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The stock tailights on your 1985 245 are all single filament bulbs.
Of the four panels from top to bottom:
1: Red. Position, marker, or running lamp. Whatever you want to call these.
2. White: Reverse lamps.
3. Amber or yellow: Reverse.
4. Red: Brake light.
Your 1985 North American market Volvo 245 may also come with the single rear fog lamp like my 1990 240 DL estate (wagon). You'll see a toggle switch, below the dash and console illumination dimmer switch. The switch glows when you use the single rear fog light in poor driving conditions of limited visibility.
If you have a rear fog light, when engaged, one of the rear brake lights remains illuminated on your wagon. I think the left one. Not sure.
You may also want to take a look at wiring diagrams in your Volvo, Bentley, or Haynes (yes, I know) 240 service manual to review the wiring differences between these years and the 240 wagon rear tail light wiring and wiring harness.
Also, see this site for more Volvo wiring diagram info:
http://www.volvowiringdiagrams.com/?dir=volvo/240%20Wiring%20Diagrams
Since like 1988 or so, not sure, on both 700 series and 240 series, the brake lights on wagons and sedans changed in that the brake lights became dual filament bulbs. An extra 5W (watt) running light paired with the 21W brake light filament.
So with sedans and wagons at around 1988 or so - not sure, the brake light bulb holders are special. The hold the dual filament running light/brake light bulbs. These brake light bulb holders are the only ones with two contacts for the two filaments.
The bulb holder come in white for the right (North American passenger) side and black for the left (North American driver) side.
So, again:
White brake light bulb holder= right (N. American passenger) side taillight.
Black brake light bulb holder= left (N. American passenger) side taillight.
Most Volvo owners of Volvos of these vintage stupidly reverse the bulb holders. So the Brake lights are powered all the time. Heat build up in summer can cause the lens to bulge from the excessive heat if the brake light filament is on all the time.
So, with wiring diagrams in hand, the tail light assemblies in front of you, some extra wire, solder (please don't crimp the electrical connections using solder-less butt splice or other, non sealed connectors), and heat shrink, plan the Volvo 240 wagon tail light modification on your 1985 245 so you can use those taillights that are the same configuration as the tail lights on a 1988 or so and newer 240.
The bulb out sensor can be tripped with the use of solderless connectors. If you truly abhor soldering, you may want to use the sealed solder-less connectors that include an electrically conductive, corrosion inhibiting grease like those from 3M.
You may want to also clean with tail light assembly interior to remove all the dust build up. Some simple green or a little (lemon) dish washing detergent, a good swirl in a very warm soapy solution of each of the floor reflector chambers can ensure clear, bright, tail lights.
Use the same bulbs in pairs for each light. Use of different light bulbs can trip the bulb-out sensor.
Aaron, you may want to join the Oregon Volvo Tuners in Portland (http://www.ovtuners.org) so you can have some local help with your many Volvo issues, judging by your posts on your 1985 245.
Questions? Comments?
Hope that helps.
MacDuff.
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woo.
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