Full beam on. NOW WITH BONUS AIRBAG LIGHT FUN

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Went to get something out of the V70, and noticed the full beam lights were on. The car is off, keys not in ignition and main light switch completely off.

 

I tried every combination of switch / engine on and off, even disconnected the stalk from the steering column. Even with the car Locked they are on.

 

In the end I pulled the fuses for the main beams.

 

The car was fine yesterday. Any ideas? Next thing I'll check is the main beam relay in case that's sticking

[red5]

Relay stuck on....

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Just a bit random as they haven't been used, they just came on by themselves :s

 

I'll check the relay later

[Partridge]

SCRAP IT

[They_all_do_that_sir]

SCRAP IT

It's a bit low on petrol as well - straight to the bridge then!

[cms206]

50 QUID 2NYT M8 IV U PAY DA FERRY 2 STRANRAR

[spike60]

Had some thing similar with a BMW 5 series and it was the light ECU had a diode failed, in a poxy 1996 523i.

[Partridge]

It's a bit low on petrol as well - straight to the bridge then!

No, no, no. Fill the tank up with petrol so it weighs more on the bridge. TOP TIP

[HillmanImp]

Hey, just leave them on all the time and pretend you are driving a brand new German 'executive' car with HID lights, blinding all oncoming motorists.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Had some thing similar with a BMW 5 series and it was the light ECU had a diode failed, in a poxy 1996 523i.

Fuck that! The MOT is next Saturday so it better be the relay

[Pillock]

It's not something daft like a feature is it? On Focuses and Mondeos if you twang the headlamp flash between turning the engine off and opening the door, you get the lights on for 30 secs even after locking the door.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

It's not something daft like a feature is it? On Focuses and Mondeos if you twang the headlamp flash between turning the engine off and opening the door, you get the lights on for 30 secs even after locking the door.

I don't think so, I literally unlocked the car and pulled the bonnet release then noticed they were on. I'm at my in laws now so I can't check any of this till later on, by which point I'm hoping it's fixed itself

 

Someone told me renault had a hand in the wiring for this generation of volvo, that would likely explain things

[gordonbennet]

Had some thing similar with a BMW 5 series and it was the light ECU had a diode failed, in a poxy 1996 523i.

 

Shakes head in despair....in the 90's we had dozens of 4 series Scania lorries where i worked,  the drivers seat had its own ECU (fuck knows why),  BMW were far from alone in making things complicated for the sake of it.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Shakes head in despair....in the 90's we had dozens of 4 series Scania lorries where i worked, the drivers seat had its own ECU (fuck knows why), BMW were far from alone in making things complicated for the sake of it.

Once owned a mk4 espace. I swear that thing had an ECU for every individual function. And each one would have cost about £90,000 to replace

[spike60]

It may have separate headlamp flasher relay. If it has try removing that in case it's anything to with that side of headlight control. It should leave normal dip/main beam night use stuff unaffected. As I'm sure you know google will provide the likely cause if it's a regular thing.

[hauserplenty]

^ That.

Worst case scenario: combination switch. They all do that, squire.

[dieselassist]

I bought a Renault megane years ago cheap with immobiliser problem - fixed that with a replacement key from the dealers - first time I drove the car was 'home' which was 120miles away during the winter, after dark... I discovered early into the journey I had no dipped main beam on the headlights on my newly acquired migrane - Id pull back the stalk n hold it to achieve dip (the opposite of flashing the main beam) - this became very, very difficult to do on corners, in towns along the way as I was changing gear,... basically I got tired of multi tasking the left hand n just blinded oncoming traffic for a bit, N they returned the compliment as is the tradition...RISKY/DANGEROUS shit basically...

 

This situation became 'unmanageable' and indeed worrying as My own retina were  well n truly singed mid journey, so the solution was to find my way back home via the spider web of backroads which lad less traffic, which added about another 2 hours to the journey...

 

The following day, I bought a replacement stalk from a laguna for €5 in the scrappies, fitted it to the megane, N I could once again comply with night time driving etiquette ....

