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240 wagon tail lamp assembly replacements

E

eebird

New member
Joined
Nov 12, 2017
Location
Baltimore, MD
I gather there are a lot of aftermarket brands/versions of these available. Can anyone recommend one that is the best to get, for fit or quality? Or are they all basically the same? I see IPD sells some, also FCP Euro. Some on ebay and Amazon as well.
 
I -THINK- the ones I got are Swedish Auto Lamps. Bought on ebay. Great quality for the price. Only thing that bugs me is one orange lens is a slightly lighter color...
 
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First choice would be nice condition used original. If you must have new then the genuine Volvo ones are the best. I've used the Swedish Car Parts ones on my 93 and they are very nice. Use a 1073 bulb in the bottom location instead of an 1157 to help keep the light bulb heat from melting the plastic.
 
Having used both "good used" and "aftermarket" options - I found that the aftermarket ones were cleaner and nicer looking IMO, and less likely to have surprise melted contacts or back plastic.

That said - they don't come with bulb holders and used ones often do. Buying new bulb holders is $$$ if you aren't reusing your old ones for some reason. And the aftermarket options are kind of expensive too.

If you are concerned about UV fading (I never had an issue with mine) there's a lot of good spray or wipe-on clear coat products which are for protecting plastic lenses against UV. Usually they're sold as headlight protectants. I think you can get a film too but that sounds like a pain.

Bonus tip - The upper rear foglight position can be populated on both sides and wired up to your brake light circuit so that you have 5 total brake lights for better visibility.
 
white855T said:
They are still available from Volvo. Left side https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/products/1130588/1372441.html right side https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/products/1207343/1372442.html

Swedish car parts are good replacements but they do fade after about 5 years.

Finding good used ones is great option. Post a wanted post or look on ebay.

Here is a nice pair on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4039746366...yUH21fIDf71dnHaeyEUEoP+dar|tkp:Bk9SR6TS2ZaQYQ
Click to expand...

Last time I ordered volvo genuine part 245 tail lamps, they were made in Taiwan non cibie tail lights.

Was not impressed with the quality unfortunately.
 
^^ No surprise. Almost everything Volvo sells for the 240 is an aftermarket part. Their Genuine Volvo down pipe is a piece of crap Walker relabeled. Same thing with their "OE" exhaust systems. Relabeled Walker junk. Their strut mounts are pure garbage. Most likely made in China. A pair lasted less than 5,000 miles/2 years on mr brick driver's 242.

I have experienced the complete opposite situation with the tail lights, both sedan and wagon. OE Volvo lights have never melted a socket. With the aftermaket lights both the sedan and wagon lights almost always melt the dual filament bulb socket.
 
The aftermarket sedan tail light circuit cards are so thin. It's amazing there is enough material to have the copper trace on it. If you poke too hard with your finger you'll tear it. Instead of the socket melting I've seen the circuit card melt. :lol:
 
2manyturbos said:
^^ No surprise. Almost everything Volvo sells for the 240 is an aftermarket part. Their Genuine Volvo down pipe is a piece of crap Walker relabeled. Same thing with their "OE" exhaust systems. Relabeled Walker junk. Their strut mounts are pure garbage. Most likely made in China. A pair lasted less than 5,000 miles/2 years on mr brick driver's 242.

I have experienced the complete opposite situation with the tail lights, both sedan and wagon. OE Volvo lights have never melted a socket. With the aftermaket lights both the sedan and wagon lights almost always melt the dual filament bulb socket.
Click to expand...

Ah sorry if I was unclear. OE lights probably have thicker plastic. Maybe I just have had bad luck with sourcing "good used" but I managed to get two beat-up pairs in a row and one of them had a melted socket. (Was looking for replacements since the ones on the old budget wagon had melted on both sides).

Secret to avoiding socket melt IMO is good clean contacts on both the holder and lighting assembly, and good spring tension if you can help it. You can also reduce the amp load with LED bulbs but then you have to deal with the failure relay.

Those flex PCBs on the sedan lights sound terrible. I think even if I got a nice OE one I'd want to hardwire it. But I've been avoiding sedans like the plague this whole time. :e-shrug:
 
I've been using the Swedish Car Parts tails on my 245 for a few years so far. I went with LED's for the running and brake lights (bottoms are running and brakes, and wired top fogs as brakes), and left the turns and reverse as halogens. I wired the bulb holders directly to bypass the issue-prone circuit board. I haven't seen any melting yet, and no longer have intermittent bulbs going dark due to inconsistent contacts like I did with the old tails.
 
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