A couple of houses back, I had a house with the mailbox on the exterior wall next to the front door. My two dogs at the time were very nice dogs but they HATED the mailman with an unusual passion. If anyone else approached the front door there would be some barking and then they would calm down to no noise once I got to the door, but not for the mail man.
I then later figured it out.
- The mailman would DAILY approach the house.
- The dogs would confront him
- There would be a loud noise (the opening and closing of the metal mail box)
- Then the mailman would retreat w/o ever entering the house
As I saw it, unlike other guest to the house who would enter, the dogs were faced with the "mail man confrontation" EVERY DAY and the dogs had a perfect winning streak. In their minds, they always made enough noise to force him to retreat.
Same with your UPS guy. Your dog has a perfect record of getting the guy to drop the goods and retreat.
Gotta remain undefeated!
In reply to John Welsh :
Good point. She doesn't seem to like backup alarms.
The wiper blades came from Rock Auto. As we know, they include a nice little magnet with every order. This time, it was a sweet dark green '69 Firebird.
When I went to add it to my toolbox, I spotted this one that they sent me a year or two ago.
^That magnet has got me thinking that the dog might want me to swap in the Eggcrate grill from an XC 70...
I'm a firm believer in the idea that cars, especially European cars, like fresh, clean electrons. As far as I can determine from the European version of the Haynes shop manual (only version available), this car should have at least 13 ground points. I am determined to find and clean as many as I can find.
Here is the first one, easy to find, access and clean, right in front of the battery. It was green and crusty. I disconnected it and hit all surfaces with a Dremel wire brush
.
While I had thought that the brake light issue was resolved, that only lasted for a day. The next morning, the problem came back.
I removed the bulbs again, tested them with the meter (all good) and cleaned each terminal with a wire brush.
Nothing.
So here's the problem...
With the car off, but the ignition switch on in the second position, everything works as it should. But as soon as I start the car, the third brake light (LED) goes off, and instead of the actual side brake lights staying on, they go off and the two running lights on each side light up like brake lights. Weird.
I checked the entire hatch wiring harness for signs of damage or breaks, but found nothing. I have continuity from end to end even when I wiggle them like crazy.
I think the brake lights are shorting to ground through the running lights, but I haven't determined where yet.
In reply to Woody :
I'm sorry. That sort of thing is utterly maddening.
Sorry, I can't get "second position" from kinesthetic memory... Is that the same position the key returns to after starting; just "run?"
So the only change is that the engine is running, but the key is in the same position as when everything works with the engine off?
Is there any chance the car is "smart" (crazy?) enough to alter lighting configuration based on not just key position but whether the engine is actually running? It's so weird that the same set of lights that function correctly with the engine off go crazy when running. That seems like more than just a change to spinning the alternator...
Does your car have the euro-rear fog light switch located on the dash? On my '95 Volvo it looked like a front fog lamp switch but my car did not have front fog lamps. Is this causing issue?
I never used the euro-rear for lamp.
I the graphic, it calls for a double filament for the lowest positioned bulb. The only reason it is double filament is so that the second filament can fire the euro-fog. If you are not going to use the euro-fog, maybe replace this with a single filament bulb (1156)
I also question if the graphic is wrong. The 3rd bulb from the bottom (top of the lower section) calls for a double filament, 1157. Is that correct? Does that lamp fire a brake signal or does the brake signal only come from the 4th bulb from the bottom (bottom of the top section)?
Ransom said:
In reply to Woody :
I'm sorry. That sort of thing is utterly maddening.
Sorry, I can't get "second position" from kinesthetic memory... Is that the same position the key returns to after starting; just "run?"
So the only change is that the engine is running, but the key is in the same position as when everything works with the engine off?
Is there any chance the car is "smart" (crazy?) enough to alter lighting configuration based on not just key position but whether the engine is actually running? It's so weird that the same set of lights that function correctly with the engine off go crazy when running. That seems like more than just a change to spinning the alternator...
Yes, key is in the "Run" position. Lights work with key there but engine off. Everything gets wonky once the engine starts.
John Welsh said:
Does your car have the euro-rear fog light switch located on the dash? On my '95 Volvo it looked like a front fog lamp switch but my car did not have front fog lamps. Is this causing issue?
I never used the euro-rear for lamp.
I the graphic, it calls for a double filament for the lowest positioned bulb. The only reason it is double filament is so that the second filament can fire the euro-fog. If you are not going to use the euro-fog, maybe replace this with a single filament bulb (1156)
I also question if the graphic is wrong. The 3rd bulb from the bottom (top of the lower section) calls for a double filament, 1157. Is that correct? Does that lamp fire a brake signal or does the brake signal only come from the 4th bulb from the bottom (bottom of the top section)?
