Uncle BobbyC,

Dooooood, oh no, not the futzy bulb out, or bulb failure sensor!

Yep, the bulb out, or failure, sensor can go askew.

You can try matching bulbs from the same package.

Clean the bulb holder contacts and the contacts the bulb holder make contact with when mounted into the reflector assembly.

You may want to loosen and retighten the screw securing the taillight assembly ground wire to the sheet metal. Spray some lithium grease to keep corrosion down.

You may want to gently disconnect, inspect, clean, and reconnect the wire harness connector with the tail light assembly.

Does this problem occur at any time, no matter whether you have the position and low beam headlamps on?

If your 700-series Volvo is a sedan, and possibly a wagon, I think, like all 240 sedans with the dual-function (dual filament) tail light lamps, the white brake lamp bulb holder goes on the right, North American passenger side. See your owner manual.

If you are still having problems, the bulb out, or failure, sensor may be faulty. You can:
- Replace the bulb failure sensor with a use junkyard one that may be problematic considering age
- Replace with new. Hella makes these. The 700 series uses the orange red canister and the yellow canister (later models, I think)
- Ditch the bulb out sensor by buying an official Volvo bypass jumper that plugs into the connector slot on the 700/900 "all relays considered" panel in the center console
- Grab a junkyard sample or two. Open the canister, got the innards save the the bottom PC board, and solder jumper wire sections between the pinouts, removing the bulb sensor feature until you choose to replace it.

The bulb failure sensor can get hot, and in the "all relays considered" panels can warp, causing the relay pin to move around in the lugs they secure in. So you may have some center console access effort to get into if the bulb replacement and all other taillight futzing does not pan out for you.

Here is a recent post I made at (http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1564896/220/240/260/280/best_driving_lamps_watch_bulb_failure_sensor.html).

Uncle Art Benstein and Uncle Dave Barton make commentary you can access through the turbobricks link.

The entire thread posted by Uncle B0RK ^3 at (http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=1564390&show_all=1).

Hope that helps you.

Lettuce know how you make out.

cheers,

Buy One Get One Free Does Not Taste So Good Anymore.
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Burp. 'Scooooooooooooooooooooooooose, Me!