Volvo - S70 :: 1998 - Headlights Have Been Very Dim
Oct 25, 2012
Our 98 Volvo S70's headlights have been very dim, only lighting about 5 feet infront of the car. It is almost the amount of light fog lights would put out - but the car doesn't have fog lights.
We first replaced the light bulbs with Sylvania Ultra Silverstar bulbs. Didn't make any difference. Then we took it to our local Volvo dealership and they told us we needed a new alternator. We had a new alternator installed, but no real change.
The lenses are glass and no real signs of fading or anything like that. I did notice some fading of reflective coating to the back of the headlight. Can this be repaired?
I have also read on blogs about replacing with "Jewel" headlights or "projector" headlights. I don't know anything about these. I want this car to be safe for my wife to drive.
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I have a problem with my 1994 Volvo 940 GL. When I turn on the headlights (light knob pointing to the right) the headlights do not come on, the rear lights aren't on, the dashboard lighting turns off, etc... I don't know about the brake lights, i bet they work fine...
What's odd is that if i set the knob to the middle (pointing up), the rear lights come on, dashboard lighting works, and front-side lights come on as usual. In order to drive at night, I have to set the knob to the middle, and hold down the brights (which work fine).
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I have a 2005 Volvo S60
Do all HID low beam headlights have Xenon in them? Can you buy an HID bulb with no Xenon? Does it matter for my car? I read in some places HID and Xenon go together then I read elsewhere you can buy HID bulbs with no Xenon?
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When I turn on my headlights my engine goes completely off. Once in a while i have to twist the key twice to turn on or hold the gas separate from that it run greats its a 1987 740 4door sedan...
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I drive an 84 242--something bad happened when I was driving from Baltimore to Phoenix. Mostly it is now that I live in a very hot desert. But the thing with the car involved a short period (15 seconds) where smoke came out of the center console (behind the heating controls). After this the headlights didn't work. Everything else in the car works fine. I've checked the fuses--they are all good (both visual and by running a battery and flashlight bulb through it on the lighting fuses).
Of course when the headlights are off there isn't an issue. The lights are off. When I turn the headlight knob to the driving lights (center position) the parking lights come on. It is when I turn the knob to the headlights (rightmost) position that things go wrong--not only do the headlights not come on, but the parking lights go off.
Could this be the switch? Or more likely the step relay?
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I was driving home just a few minutes ago when my headlights flickered and then cut out for a few seconds. They came back on, but I hadn't driven another 1/2 mile when they flickered again and went off for a further few seconds. This was repeated once more about a mile later, though when I pulled over (first time I was able to do so), they stayed off til after I restarted the car and banged on the dashboard.
Further symptoms: running lights, brake lights, and tail lights seem unaffected. Turning the switch for the headlights off and back on does not affect the issue.
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I have a 1998 Volvo C70 convertible. about 2 weeks ago it started to stick in park. I can override it with shft override but that's not a long term fix. The button on the front-head of the shifter won't depress all the way and when its stuck in park the key won't come out of the ignition.
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My 1998 Volvo S70 with 215,000 runs like a dream but it occasionally will not start. The starter sounds like it wants to turn the engine over and all of the electronics work when the key is turned. My mechanic has looked at everything and cannot figure it out. The car at times will not start and if it is left alone for a while it will then start. I have had it towed to his shop after not starting and once it arrived he had no problem starting it. What could be going on?
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I've had my '07 Volvo S40 2.4i for almost a year. It has a little over 60K miles on it and is serviced regularly. Within the last 3 months, I've noticed some weird things happening occasionally:
-Trouble starting when cold (I understand this is pretty common with a lot of cars.)
-Headlights & interior lights flickering
-Going over "bumps" in road causing dash display lights to illuminate for a second, radio to shut off, and loud system "BEEP" comes through the speakers (this has happened 3 times total, all on the same day.)
-AC stops cooling periodically I've had the system scanned for the AC issue and it seems that there was a "Pump pressure" message that cleared itself at one point and am guessing the same thing has happened the next few times it's done this.
I also asked that the battery be checked to see if it needed to be replaced soon. The mechanic said the battery was fine and thinks it's something wrong with the entire electrical system.
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I have a 1998 volvo s70 with 273k on it. I am pretty sure the head gasket is blown. The shop I usually take my car to said i need to take it to a dealer and that volvo usually wants to replace the engine on a car that old. Would you pay the 6k for a new engine or think about a new car?
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Could this be from bad gas? I put a bottle of Gum out fuel system cleaner in the tank was almost full and the directions say to put it in when almost empty and then fill for best results. My son bought gas at the same place I did and his car started having idle problems at about the same time my problems started (sometimes his engine races, sometimes normal, sometimes so slow it stalls out).
