V40: Dash illumination

[gatos]

Originally Posted by 600andy

Gatos, if I buy these from Maplins - are they easy to do? I have a soldering iron - do I need to worry about anything especially or polarity issues or is this really a quick(ish) and fix? Dont fancy paying £20-£30 for the Volvo ones...

Many thanks,

Ok. For the 3 bulbs on the heater control you need 3 bulbs, 12V 5mm diameter and no soldering is required. You just need to slide the two metal contacts downwards and put them aside. Remove the old bulbs, feed the new bulbs in making sure each wire end feeds throgh the hole (there are two holes). Slide back in the contacts and cut the excess wire. Polarity does not matter. Maplins has these bulbs at £1.49 each which is a rip off. I bought mine from there but I have since found out that they are much much much cheaper from other places online. So have a look around and don't support Maplins greed

With regards to the headlight bulbs, you will need the 12V 4mm bulbs with wire ends too. I have not used the soldering iron yet on this as I am waiting for the bulbs to arrive. My guess would be that it would be the simple case of sucking the old solder, removing the old bulbs and replacing the new ones and resoldering.

I will try to take some photos tonight showing the bulbs and how they look with the contacts out so you can get an idea how easy it is

[Volvoline]

If you could post a few pics of the AC panel bulb replacement I'd be thankful
BTW in LHD cars, do you have to adjust the buttons right or left before you pry that panel ?

I'll send you my light switch holders when your package arrives !

[SteveTDCi]

P1's are different, the heater bulbs need to be 4mm, the holder won't accept 5mm, the wires then push through and you twist them around the base in some slots. I'll try and post pictures but they are on iphone ... the light panel is different too, these take 5mm bulbs and fit in the holder as gatos says for the heater bulbs the radio are 3mm if needed.

[gatos]

here are some photos for the heater bulbs

[Scotia3030]

Hi all,

1st post on the forum but I had the same problem and fixed quite easily.

In the lighting panel is a bullet shaped bulb, about 2cm in size, that directly lights the instrument panel dimmer and headlight level switches.

It indirectly illuminates, through use of clear plastic lense, the headlight/sidelight selector knob. There is also a green led type light that also lights, below the headlight/sidelight selector knob.

To replace main bulb, remove the 2 screws holding the panel in place and disconnect both wiring connectors. You'll see the main lighting unit in the now, removed panel. Take this box out of the panel, carefully prising it from the panel.

You'll see the bulb in the unit, simply twist it out and replace. I got a bulb from my local Volvo dealer in Swindon (can't buy in Halfords etc), cost around £3 and had to be ordered in as didn't keep on the shelf.

Hope this helps?

Iain

[Bungleaio]

I pulled my instrument controls out today to have a look at whats going on behind it.

As described by other posters there are three bulbs/holders in mine as shown in the photos below. Really easy to get to but they are a green/blueish colour, i think that might be a cover thats on them rather than special coloured bulbs.

[600andy]

Ref the light switch module lighting, I bought some on eBay if anyone is interested and they still have more. Took me 5 minutes last night and they look great;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=380379848552

Doing the heater panel and Radio next...

[mjbv40]

Good find Andy!

[Bungleaio]

I bit the bullet the other day and rang my local dealer (Sturgess Leicester) and ordered the bulbs rather than going the individual bulb route.

I gave them my reg number and they new exactly which bulbs I needed and I picked them up the next morning. The cost for the three bulbs was £9.54 which is not exactly cheap but they are a perfect match for the rest of the dash and they obviously worked with no messing around.

With the nights drawing in its really nice to have the whole dash lit up.

[Volvoline]

I wonder if that ignition ring should be illuminated ?
If it doesn't illuminate, then Volvo should bang themselves in the head for hiding that thing behind the freaking steering wheel in a location where you need to duck under the seat to find, PLUS not lighting it.