canis is in the market for an XC90

[Kev0607]

Check control arms for play. Any wear in the bushes will make the car wonder...

[Tannaton]

Am just catching up with this thread as I've not had too much time for the forum the past few weeks.

@canis - I'm actually quite jealous of you. There's few things I get more satisfaction from than buying an project car to actually use, and gradually going through it and improving it and adding value, and then adapting it to my needs. I admire the collaborative, no ego approach you're taking on the forum. Good man - I'm looking forward to continuing to read this thread and hopefully make the odd contribution as you continue with your journey.

Unfortunately, in some of these forums and especially on Facebook there is a breed of people, keyboard warriors I think has been said here, that get their energy from criticising people and generally non-positive contributions. These forums are about cars, and the big people on them talk about cars, and how to fix and upgrade them. The small people talk about other people. I've learned that the best thing you can do with these people is just walk away and leave them to it. Occasionally I still need to take my own advice, but that would be don't get into a fight with a smelly pig. They will drag you into the mud, roll around, leave you angry and covered in smelly mud but they actually enjoy doing that, regardless of whether they win, because it is the only thing they know how to do. That said, there are some good XC90 forums on Facebook, I forget the exact title but there is a good, well mannered UK one for Mk1 & Mk2 which I was a member of but I left as it was too distracting and I simply didn't have the time!

With regard to the delay - this is a common issue - suggest you Google "geartronic delay". It's especially common on Euro 3 (black engine cover) cars.

My other advice on a car like this would be try to focus on one issue at a time. Often, some issues aren't a problem but a symptom of another one or more conflating each other - you sometimes fine you fix a vibration or noise and another issue disappears as well.

Anyhow good luck - I'm looking forward to following your work.

[canis]

It turns out the sidelights are working, the bulbs were just heavilly "silvered" and not producing much light. So I drove to Halfords and replaced them both, and discovered it actually does have running lights after all, just the bulbs were blown. So I drove back to Halfords, and bought some more bulbs, and now the front of the car is looking really pretty.

That was a nice trivial task to make me feel better. So I set about finding more lamps which weren't lit. One fog light was out, but on inspection turned out to be a dummy. That's annoying.

The car has very large red plastic "lamps" on it's D pillars, and they're constructed exactly like lamps presumably so they don't look fake. But fake they are. There are no bulb holders inside, or even any injection molding marks where bulb holders ought to be. Nothing.

So what are they for? I did consider simply painting them black, but it would make the proper rear lights look silly. I am considering installing blue LEDs, because they'll look purple behind the red lens and that'd be really cool. (not really)

I think the "silly-looking rear lights" phenomenon is broadly parrallel to house builders reacting to criticism about houses all looking the same. The same sentiment is often expressed with cars today. I think they're trying to be different, original, imaginative, etc. But in reality, these look stupid and I wish they weren't there.

I was behind a V90 yesterday, and it has illuminated D pillar lamps. "Whale poop" as my North Carolinian freind's speech-to-text would say.

[john.wigley]

Hi 'canis', good to hear that you've resolved your sidelight / DRL issues.

I think that the dummy 'lamps' on your 'D' pillars may be blanks for side marker lights (SMLs), which are required in some markets - notably the US.

I once had a 245 - a '78, I think it was - which had something similar on its flanks, just aft of the rear wheels.

Regards, John.

[Harley Dave]

Side marker Lights are usually amber, aren't they?

Perhaps one of our members from across the pond can comment on whether the lights in the upper section of the D pillar are illuminated in that market - although I rather think not.

I did find these - but they are right at the bottom of the D pillar (In the bumper really)

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/9227...-Volvo-8648294


Cheers

Dave

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by canis

It turns out the sidelights are working, the bulbs were just heavilly "silvered" and not producing much light. So I drove to Halfords and replaced them both, and discovered it actually does have running lights after all, just the bulbs were blown. So I drove back to Halfords, and bought some more bulbs, and now the front of the car is looking really pretty.

