940 headlights very dim with age

[TonyS9]

Yeah its like toothpaste or t-cut, all just fine grinding paste. Works on polycarb, but really needs machine applied. 940s use glass, heavier but lasts indefinately, although new ones are more sparkely, old ones slightly sand blasted. The side + rear lights are cheap so not worth polishing faded plastic, they are usually crazed/cracked/chipped anyway.

[MiniNinjaRob]

My headlights were a bit crap when I got my 940. I bought a set of Nightbreakers and, excuse the pun, the difference was like night and day. Much brighter and whiter light, more defined edge to the beam.

[aardvarkash10]

if there is plant growth inside, I think you have found the problem! Worth checking voltages as well though. My 940 is around 0.6v drop on the earth side and 0.5v on the live. That means the lights are around 25% less bright than they should be.

I'm fitting a relay soon! Bonus of that is it saves wear on the switchgear.

[bluebrickrick]

I found a great improvement to my headlamps occurs when I clean my glasses Laney %)

More seriously, mine have been glass lenses with a series of clips around the periphery which snap on or off and hold the back and lens together - don't try to unclip unless in the centre of a tennis court as they can ping off into the undergrowth and loose themselves, simple gasket between glass and back which if it has cracked or crisped up somewhere can be helped with a wipe of clear silicone sealer if there is a big gap and / or silicone grease if not.

The bulbs can blacken inside their glass too which doesn't help.

I would suspect Aldi bulbs are probably of decent quality as the continentals tend not to accept the sort of c$@p we do from supermarkets (unless they have discovered this and do a 'Brits only' line)

Rick

[Joe of Loath]

I've used Lidl bulbs and they're pretty good. A little brighter than whatever bog standard ones were being used, and slightly less orange coloured. Aldi and Lidl stuff is generally at parity, what with the huge rivalry and all.

[Laney760]

Well, what with my busy life all I got around to doing was cleaning these lights up, sealing up a small leak that caused water ingress on the os one and which had caused some rust in the compartment of the fog light section of it, and that was it. I did park up against a window in the dark and checked that they both put out the same amount of light, they do, the water ingressed one gave out as much light as the other one

I'm in the middle of moving / reorganising all my car stuff and still haven't had the time to find my volt / amp meter

The lights were a nightmare on my journeys home all winter to be honest

Anyway, I am here to update! Today I had to fit a new battery ( Bosch Silver S5 ) and WHAT A DIFFERENCE it has made to the headlamps and the dash lights and the interior lights! I reckon the battery had been failing very gradually for a very long time and I was simply not aware of how dim everything had become, DUH!

I bought a better condition os light unit some months back which I will fit soon now that the weather is better. With the increased watts from the new battery and the new unit I'll see how they go. I have spared no expense mechanically on this car this last 18 months, she has had almost £500 spent on her this week alone but I baulk at the price of two new headlight units. I might bite the bullet in the autumn if she sails through MOT

[855 tdi]

I can't comment personally but Dave fitted LED's in his and they are obviously bright, not sure how they work in the reflector as i thought LED's wouldn't work but he said they do and they don't blind oncoming vehicles. Not cheap but no doubt would light up the country lanes like you would want.

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showpo...43&postcount=5

Personally i have night breakers and have found them to be a noticeable improvement over standard. I also have been thinking of fitting a 12" led light bar that would go in front of the radiator below the bumper where the centre bumper grille is (circled bit in the pic), not sure how well it would light up the road though being so low down and behind the bumper but it would be hidden so wouldn't be a monstrosity.

[Laney760]

Thanks for that, I hadn't thought of LEDs. I do have the self-levelling suspension and headlamp washers which therefore makes them legal? I do have LED replacements in for some of the smaller bulbs, kindly sent me free by a forum member but hadn't thought about LEDs for headlights. Great advice, thanks!

Edit, also checking out the nightbreaker bulbs, they are recommended in an old forum thread

[855 tdi]

Might be interested in fitting LED bulbs to your sidelight's as i have, give a proper white which sticks out more, headlights are nightbreaker's and i put yellow film on the driving lights to hopefully stick out further. I think an LED light bar would make it as bright as i'd like it to be.

[martin calva]

My 940's headlamps seemed dim but there was nothing obviously wrong with the reflectors.

I bought a pair of 100/90W H4's on Ebay. Also, a pair of ceramic H4 connectors (whose leads plug directly into the existing H4 plastic connectors).

Driving on dark roads is now significantly more comfortable with the extra light.