1999 V40 Bulb Failure Light

[clarkey1984]

Originally Posted by jmurray01

Hmm... Has it ever come on to indicate bulb failure?

I've had it come on before when one of my brake light bulbs packed up so I can confirm 8t works, at least on my p1 anyway

[ITSv40]

I think there may be a mis-interpretation of what should happen with the brake bulb failure light warning.

My old '97 P1 did not have any warning system, it relied on me checking the bulbs on a Sunday morning.

My P2 has the warning light and that lights up on the dash when the ignition is turned on and does it's self test along with all the other diagnostic bulbs on the dash. It extinguishes itself once the test is done and all is OK.

If a brake light bulb has blown including any of the high level lights the failure warning light comes on and stays on when the brake pedal is depressed. If all bulbs are working correctly it stays off other than when the self test is done.

The manual states: Brake bulb failure warning light
If this light comes on and stays on when you press the brake pedal, this means one or more brake lights are not working ( including third brake light). check fuses and bulbs.

At the top of page 12 in the handbook it also says that the hand brake warning light and bulb failure warning light will only go off once the handbrake is released or the brake pedal is depressed. whilst the hand brake does stay on until the handbrake is released, the bulb failure warning light does not stay on. I have just checked the car and in fact the brake failure light is the first one to go off once the self test is done.
So my car operates logically, but not according to the book.

[loely]

Mine does a self check when turning on the contact ,if all is working, if goes out without pushing the brake. In case off a malfunction it stays on ;with my previous P1 an now a P2 .Never saw it different.

[ww1dm1]

Originally Posted by jmurray01

If you read the owners guide that is how it is designed for all S40 and V40 models.

You are right though that it is a strange way of working it, as all my previous vehicles with bulb failure warning lights have gone out straight away and only come on in the event of a failure being detected.

My original owner's manual is in French, but the one I found online some time ago states this:

Bulb failure warning light

The light will come on if one of the brake light bulbs are defective when the brake pedal is pressed.

Check the fuse and bulb. See sections "Replacing bulbs" and "fuses.

So it should light up when the brake pedal is pressed, if there is a defective bulb. Nothing about it staying on until pedal is pressed. And clearly there are at least a few owners who have it working normally, going out as soon as the car is started.

[clarkey1984]

Mine must be quirky then as it lights once the ignition is on and doesn't go out no matter how long i wait until I press the pedal, I've pulled away from my parents house before and it's still been on once I get to the roundabout, which is all the way through the village and then a couple of miles of country b road, probably 4 or 5 miles in total, it's never been any different.

[v40alex]

I'm sure at least one of my Phase 1's did the 'light stays on until you first press the brake pedal' thing too.

[martin93]

It's that old P1 and P2 showdown!! The P1's had a little black box next to one of the rear light units which had all the gubbins in them to indicate a bulb failure, and these would light up the dash light until the brake pedal is first pressed, where the light would go out providing the bulbs are fine. Unless the unit is disconnected or water damaged, then the warning light will never come on at all. Which is probably the case in ITSv40's 1997 car since even the old 460's and 480's had a bulb failure system.

The P2's brake light failure system is more modern where it's included in one the the other modules, either in the DIM or CEM, and does the self check with the first ignition switch on along with all the other systems, then puts the light out after a few seconds unless there is a fault with one of the brake lights.

As with everything else on these vehicles, the P1.5's are in a complete league of their own where it will either have one system or the other. Whatever they had in the parts bin!

[jmurray01]

That makes sense now! Both my previous and current V40s were 1999 models, but obviously the previous one had an older system (light stayed on until brake pedal was pressed) and my current one has the newer system.

[ww1dm1]

That could explain it, mine's a 1999 with no CEM and it won't go out until I press the pedal. There were also a couple of occasions where the light just turned on while driving for no reason and the pedal had to be pressed again.

So is there anyone with a CEMless P1 and a normally working bulb indicator?

[jmurray01]

I've also noticed another discrepancy between my old V40 and the new one, in the remote controls. My previous V40 had the older style remote which seemed to operate off an infrared system whereby you had to be right next to the car for it to lock/unlock, whereas the current one has a newer style remote which obviously uses RF as it works from half way down the road!!

Could that be due to the difference in trim levels though? As my last one was an XS and this is an SE, perhaps they upgraded the remote locking system for higher end models?