Yes, it has the Euro fog light and it seems to work properly with the switch.
Yes, there are two 1157 bulbs per side: The one on the very bottom and then another 3rd from bottom. The socket for the bottom bulb only has a single contact. Third from the bottom has two. Weird.
I'm not sure yet where the brake signal comes from, but I think each bulb has its own fuse.
This is admittedly a little silly, though no sillier than the entire premise of buying a car specifically to drive your dog around, but this latch plate was really bugging me. It was crusty and dirty and, even though I cleaned it as best as I could, it still looked pretty awful and was the first thing to draw my eye every time I opened the hatch.
I stumbled upon a new genuine Volvo part for less than $15 when I was on FCP Euro ordering more serious stuff (ATE brake fluid). So I added one to the cart and swapped them out in just a few minutes.
Much betterer.
The light situation came in ver handy for me! Brother Dustin bought an 80s Silverado that had all the lightingcome on when he hit the brake pedal. Your experience with incorrect bulbs led us to check them first, and we found one single point bulb im a dual socket. Replaced with the cirrect ine, and fixed it! He asked me to make sure to tell you he said thank you!
Have you confirmed the correct bulb placement with a factory owners or service manual?
Looking at your illustration I am a bit confused. If the third position from the top is a brake lamp, the forth and sixth position do not need dual filament bulbs.
In reply to noddaz :
Volvo often specifies dual filament bulbs and then only uses one of the filaments. The entire rear lamp in a 245 is that way. Don't ask me why, but i have dealt with it for 30 years, crazy Swedes.
Dusterbd13-michael said:
The light situation came in ver handy for me! Brother Dustin bought an 80s Silverado that had all the lightingcome on when he hit the brake pedal. Your experience with incorrect bulbs led us to check them first, and we found one single point bulb im a dual socket. Replaced with the cirrect ine, and fixed it! He asked me to make sure to tell you he said thank you!
John Welsh deserves credit for that.
noddaz said:
Have you confirmed the correct bulb placement with a factory owners or service manual?
Looking at your illustration I am a bit confused. If the third position from the top is a brake lamp, the forth and sixth position do not need dual filament bulbs.
You may be onto something...
^Not seeing the number 1157 up there too much.
Actually...scratch that^.
As mentioned before, an 1157 won't fit into an 1156 socket, and vice versa. Besides, it would be hard to believe that IPD would have it wrong, so many years after these cars came out. They even sell a bulb kit for these cars.
Violet never liked the original grille. She thought it looked a little soft for a European Luxury Hotrod / Dog Hauler.
So we found a used grille from an XC 70 Cross Country.
Actual swap time was measured in moments. Very easy and totally reversible.
Much better.
We scored this off of Facebook Marketplace the other day:
It's a Thule made, Volvo badged roof cargo box, straight out of the Volvo accessory catalog. It came with another pair of Volvo badged roof racks, but they don't fit this car. The seller said that they were from her parents S70, but it looks like they are for a car with gutters, either a 200 or 700/900 series car, or an S90/V90. I'll probably hang onto them just in case I ever buy another Volvo.
I still haven't figured out the brake light problem yet, but I have long suspected that the problem lies somewhere within that Bulb Out warning system. Maybe it's not a bulb problem, maybe it's unnecessary warning light problem.
Yesterday, I discovered this under the cargo area floor, next to the spare tire.
It says "Lampcontrol", but it looks a lot like a relay to me, and it's easy to change. I'll have to find another one and swap it in. Volvo used the same one in a bunch of different cars 1998 and up.
In spite of one broken end cap, the first set of roof racks fit perfectly. Second set does not fit this car, but it was still worth it for the cargo box. I still need to find a set of locks to hold the caps down though.
In spite of my best efforts, one of the rear seat cushions resisted all attempts to clean it. It looks like it ingested a full Coolatta.
I found an ad on a Facebook Volvo parts page for the front and rear seats from a 2000 V70R. Since my front seats are pretty nice I asked I if he would be interested in selling just the back seats, and after he found a buyer for the fronts, we made a deal. Nice guy.
These are ridiculously heavy seats, but they are in nice shape..
Looks like the one you got has the booster option?
There are a couple of interesting differences between my ‘98 seats and the 2000 seats. For one, the 2000s have the built in child booster seats.
I don’t currently have any babies, so I don’t really need the booster seats, but I think that they’re pretty cool and the alcantara is a perfect match for my old seats. I may just use the one lower section to replace my stained cushion. Oddly enough, the base sections with the boosters are not very heavy. All the weight is in the folding seatbacks, with their integrated seat belt assemblies and built in retractable dog fence.
