My brake lights don't work. The dash does not inticate a problem. My mechanic wired in power from the power windows fuse to get power to the round brake switch at the pedal. Now the switch works in reverse. That means that when the button is depressed the brake lights go ON. When the button is not depressed the brake lights go OFF. I tried a new switch and it still does the same thing so it is not the switch. You would think that as long as the unit has power the switch would do what it was designed to do which is to cut power and connect power. The mechanic said that when he tried a switch without the vacuum (I have cruise control) it worked the way it was supposed to. We are baffled. Any help out there?

I would suspect your "bulb out" indicator relay. The brake light power passes through this, and it is inside the relay that the power splits to feed the two lights. It's a red canister up under the driver's side of the dashboard.
Replace this, or if you are good with a soldering iron, open it up and re-solder the burnt connection- it will be on the upper deck of circuit boards inside. Then make sure your mechanic puts the power connection back the way it was before you plug it in- you don't want a short circuit.
I'm not sure exectly how he wired this, but it sounds like he must have power to the opposite side of the switch. With the relay replaced and the wiring back to normal it should be OK.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 221K, 88 744GLE- 202K, 91 244 181K, 88 244GL 145K

the wires leading to the switch that connect to the switch are not on in reverse are they?

Would the connection in the switch really make a difference? I mean, my schematic sucks, but isn't the switch a make/break open/close switch? If so, it wouldn't make any difference which wire is on which post.

Really, I don't know! And I need help too. My brake lights won't work. Here's my symptoms:

Fuse Good, and contacts cleaned
Bulbs good
All other lights work (Tail, turn, fog, Backup)
Bulb holders in correct assembly (white on right, or passenger side)

I can measure the open close on the switch with an ohm-meter. It shows Pedal depressed, switch extended, switch open. With the pedal released, (switch depressed) it reads closed.

This makes me think that I have a relay bad. So, where am I off? It's really starting to bug me.

One other issue. It looks like I have one ground on the driver side light assy, and two on the passenger side. There are two black wire going into the connector on the "circuit board" on the driver side, and only one on the pass. side. I assume that this is simply a ground to tie the two assys together; Is that correct?

Thanks,

Ken

I assume that you took it back to the mechanic, and do not expect to pay to do what you already paid him for. It sounds like he did not even check to see if it worked! A "Good experience/Bad experience" board for Volvo mechanics by name and city wouldn't be a bad idea.