[Noel Tidybeard]

did you try turning ignition on to see if the lights go out as this normally cancels the "see you home light" stuff

[beko1987]

Hey, just leave them on all the time and pretend you are driving a brand new German 'executive' car with HID lights, blinding all oncoming motorists.

This. Hammer an Audi badge on the grille and boot and you'll blend right in!

[mercrocker]

I had a mate who drove everywhere on full beam (BMW, not Audi.....)   Even back from Dover to Portsmouth one night.   The blue warning light on its own was blinding me, never mind the other drivers giving him 60 kilowatts every fifteen seconds.   Christ that was a stressful journey....I hate driving anything with wonky lights.   I am even conscious of the highlevel brake light on the Merc (which I hate) so have stuck a sticker over it (taking the bulb out caused a dash light to come on, German bastards...) and never sit on my brakes in traffic.   Secondary to this on my German lighting hate-list is the VW idea of the indicator becoming a parking light when the ignition is off.  WTF is that all about?   Twice now I have flattened a battery overnight....

[Noel Tidybeard]

I had a mate who drove everywhere on full beam (BMW, not Audi.....)   Even back from Dover to Portsmouth one night.   The blue warning light on its own was blinding me, never mind the other drivers giving him 60 kilowatts every fifteen seconds.   Christ that was a stressful journey....I hate driving anything with wonky lights.   I am even conscious of the highlevel brake light on the Merc (which I hate) so have stuck a sticker over it (taking the bulb out caused a dash light to come on, German bastards...) and never sit on my brakes in traffic.   Secondary to this on my German lighting hate-list is the VW idea of the indicator becoming a parking light when the ignition is off.  WTF is that all about?   Twice now I have flattened a battery overnight....

battery must be shit then cos the parking lights are designed to be left on over night

[Vince70]

I had a similar problem on an old Audi 80 I bought a few years back and it was the contact on the light stalk which was corroded as the car hadn't been used for about a year.

 

All I did was bought some electrical contact cleaner and sprayed it in the steering column bezel behind the wheel and it worked a treat.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

did you try turning ignition on to see if the lights go out as this normally cancels the "see you home light" stuff

Yes tried it with the engine running, no difference. This has see you home shite but it uses the dipped beams

 

I'm home now so I'll go out and have a look at the relays unless it's fixed itself

[They_all_do_that_sir]

GOOD NEWS

 

I fixed this. It turns out I hadn't unplugged the stalk, I had unplugged something else. The stalk was at fault, but was instantly fixed with liberal application of electrical contact cleaner

 

BAD NEWS

 

The something else I unplugged was the drivers airbag. The air bag light is now on. Everything is back together now but it looks like I'm going to have to visit my local stealer to have the light reset. mega bollocks.

 

Would leaving the battery off for a while cure this?

 

I can't even legally drive this to Volvo as it's not MOT'd or taxed.

 

Yet again, I am a massive prat.

[dieselassist]

A bit of a drive about might magically make the airbag light go out - it has a 50/50 success rate with millennium era VAGshite ....

[HH-R]

I feel your pain, the story of my life is fixing one thing whilst fscking up another.

[sporty-shite]

I'd try disconnecting the battery for a while. If that doesn't work, will your test station not have a code reader? Get them to plug it in and reset the light whilst they're doing the test. Got to be cheaper and easier than going to Ovlov dealer.

[Vince70]

I myself have never been able to reset an airbag light by just leaving the battery disconnected for a few hours but I've heard on certain vehicles it's possible...

 

I've mainly had VAG stuff though so it may work on a Volvo at the end of the day you have nothing to lose.

 

I've normally used a £5 lead and free Vag com software

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I'd try disconnecting the battery for a while. If that doesn't work, will your test station not have a code reader? Get them to plug it in and reset the light whilst they're doing the test. Got to be cheaper and easier than going to Ovlov dealer.

Over here MOTs are done in government testing stations, so no chance of a fix during the test.

 

I'll leave the battery disconnected for a while and phone my local backstreet garage of choice, he might have the equipment :s

[Richard]

Ask on the VOC forum if anybody near you has the software required to reset the airbag light. I could do it if the car was slightly older and in Five, I think you'd be looking for DICE for your car.