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Beware of ScanTech Euroheadlights when importing 200 1993

I'd like to caution all of you out there about Euroheadlight sets made by ScanTech (so that, if you order Euroheadlights, you will know to specify only Volvo-brand components).

About six months or so ago, I bought a set of Euroheadlights (for a '93 240) from someone {I won't name him -- this isn't about him!] in Europe who would export/ship them to me here in the U.S.
The price was reasonable, I thought, and I assumed that I was getting Volvo-brand fixtures. When they arrived (promptly, by the way), I realized that they weren't Volvo-brand, but instead were ScanTech. Oh, well, I thought, how bad could they be?
I mounted them (headlights and the parking lights, of course) -- they didn't fit quite right (the plastic connectors between the headlights and parking lights seemed a little flimsy, and there was flex, but useable.
But recently, I discovered the downside of using ScanTech products.
It started a few weeks ago, when I noticed that one of the headlights fell out of adjustment (fortunately, downward, so as not to blind oncoming drivers but just make it less effective in illuminating the road for me). And it wouldn't let me readjust it.
Then, I also noticed that the headlights had become sort of loose --if I pushed against them, I could move the headlights in and out (i.e., fore and aft)!
So, with this being a four-day weekend for me, I decided to check this strange headlight phenomenon.
1) When I removed the headlights, I discovered both headlights were being held in place by only one bolt!
[Each headlight has three bolts, each the kind that has a threaded end to which you fasten a nut to mount the headlights to the forward bulkhead; and the opposite end, with splines that, when pressed into and mounted on the plastic headlight housing, is supposed to hold it fast and prevent it from turning when you tighten a nut on the other end.]
On both headlights, two of the three bolts had their splined ends slipped out of their mounting holes in the plastic headlight housing, and while they were still securely fastened to the bulkhead by the mounting nut, the headlights were no longer attached to these bolts! And on one headlight, I could see that the third was slipping out -- I would have soon had the headlight drop off the car!
I was able to securely (I hope) remount the bolts into the housing mounting holes using a marine-type permanent sealant and adhesive called "3M 5200". I hope it holds up.
2) On the headlight that wouldn't let me adjust or aim its beam, I found (by easily opening the headlight housing, simply by prying off the clips and lifting the front lens off its gasket) that the plastic "head" on the front end of the adjusting screw had disconnected from the corner of the reflector that it's supposed to be attached to. That white plastic (nylon?) connector is a ball joint (swivel joint), and it fits in a slot in the reflector's corner. The connector had slipped out of the hole, and wasn't connected to anything -- I don't know how or why -- and thus that corner of the reflector wasn't supported by anything.
I managed to refasten the connector and thus adjust the headlight, and reassemble the housing -- all is back together and seems to work.

Frankly, however, I don't know how long these fixes will last. So I wanted to share my experience, and caution all of you who are contemplating installing Euroheadlights on their '86-on 240's (in place of those awful plastic headlights) to be sure to insist on only genuine Volvo-brand components. My mistake (and I take full responsibility) is that I merely asked the exporter/shipper for European headlights for my Volvo; I didn't think to specify Volvo-brand parts! Learn from my experience, folks! ScanTech defects and poor reliability just isn't worth their lower price!






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New Beware of ScanTech Euroheadlights when importing [200][1993]
posted by  Ken C subscriber  on Mon Jul 5 15:29 CST 2004 >


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