240 General: Do 240's not have running lights

[Clifford Pope]

My 93 had dim/dip. I disconnected it because i got tired of being flashed by people who thought I had left my lights on. Also I noticed that the dimmed headlights gave the impression that I was flashing other people all the time as the car went over bumps.
The ordinary sidelights come on with ignition, so are in a sense driving lights. It's just that on the later cars they are not separate lamps any more.
I didn't know the front lights were meant to be only 5 watt. Mine have always been 10 watt - 5s seem very dim.
AFAIK the rear lights have always been dual-purpose - ie the sidelights double up as driving lights whenever the ignition is on.

[Scott Stephen]

My '75 244 doesn't have day runners which is a shame since they are a well known characteristic of these cars. Might look into wiring up the side lights so that they are on all the time though............

[Mike_Brace]

These can be upgraded quite easily. You need the headlamp switch from a later car which has an extra terminal on it. I wire needs running from this to the light units which will need changing for the later ones with the twin filament bulbs. I did this on all my early 240s back in the late 80s/early 90s.

Mike

[I have a nut leftover]

Probably the owners have taken out the fuse for the day running lights, I've done this myself a few times when my battery has been on the low side.

Stu.

[LankyTim]

My dad disconnected the DRL on his 1977 265. Div.

[dgbalfour]

The only downside I find with the DRLs is that the dashboard/instrument illumination is always on, and the bulbs burn out faster than they would otherwise.

I only say this because I've had a series of hard-to-reach bulbs fail in the past year and have got quite fed up of removing the centre console now!

Anybody know a way to disconnect the illumination for the DRLs?

David

[Clifford Pope]

I suspect there might be more to your illumination bulb failures than just the fact that they are on all the time with the DRLs. I've had one bulb failure in 7 years, and that was one of the bulbs illuminating the speedometer.

Apart from the one in the radio illuminating the selector buttons - heaven knows how you replace that. It's annoying feeling in the dark for the right button - a bit like reading braile.

[Mike_Brace]

My experience with the dash light bulbs is that by the time they are hitting the 20-25 year old mark they start to fail. I usually replace them all at the same time using Volvo bulbs. Its a do once and forget job.

Mike

[penninepullman]

In the Owners Manual for my 1982 244 it states that you can remove fuse no.4 if you do not want the DRLs on.
I prefer the safety of always having lights on when driving, so have never removed the fuse. Also, you know if a bulb fails as the DRL is part of the bulb failure light circuit.
One advantage I have found of the DRLs is on campsites at night, when moving around (at less than 5mph) they give enough glow to see were you are going without the headlights on, which would dazzle those people walking on the site.
Finally, I concur with Clifford and Mike regarding dash lights. In the 20 years we have owned the car I cannot remember the last time I changed one of these bulbs; it must have been a very long time ago!

[Mike_Brace]

I run with headlights on at all times. On all the 240s I've worked on I've never had to replace dash bulbs more than once. The Volvo bulbs bith for this and the DRLs are designed for continual use and are worth the extra costs. My GLT needed some bulbs when I got it at 200k three years ago - they were probably originals. Another 85k and still going strong.
I would never run without DRL particularly on my silver (merges with road) GLT they do make a difference.

Mike