That was a nice trivial task to make me feel better. So I set about finding more lamps which weren't lit. One fog light was out, but on inspection turned out to be a dummy. That's annoying.

The car has very large red plastic "lamps" on it's D pillars, and they're constructed exactly like lamps presumably so they don't look fake. But fake they are. There are no bulb holders inside, or even any injection molding marks where bulb holders ought to be. Nothing.

So what are they for? I did consider simply painting them black, but it would make the proper rear lights look silly. I am considering installing blue LEDs, because they'll look purple behind the red lens and that'd be really cool. (not really)

I think the "silly-looking rear lights" phenomenon is broadly parrallel to house builders reacting to criticism about houses all looking the same. The same sentiment is often expressed with cars today. I think they're trying to be different, original, imaginative, etc. But in reality, these look stupid and I wish they weren't there.

I was behind a V90 yesterday, and it has illuminated D pillar lamps. "Whale poop" as my North Carolinian freind's speech-to-text would say.

I don't believe those upper lights where ever illuminated, even on fed spec cars. On the P3 XC70 which had a similar arrangement, they were illuminated on the very late models for the last two years. I have seen an article where someone opened them up and added LED strips, but due to the optics it looked like a cheap mod rather than factory.

It's also strange that the early XC90's (from inception to 2007MY) had only one sidelight bulb in the rear cluster - all other Volvos I can think of had two (unless they were LED). I did modify the rear clusters on my first XC90 (2003MY) and changed the brake light bulb for a twin filament 21/5w lamp so it was also a side (position) light. This was more involved than you might think as the different bulb holder physically won't fit unless you carefully cut and grind the plastic... Looked good though, and it was the only one I've seen.

[canis]

Originally Posted by Harley Dave

I did find these - but they are right at the bottom of the D pillar (In the bumper really)

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/9227...-Volvo-8648294

Ah, that's interesting. My first reaction was "That's a foglight!" but I did a bit of research (I typed the part number into google whilst sitting in a comfy chair) and it would appear in some cases these lamps are indeed used as running/marker lights, and I presume fog as well since there are two bulb holders. And if that's the case, I want them! But ... not at £69.31 though. That's a lot of money for a piece of plastic.

Originally Posted by Tannaton

I have seen an article where someone opened them up and added LED strips, but due to the optics it looked like a cheap mod rather than factory.

Yes, there's a fine line, isn't there. It can so easily go horribly wrong. It's kinda heartbreaking really, spend all day modding something which was a great idea while it was in ya head, and it turns out to look total rubbish in reality.

[foggyjames]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

I don't believe those upper lights where ever illuminated, even on fed spec cars. On the P3 XC70 which had a similar arrangement, they were illuminated on the very late models for the last two years. I have seen an article where someone opened them up and added LED strips, but due to the optics it looked like a cheap mod rather than factory

Close, but no cigar! Pre-facelift P3 V70s and XC70s have the brake lights in the upper lights, but there is a modification (which I believe just involves a diode and maybe a resistor, but is sold at a fairly chunky price as a "module" by some people) which illuminates the (LED) brake lights permanently at "sidelight brightness" to mimic the facelift design.

cheers

James

[Kev0607]

+ YouTube Video

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by foggyjames

Close, but no cigar! Pre-facelift P3 V70s and XC70s have the brake lights in the upper lights, but there is a modification (which I believe just involves a diode and maybe a resistor, but is sold at a fairly chunky price as a "module" by some people) which illuminates the (LED) brake lights permanently at "sidelight brightness" to mimic the facelift design.

cheers

James

That's correct the pre-facelift P3 had sidelights in the lower cluster and brake lights in the upper - you could get the brakelight to work with the sidelights (as an additional side light) by adding a diode to prevent the brake light circuit back-feeding the other lights and a 50ohm resistor between two wires on the connector above the tailgate. But from the factory, the upper lights were brake lights only.

The "module" has a 100 ohm resistor which makes the lights look dimmer compared to those below, 50 ohm is the correct value for same brightness.

Here's one of the videos on how to do it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfV309P-Sfg

Been there and smoked the cigar........