Headlight wiring- made an attempt to change light bulbs for headlamps. Covering around electrical wiring harness which connect to headlight crumbled in my hands and electrical wiring is exposed. Worries that this may be potential fire hazard to my vehicle and myself. My vehicle was stationary in my driveway.
Lights
Volvo S40 Lighting problems by year
24 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Volvo S40's lights. Headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals and interior lighting failures.
Lighting complaints by model year
Latest S40 lighting complaints
The issue of no headlights (low-bulb failure) is dangerous & expensive. Nor is there a viable permanent repair as the "low-bulb failure" always re-occurs & has been an ongoing problem for me since my car was new. Suddenly having no headlights causes a serious & immediate safety issue for occupants of the car & for oncoming traffic who can't see a car without headlights. It can be 1 headlight or both that fail without warning; leaving no time to bring a vehicle to a stop safely. The experience is frightening &...
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dangerous in those tense moments it takes to stop a moving car on the road without headlights. I have even been issued a violation ticket from the police for equipment failure despite numerous repair bills that I keep in the car. After repeated attempts at getting volvo to fix this issue, I reported the problem to nhtsa several years ago but was told there had not been enough complaints about the headlight failure problem to do anything. Now, years have gone by and I am still dealing with a car that is essentially a daytime only car as it is not safe to drive after dark due to the unpredictable loss of headlights. Each time the headlights fail I bring the car for service and every time the headlight fails again and again within weeks of the "repair". Repair cost are in the $500 range. There is no recourse for the repairs other than to try something new. It has become a problem that is widely known at repair shops; and aftermarket repair kits are now common because volvo has ignored the issue stating that there is not a problem to me. It is easy to find many car owners with the same issue and frustrations on the internet as well as suits brought against other auto manufacturers for the wide-scale failure of these useless, defective headlights. Nhtsa should prohibit these headlights and force action for those responsible to address this known safety issue. *Tr
I've contacted volvo and demanded my money back and they refused, this is my next step before taking them to court for a measily 2,500. This car has caused me a headache unlike any other, the electrical system fails in this car and passes through it malfunctioning one thing after the next, my back window went up and down on its own, heating and cooling systems do whacky things which ruined the car making it overheat even after shops replace sensors and radiators, the main safety concern which volvo is suppressing...
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is that the electrical ghost also affects the braking system and accelerates, this is a main concern when you're on an expressway especially, it accelerates and you cannot hold the brake down hard enough to slow down, and it'll do it at random, and I know this is a problem with this year volvo because I have a 1990 when it was volvo and not bought my an american company and that car is perfect, and a cop talked to me for about an hour just before these bigger issues started happening, he'd owned a dealership and said this year volvo has nothing but problems, and at that time I knew he was onto something because the air and heat buttons were doing all kinds of strange things, I was even in an accident once, a little fender bender thankfully just on a side street, my car wouldn't slow down and it skidded all t he way to the light and I dented someone's bumper, they let me slide because their car was a jalopy, but I've had this same electrical failure happening on expressways at various speeds
Often, the headlamps bulbs fail, after a few years changing bulbs, I found out that due to contact between detachment of the wiring harness cover is the cause of the failure bulbs in right and left headlamps. The wiring harness installed by the manufacturer do not resist voltage and heat. *Tr
While driving at night without warning: ?Interior lights, wipers on ?All gauges went to zero ?All warning lights, airbag, stability ctrl, abs, others-on ?No turn signals or hazard lights ?No door locks ?No window operation ?Random messages such as trunk open ?All problems continuing cannot drive car during previous incidents gauges started jumping, lights blinking, warnings flashing, car has completely shut down while driving. *Tr
Turn signals will stop working intermittently. When it happens neither lh nor lh turn signal will illuminate and neither exterior bulb nor dash indicator will illuminate. Turning on the hazard lights will jump start the turn signals to work again. Turn signal relay (under dash near driver kick panel) has been replaced with no improvement. Used to only happen on very hot days. Now happens regardless the ambient temp. *Tr
Noticed decreased visibility driving at night. The aiming mechanism on both headlamps has disintegrated causing loss of the headlamp calibration and allowing the headlamps to aim downward to a point approximately 30' in front of the vehicle. The failure is continuous, results in reduced visibility. Nothing has been done to correct the problem. Replacement parts are prohibitively expensive and volvo customer service has disavowed any responsibility for the failure due to the age and mileage of the vehicle, (2000...