My car is a 98 Volvo S70
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A friend recently replaced the alternator on my 1991 740 Volvo GL. I got a used one that was a B230FT system, although not sure what that means. I think my 740 GL model is actually a B230F? Anyways, the alternators looked different, the old one was a Denso and didn't have blades. The new one is a Bosch with blades and slightly larger than the original. My friend had to make some modifications to the connections, basically clipping off the end of one of the wires, and exposing the wire so he could connect it to the new alternatlow beam headlights are too dimor.
My car is running, but my to see anything at night so I have to use the brights. And the dash lights, clock, and radio no longer work. The radio does not have "code" on it. It doesn't turn on at all. My mechanic says we have the wrong alternator on there, that the electrical system is different. But other sources said it would work fine. Is this true? Could the wire that he stripped and connected not be fully grounded resulting in these weird electrical failures? I'm still driving the car to work, but it makes me nervous.
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i have just bought a 1988 740gl turbo and i was driving it the other day and when i came to a set of lights just as i stopped the car stalled on me then wouldn't start...
i left it for a hour or so came back and it started and i drove away and only went a few kms home.... what would this be i haven't driven it since!!
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I have a '98 Volvo V70 that has a slow leak in the cooling system. I have brought it to my indie Volvo mechanic several times and they keep trying new things - they've replaced the thermostat, all the hoses, overflow tank, and this last time used Stop Leak in case I have a bad head gasket. I'm 4 visits and $1600 into this repair, and it's still leaking. Now they're saying it must be the head gasket and it will be $3000 to fix. What do I do???? How do I know it will fix the car and when do I ask for my money back? When do guarantees come into play? Is the car worth it? It's worth nothing with a leak, so I'm stuck in this corner.
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My 1988 Volvo 240 DL a/t 200000 miles does not shift into overdrive (4th gear ). Is there a relay between the switch and the solenoid?. Is it okay to drive over 40mph.
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I own a 1998 Volvo S70 with a turbo. As I was driving the other day I shifted the car from 4-5 gear. After I had the car in 5 gear, it chugged forward. I pulled to the stop light and the car stalled. It started again and I made it home. I checked the fluids and they were low so I added oil and power steering. It drove fine for the rest of the day until later in the evening when it chugged again after shifting. I then drove it the next day and the car completely died at the stop light. I couldn't restart it. It would turn but wouldn't stay on. There was also a strange smell coming from the engine after trying to start it again. Ive been told possible fuel pump or maybe the catalytic converter because of the smell..
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My 1988 Volvo 240 DL often has trouble starting in the rain (I've usually managed to get it going, but it often takes several attempts). I have been told by a friend that he had the same problem with his '86 and replaced the distributor cap, solving the issue. My mechanic told me that he would need to replace the cap and wires. He said that replacing the cap alone won't solve the problem, and would just lead the cap to wear out faster. He told me this without looking at the car. Just want to know if he's right--do I need to replace the cap and wires? Is it possible that changing the cap alone will solve the problem? Could I change the cap and see if there's still a problem, or is it better to just do it all at once?
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I have a 98 Accord LX with 2.3L 4 cyl. with 356,000 miles. It looks and runs fantastic. However, lately, both the headlights and heater/blower/control console -- either will not come on even though the engine is running or sometimes flicker while driving down the road. When I type in "98 Accord no headlights" it gives me a couple topics about headlights then jumps all around and even goes to totally different car manufactures. I'm sure out of 305 pages of replies there are lots of readers that have had similar issues. I installed a new alternator about 3-4 months ago.
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I have noticed that the headlights/protective lenses in my 98 Passat have gotten very cloudy. When i rub my fingers on them you can feel kind of a rough surface.
The performance has obviously diminished and I would like to try to buff them.
A friend told me that it is caused by the ultraviolet rays from the sun and indeed the car has spent a lot of time outdoors. Any good plastic cleaners to do the job without having to replace the headlight assembly??
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Ok when I turn on my explorer the rectangular portion of the headlights light up but are fairly dim. When I I turn the switch from the off position to the first position, the front and rear parking lights come on, but when I turn the switch to the final position, ie the headlights on, nothing happens. My high beams still work in both the flash position and the on position, and the bulbs and fuses are good. I'm at a loss of what to do.
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My 1998 Volvo V70R with only 53,000 miles (I'm the original owner) has picked up a problem. It started a year ago and seems to occur only when I do not let the car warm up for a few or several minutes: once I put the car into drive and start to move -- no matter how slowly -- a loud, high speed whirring sound begins. It will last for a minute or two and then stop. The speed of the whirring is constant and is not affected by how fast I drive or even if I come to a stop. It happens in both cold and hot temperatures. The whirring does not occur if I start the car and just let it idle and warm up. The loudness of the sound is such that it can be distracting to pedestrians 40 feet away. Changing the oil hasn't worked. More recently, the noise sometimes reoccurs in the middle of a drive. It always occurs when I start the car after it's been sitting for a few hours or more.
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