480 Strange Electrics

Here you can talk about the joy owning a Volvo 480 brings. Non-technical discussions take place here, like what is the difference between an ES and a S version.

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dxi310
480 Newbie
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Location: Poole Dorset

480 Strange Electrics

Post by dxi310 » Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:03 pm

My 480 Celebration like many others suffers from heat damage to the DRL lenses

I decided to purchase some correct pattern LED bulbs but when fitted they stopped the pop ups working -- go up, stay up, both filaments in the bulbs working together, pop ups not going up/ down as a pair.

I purchased some correct pattern standard replacement bulbs from a well Known motor factors but again these would not work as expected with problems with the pop ups and both filaments again working together.

The DRL seem to work in reverse to vehicle rear lights with the bright filament working all the time until the side lights are switched on and then the 4v filament switches on, seems straight forward enough.

So i then decided to run the car without DRL's only to find that the digital display would not function. i did not associate this with the DRL's until i purchased genuine Volvo Bulbs which when fitted all worked as good as new including the digital display.

The Volvo bulbs are expensive at £3.60 each but is it a coincidence that non Volvo bulbs caused the above electrical gremlins?


Dennis

frenchfries
Advanced 480 rookie
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Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by frenchfries » Wed Jul 05, 2017 4:02 pm

Well

This is interesting. I explored LED option for a while but the general consensus on the forum was against it and I also concluded that the 480 does not easily tolerate to me messed with (it does have quite a temper).

However, of the first bulbs I bought 1 was faulty straight out of the box and Skip (my beloved) detected it straight away. The pop ups would go up and down at random and in a very quick succession. It was funny at first then very worrying. I changed the "new" bulb with another "new" one and it all went back to normal. When I tested the weird bulb it was indeed faulty.

This is just my experience but there are many gurus here who have mastered the dark art of electricity and will be happy to contribute :)
1993 Turbo auto called Skip for the important stuff
2011 Juke 190 for everything else

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brinkie
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Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by brinkie » Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:13 pm

I have heard before from incorrect LEDs causing the popups to show erratic behaviour.

Have you bought the correct fittings? For a combination of DRL/parking light (21/4W bulb) you need a BAZ15d fitting. These are uncommon, but not rare. A bit more expensive than the usual BAY15d, though.

Both my 480's have been equipped with LED, they are 1995 model year like your Celebration and both have had no problems at all with the popups. Though the shitty cheap Chinese quality of the LEDs caused many to fail prematurely, even quicker than normal light bulbs. :wall:
Robert.

Present cars: 1994 Volvo 480 GT 2.0i, 1999 Volvo S70 2.5 Europa, 2010 Volvo V70 2.0F Momentum

balto8
Knows an Aerodeck isn't a 480
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Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by balto8 » Thu Jul 06, 2017 5:14 pm

In the past I have tried many different kind of LED bulbs for DRLs.

As Robert says, most of the Ebay Chinese bulbs are a pile of shit. Individual leds fall from their solderings when they heat. They heat a lot.

Having that said no Led bulb has ever caused any gremlin in my 1991 Turbo. It's just a matter of how long they last. I would try to reset the CEM by disconnecting the battery and try over again.
1991 480 Black Turbo
2012 Seat Exeo ST
2013 VW Polo TSI DSG

balto8
Knows an Aerodeck isn't a 480
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Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by balto8 » Thu Jul 06, 2017 5:14 pm

In the past I have tried many different kind of LED bulbs for DRLs.

As Robert says, most of the Ebay Chinese bulbs are a pile of shit. Individual leds fall from their solderings when they heat. They heat a lot.

Having that said no Led bulb has ever caused any gremlin in my 1991 Turbo. It's just a matter of how long they last. I would try to reset the CEM by disconnecting the battery and try over again.
1991 480 Black Turbo
2012 Seat Exeo ST
2013 VW Polo TSI DSG

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brinkie
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Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by brinkie » Fri Jul 07, 2017 11:22 am

CEM has nothing to do with popups and DRL. CEM only controls the long range lamps and the flashing and beeping of the direction indicators.
Robert.

Present cars: 1994 Volvo 480 GT 2.0i, 1999 Volvo S70 2.5 Europa, 2010 Volvo V70 2.0F Momentum

dxi310
480 Newbie
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Location: Poole Dorset

Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by dxi310 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:46 pm

Many thanks for your mixed replies its good to know that the forum is read and members are quick to respond
and Yes i did use the correct pattern bulbs both from the motor factors and Volvo and so far all seems ok

Now another problem with my 480 to which i look forward again to your many replies

Air Con problem :

This year the air con has slowly got less and less efficient, i had the system recharged but it made no difference, the problem is when you switch on, the engine note rises as it should but the air con clutch does not engage at all whereas before it would finally engage and the air con would work fine.but this would take some time and slowly got longer and longer

An air con specilist took a look and when he applied a seperate 12v supply the clutch engaged and the air con worked good however he was unsure what the problem was and offered to wire in a seperate switched supply to operate the system
I was not too keen on this so i took the car to another air con specilist who again recharged the system but was unable to diagnose the problem which he felt was electrical

Unfortuantly he was unable to find a wiring diagram that suited my 1995 Celebration model, (via haynes manual and the internet) but felt sure if he had the correct wiring diagrams with the correct colour codeing he could trace the problem

So can anyone supply me with a wiring diagram for the air con for my paticular 480 ?

Cheers

Dennis
I

jifflemon
480 Is my middle name
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Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by jifflemon » Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:27 am

Have the A/C people follow this guide

I'll have a rummage for a diagram, but A/C is not normally electrical

eye of ra
Can tell where the 480 was built
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Re: 480 Strange Electrics

Post by eye of ra » Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:48 pm

You can download a wiring diagram for 91 cars from here

http://volvo480.myds.me/v480eu/downloads/91wiring.pdf

The later supplement does not show an entry for the A/C so I would ASSUME this to be correct for later cars.
Current:
480 ES Auto 1989
480 Celebration 187
480 ES Auto 1991
CLK430 Conv 2001
Hyundai i10 2015

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