dealer. The dealer installed them for free and gave me a 1 year warranty to boot. That's more than I'm getting now on the Sylvania's. Sylvania's are supposed to have more brightness but I'll forego that for twice the life span

Just a thought... Do your bare fingers ever touch the bulb? Handle the bulbs with a clean shop cloth to keep the oils from your fingers getting on the glass. Oil residue on the glass will increase the heat.

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My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat

I can't remember the last time I've had to change bulbs, but the set I have in my car now, an H4 (130/100 W) that I installed in my '93 240 when I installed Cibie/Volvo Euroheadlights (along with my home-made "relay" cable to avoid voltage drop), has so far lasted about six years and is still working. I got the bulbs from Daniel Stern -- I think they are Narva -- and I've always trusted that he sells only quality stuff.

Don't believe all the hype about PIAA, NAPA, etc. As you found out, it's just marketing crap. You get what you pay for.

Our V70 goes through headlight bulbs at the rate of a set per year. Scuttlebutt has it that NAPA went with a cheaper vendor and the bulbs were (suprise!) lower quality. They decided to let the customers buy up the defective inventory and go back to their old vendor. I don't know how many other brands might be affected by this same issue. We will see how long Flosser bulbs from IPD last.

Greg

I can`t help with any specific info into the bulb issues. We had a 95 850 which for a period of a year or so kept blowing headlight bulbs every 4 or 5 months. We were having them replaced at the dealership & at one point the bulbs were replaced with no subsequent issues. My theory was at the time we had the misfortune to get a batch of bad bulbs. Nothing was altered on the car so it was a mystery that was resolved satisfactorily.
Hope you find the source of the problem. I suspect you`ve tried different brands in your efforts.
Rich