DRLs (not the usual)

[DWM]

When those cheapskates at Volvo made my particular car's model they were (as I understand it) aiming at stripping it of every luxury in an attempt to grab a slice of a certain fleet market. So it has an unchromed 740 badge, and so on.

In trimming things back one of the things they didn't give it was DRLs. (Shock, I know.)

Now I quite like DRLs - just on aesthetic grounds - I'm not pushing for yet another re-run of the safety debate. It seems to me it's not really a proper 740 unless it has them.

Now one thing I can do is just leave the headlight switch on. Then I have dipped beam when running, and they go off when I return the key to position 0. So that gives me most of what I like - the leave-it-and-never-touch-it-again headlight switch, plus the smug feeling that I'm in a car whose manufacturer thought of something decades ago that others are just now picking up on.

But there are two niggles:

1. That way, dipped beams are still on when key is in position 1, which is where it would be if I have killed the engine but am still listening to the end of a song or news item or whatever. And that's needlessly wasteful of battery. (By contrast the V40 lights come on only with key in position 2, but the radio still works in position 1.)

2. Proper DRLs on a 740 have to be the sidelight/corner ones, not the dipped beams, right?

So:

Is there an easy way to put in what Volvo left out? I mean could one swap a switch or a relay or something, or is it going to be more complicated than that? (Please note that I am HOPELESS at understanding electrical things (dyselectric? ) - it's a blind spot of mine.)

[stephend]

Check your fuses. IIRC, the DRLs - which are indeed the little ones above the indicators - are on their own fuse, which may have blown. That was certainly the case on mine, although it was the garage who spotted and fixed it, so I can't tell you which one. Your handbook should say.

Incidentally, on mine the main lights sometimes come on dimly with the switch at 0. I don't think they're supposed to, and I think it's a minor fault with a relay or some such, but haven't bothered to investigate as yet.

Ps on dyselectricity: the tale is told by physicist Peter Scheuer of his National Service spent in the Signals Corps, being told by his sergeant instructor "all you have to know is Ohm's Law - but you have to know it bl00dy well!".

[DWM]

Thanks - that never occurred to me - note how I just leapt up to blame the manufacturer instead of thinking of a thing called a fuse. I shall have to go and look.

[DWM]

I would happily have taken the total humiliation on the chin if it had made it work, but sadly no joy yet.

Manual says 15A in slot 25 (which was empty). Tried that - no joy.
Sticker on the back of the cover behind the ashtray says slot 23 (also empty). Tried that too - no joy.

Sidelights definitely work by themselves when switch is in the sidelight position (and also come on with headlights when switch is in the dipped beam position).

[mikealder]

Being 88/ 89 it should (or should it be could) have dim dip headlights in addition to DRL, my 89 740 Turbo had dim dip which had a mind of their own - Sorry this is of little help but it might be worth investigating if the car has dim dip and it's faulty - Mike

[DWM]

Originally Posted by mikealder

Being 88/ 89 it should (or should it be could) have dim dip headlights in addition to DRL, my 89 740 Turbo had dim dip which had a mind of their own - Sorry this is of little help but it might be worth investigating if the car has dim dip and it's faulty - Mike

In my appalling ignorance I had to look up dim dip (and found another fascinating story of the failure of UK vs EU legislation rather like the HID issue). I think I noticed that slot 25 on mine was (according to the sticker in the car) for dim dip.

I'll have to try again - harder - when it's light and not pouring, I think.

[mikealder]

I only mention the dim dip as not many people seem to know about it and when it goes wrong it can mess up the lights, not too sure how many models had it fitted but your fault could be down to someone disabling the dim dip so it is worth checking - Mike

[stephend]

See this thread:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...=158481&page=2

for a photo which shows you where the dim/dip relay is (close to the bonnet release pull).

By the way, I believe the little lights above the indicators are not the sidelights: the latter are part of the main headlamp.

[Steve940estate]

When I first got my car I wanted to switch all the running lights off. I found the ignition on dim dip headlamps was controlled by a seperate circuit fed from the ignition switch.
To get this to work correctly there are different main lighting switches. If you look at the back of an early switch it has one (I think) terminal in a different place to the one for cars with DRL's.
I went as far as to modify a standard switch and fit it but found I had missed something in the wiring and the headlamp relay got a bit hot. I ended up putting it all back together as standard and have not bothered with it since.

If you wanted to fit them to a car it would involve an in depth look at the wiring to meke it work as Volvo intended. If your car doesn't have the right wiring then perhaps by fiting another rocker switch in one of the spare holes and a feed direct from the ignition (disconnect the original to the light switch) would work.

[stephend]

DWM, do your DRL lights (i.e. the ones above the indicators) come on at all, in any of the switch positions?