Volvo 480 Club Europe

Starting a few weeks ago my pop up headlights have been occasionally not going up. When it works it works fine with no issues but maybe 10% of the times I start the car they don't work.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

You fix one problem and another shows up

Try to give them a good exercising. Either by putting them up/down yourself for a few minutes or searching on here for the solution (Brinkir likely posted this plus a good pic) where you bridge a few relay contacts, override the bonnet safety over-ride switch and leave them popping for 10 mins or so. This cleans up the contacts in the relays and the motors.

First thing I'd check is the relay, sounds like the most likely culprit. There is a post somewhere showing bridging the relay contacts to give the motors a work out. Also probably worth mentioning at this point to check the gas struts. If they're worn out, the motors will be under more strain and eventually stop working. One of my pop ups was slower to lift than the other, eventually the motor gave up.

Oh yeah that too! new gas struts are a good idea too to take the strain off the motors

Thanks for the advice

Interestingly taking the headlight switch/dial out and putting it back in seems to temporarily fix the problem

Ahh, could be a loose or dirty connection in the switch or the connector then.

https://imgur.com/a/Ziqa2Tw

Has anyone got pictures of the light switch pins? It looks like one might be snapped?

Here's mine. It appears that what looks like a broken pin is actually meant to be like that.
https://flic.kr/p/2mXUN3x

GCooper wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:59 pm

Thanks for the advice

Interestingly taking the headlight switch/dial out and putting it back in seems to temporarily fix the problem

Just a thought...

What happens if you pop the lights BEFORE switching the ignition on? Do they ever fail to pop up?

jifflemon wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 18, 2022 2:36 pm

GCooper wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:59 pm

Thanks for the advice

Interestingly taking the headlight switch/dial out and putting it back in seems to temporarily fix the problem

Just a thought...

What happens if you pop the lights BEFORE switching the ignition on? Do they ever fail to pop up?

The headlights do seem to pop up with the ignition off, I have only tried it once so I don't know how reliable this is

So far turning the headlights on with the ignition off has worked every time. Does anyone know what makes this method so reliable?