6 months ago i was having a problem with my lights
they wouldn't come on, only when i held down the high beam switch would they go on (and on to the high beams)

i switched the K relay with my K relay from my '88 740 and they switched on no problem. i cleaned the contacts off mine and put it into the 740 and it worked. so the 740 has the 940's K and the 940 has the 740's K

over the past few months i have been smelling this burning smell
then the other day it started smoking

i was planning on calling my volvo place but i hadnt had time, so i put it off.

i dont think this is related but (it may be) i just installed 80watt bulbs into the car 2 days ago. the day after i installed the bulbs, i was driving and i started seeing smoke again (this is intermittent, the smell & the smoke)

the smoke was coming from the cigarette lighter so i opened the fuse area and looked in. the K relay was cooked i could see it

so i took it out (it was very hot) and it had melted some of the plastic around the connectors, because black plastic came out on one of the leads ( the one at the top of the K going vertical)

i went to the volvo dealer and bought a new relay for $20 cheap i, expected like $80

i put the new one in and nothing

today i just went outside to play with it, and if i jiggle it in certain directions the lights come on and off. but i started smelling the burning again and i noticed the new relay was getting really hot. so i pulled it out and it has already started to burn around the same vertical top lead

i was thinking it could be those xenons i installed, but this problem i have had for about 6 months now, before i installed them ( they are 80watts low 100watts high, much higher than regular bulbs - they might be the problem)

but i'm not sure if they are doing it since i've had this burning smell for months before i changed the bulbs

i made an appointment with my volvo mechanic but i'd like to see what someone else thinks of this

i have the feeling i am about to spend a real lot of money :(

any thoughts?
-- Nick Cosimano
'88 740T 210k - '94 940T 115k - '94 850 108k