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s40 with 130k mi.) The service manager at my local volvo dealership has said that he has seen this failure on other volvos of similar age and mileage including one owned by his son. *Tr
Two different mechanics informed me that the casing in both of my headlights was deteriorating and would need to be replaced. *Tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2000 volvo s40. While driving 65 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The contact was able to pull safely off the road. The dealer stated that the failure was caused by coolant leaking from the engine. The cause of the leakage was unknown. The contact had a maintenance package performed on august 9, 2007 and no failures were found in the engine. The current and failure mileages were 98,000. The consumer stated she expects to be reimbursed the full $3,000 for repairs. The consumer stated upon maintenance repair the passenger side headlight was out and needed to be replaced. Updated 12/12/07 *tr
Types of recurring issues with volvo s40: headlights, driver front window motor, early brake pad wear. Headlight bulbs were replaced 2-3 times a year at consumer's cost. When brought to the attention of volvo dealer they reported that it was probably due to lights being used during daylight. They check electrical and reported no issue. Had brake pad and rotor issued shortly after purchasing the vehicle. Volvo dealer reported volvo rotors were built thin and soft. Cost of brake replacement was not covered...
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under warranty as it was considered regular wear. Driver side window regulator has been replaced three times. First regulator was replaced in june 2005, then february 2006 and now may 2007. May 2007 regulator was at the cost of the consumer as warranty had expired and warranty on part only lasts 12 months even though there is an apparent problem.*Ak
3/6/2007. Volvo s40 2000. Contact has a concern with the brakes and the headlights.*Mc the headlights and brakes failed. *Jb
I bought a 2002 volvo s40 from an individual in january of 2004. In a matter of 3 months in 2005, I had to replace my passenger headlight 3 different times and my driver headlight 2 different times. I called the volvo dealer and they said that a bulb should last around 2 years. In the next month, my passenger headlight went out again. I got under the hood to replace it as usual. When I pulled the black plastic piece that contains the male part to the wire connection and acts as the bulb socket, it was melted. It...
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was melted to the point that I could not get the bulb out until I used pliers. I took my car to the volvo dealer and they said that I would have to replace the whole headlight compartment. Since volvo headlight compartments are "factory sealed", they would not break the seal. I would have to buy a brand new one @ $500. I did not do anything about it, because I am not paying for a whole new headlight compartment for a piece of plastic the size of my thumb. Two days later, the driver side bulb went out and it did the same exact thing, melted. This left me with no headlights! Without $1000 to spend on two new headlight compartments (installed), I drove during the day. I found, myself, that the wires (positive and negative) that are connected to the black plastic socket are fairly close together and are not shielded from one another. So, when the wiring harness for the headlights was put together, they did not place the wires nice and neat in there to where there was no way they would touch. When I came to this conclusion, I put black electrical tape around the two wires (positive and negative) in each headlight compartment so that nothing about the wire would touch and obviously had to put new bulbs in. This happened during the second and third week of august 2005. Since, I have not had any problems. I have also replaced both license plates bulbs, the rear fog light bulb, and all four brake lights. *Nm
2004 Volvo s40 experiencing problems with the rear tail light assembly. *Mr the left rear tail light assembly was intermittent. At night there would be no rear tail lights. The right front park light and the yellow side marker light had gone out as well. The dealer replaced the cem. The vehicle's battery lasted 8 months. *Sc
Volvo s40 2002 headlights burned out, replaced 4-5 times. *Bf the consumer believed this to be potentially dangerous since the head lights were being used as daytime running lights. *Jb
Both headlamp units need replacement because the adjustment mechanisim has broken out of each unit. Only repair is total replacment of head lamp units.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data