The message to which you are about to reply is shown first. GO TO REPLY FORM



 VIEW    REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

In later (~1990-on) cars, there's another very good reason for relays .... 200

posted by  Ken C on  Wed Oct 6 09:16 CST 2010
Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
last visit: Fri Oct 24 11:39 CST 2014
[RELATED]

I've done the conversion: Euroheadlights (Cibie/Volvo) with higher wattage bulbs, Dan Stern's H4 high-temp sockets, but with my own wiring, fuses and relays wired directly to the battery; and like you, I installed inidividual relays on each side for each filament (4 relays).



I never did a right-left comparison test, though, but I'm happy with my results.

However, there's a very good additional reason if you have a later-model year 240. It appears that these last years used a new placement of a headlight relay, located inside the center console (behind the center vents) -- and the connector plug to it tends to melt from too much amperage/heat, breaking the contact and causing the headlights to fail.

Perhaps you've already noticed some posts on this forum relating to this? There have even been pictures of the burned/melted plug posted here.

By having current for the headlights through the custom wiring, only a slight amount of current (just enough to drive the relays) actually flows through that vulnerable OEM plug and relay, thus virtually eliminating this possible (and somewhat too frequent) failure of the headlight system.





USERNAME
Use "claim to be" below if you don't want to log in.
PASSWORD
I don't have an account. Sign me up.
CLAIM TO BE
Use only if you don't want to login (post anonymously).
ENTER CAPTCHA CODE
This is required for posting anonymously.
OPTIONS notify by email
Available only to user accounts.
SUBJECT
MODEL/YEAR
MESSAGE

DICTIONARY
LABEL(S) +
IMAGE URL *
[IMAGE LIBRARY (UPLOAD/SELECT)]

* = Field is optional.

+ = Enter space delimited labels for this post. An example entry: 240 muffler


©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.