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Volvo 240 Cluster Bulbs Blowing Out

xDread92x

Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2015
Location
NC
For a while my cluster bulbs have been burned out. Removed two bulbs and they were blown. Had a good spare and placed them in. Turned lights on and nothing happend. Took cluster out and bulbs were blown.

Fuse 16 not blown and in tact. About a year ago my right tail light (which i know is in the wiring of cluster) stopped working. Couldn?t get it to work so took it to a shop and they rigged it up to work but unsure what they did.

Soon after my cluster bulbs quit working. Culprits I believe could
be:

Bulb failure relay, cluster electronic board somehow, or possibly wiring issue somewhere causing bulbs to blow but not fuse.

Thanks
 
If the shop bypassed the bulb out relay they may have affected the cluster bulb wiring somehow? Just a guess. The light wiring for the center stack is also on the cluster circuit so if that wiring is wrong it could affect the cluster bulbs. A bulb can also burn out if it gets overheated. Are you sure you're installing the correct wattage?
 
... Had a good spare and placed them in. ...

Assuming you're dealing with an 86-93.

Nothing external made your bulbs quit. Just age. The filaments are so brittle, just removing and installing them will break them. My pillage of pnp bulbs yielded this mess of duds, which probably were all working when the car was scrapped.

lampduds328.jpg


You wonder why I kept them, I suppose. I figured I could find 3W capsules to resistance weld into the bases, but could only find 5W halogen capsules. Many have successfully found LED replacements for these, but I can't offer any experience with that.
 
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So is it really just the bulbs?

Even if i order some more, can i expect those to blow too?

Whats proper installment for the bulbs? Can they be installed incorrectly?
 
So is it really just the bulbs?

Even if i order some more, can i expect those to blow too?

Whats proper installment for the bulbs? Can they be installed incorrectly?

I think you will be fine if you use new bulbs, which I believe may have come down in price from historical levels. Halogen bulbs don't need to be oriented in any special direction, just insert and twist. I imagine the LED replacements have to be put in with the polarity correct unless they've become more user-friendly these days.
 
I replaced every bulb on my car except the head light bulbs and the bulbs inside the toggle switches for under $50.

After midnight today, maybe under $62.50. :)

But your figure surprises me because I'd swear I haven't spent $50 on non-headlamps of any type in 20 years on 12 cars. Better half shakes her head like this and mutters something about cheap... :nod:

lamp04.jpg


(more pnp plunder)
 
Hey All,

So I placed the new bulbs in. Its doing the same thing it did when I bought the car. The left bulb over clock and speedo works. But the bulb over the fuel and temp gauge doesn’t come on immediately. If i smack that side of the dash the bulb comes on sometimes.

What could this be?
 
The bulbs turned in pretty tight so they are not loose. Maybe pressing the connectors closer together may help?

Could it be the actual circuit board on the cluster?

Thanks
 
The bulbs turned in pretty tight so they are not loose. Maybe pressing the connectors closer together may help?

Could it be the actual circuit board on the cluster?

Thanks
 
The bulbs turned in pretty tight so they are not loose. Maybe pressing the connectors closer together may help?

Could it be the actual circuit board on the cluster?

Thanks

Are you using truly new bulbs? An old bulb will have a break in the filament that sometimes makes contact and lights. You probably have experienced that with headlights before.

If you are indeed using fresh bulbs, then the possibility the loose connection is on the circuit board somewhere is best checked by removing the cluster to the bench and powering the lamps with 12V where you can wiggle things, and trace the circuit to locate the culprit. Here's one way to get power to the lamps on the workbench:

speedo530.jpg


(from some notes on replacing an odometer gear)

Knowing how fragile the halogen lamps are, I made sure they lighted before re-assembling the cluster. The power is applied to the lamp's contact and ground was made to the 10 ohm resistor at the top left. Don't be confused by the LED, its lead just provided a handy transition from alligator clip to thin probe.
 
Are all of the dash grounds hooked up? Bad grounds are the often the cause of unnecessarily firing the parts cannon.
VP Autoparts may have new, known good bulbs in stock, worth checking.
 
Yea i have been through the dash multiple times everything seems normal. It was like this when i bought the car. I havent had time to mess with it again but im going to check the circuit board it may just be old or damaged. Corrosion maybe?
 
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