How to Save Money on Volvo Maintenance
Volvo Bulb Change
Do You Need Volvo Headlight Bulbs, Tail Lights, And Blinkers Today?Ask For Express Service
May 24th
Volvo Replacement Light Bulbs:S60 Bulbs, S80 Bulbs, S40 Bulbs, C70 Bulbs, XC90 Bulbs, XC60 Bulbs, XC70 Bulbs, V70 Bulbs, 850 Bulbs
- Volvo High beam
- Volvo Low beam
- Volvo Bi-Xenon headlight (option)
- Volvo Front fog lights
- Volvo Rear fog lights
- Volvo Front parking lights, Volvo front/rear side marker lights, Volvo license plate light, rear foot-well lighting
- Volvo Front turn signals
- Volvo Side indicator turn signals
- Volvo Brake lights, backup lights
- Volvo Rear turn signals
- Volvo Rear parking lights
- Volvo Vanity mirror lighting
- Volvo Front foot-well lighting, cargo area lighting, Trunk lighting
- Volvo Glove compartment lighting
Some bulbs may be difficult for you to replace yourself. So, let an authorized Volvo retailer replace these bulbs for you please.
This is probably the most common service we do on a daily basis. simply call your Volvo Dealership or Volvo Service Center and ask what time to come in for the Volvo Express Bulb Change service. Express bulb change — service while you wait – takes between 30 and 45 minutes. So, please don’t ask for a loaner car. No person, in their right mind will give you a loaner car for bulb change.
In our Dealership the best time is between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. If you cannot make it this morning, then ask to come in at 1 p.m., right after our guys — Volvo Technicians — get back from a greasy lunch at MacDonald’s.
Now, you can change your burned out bulbs yourself, but I don’t recommend it because new model Volvo’s require you to remove the whole headlight assembly to get access to the bulbs — It’s a very tight squeeze in the engine compartment.
Caution!
When you purchase new bulbs do not touch the glass on the halogen bulbs with your fingers. Your finger tips may have Grease, oil, and other impurities, which can be carbonized onto the bulb and cause damage to the reflector. Wear gloves or use a clean dry cloth to hold the bulb with.
Also, be sure to use bulbs of the correct type and voltage.
Don’t forget to Switch off the ignition before you attempt a bulb change.
Warning!
Please don’t mess around with Bi-Xenon headlight lamps (An option when you buy a new Volvo). Bi-Xenon’s require high voltage to power the headlights; therefore, these bulbs should only be replaced by an authorized Volvo service technician.
Bi- Xenon headlight lamps produce high intensity light — exhibits a distinctive bright, white, heavenly light – as compared to Halogen lamps, which exhibit a more down to earth, kind of light.
Bi- Xenon headlight lamps are not only three times more brighter than regular Halogen lamps but also more expensive.
Bi-Xenon bulbs are so expensive, they will burn a hole in your wallet — $145-$215 for each bulb and you need two.
But on the brighter side they will last longer, 2000 hours of average service life as compared to 500-1000 hours for regular halogen lamps.
Bi-Xenon Ballast Flikering or Dimming problems: How to tell if you have a bad Ballast or a bad Bi -Xenon Bulb
Simply swap ballasts. If the opposite lamp does not work, then the ballast is faulty. However, if the ballast works then you can assume the bulb is faulty. A new ballast will cost you $500. And if you need two, one for each headlight lamp, that will run you $1000.
A failing bulb — dimming bulb — requires more and more voltage to produce an arc. The only problem here is that the ballast puts out only 12 volts. Thus, the bulb will eventually die out.
How a Bi-Xenon Bulb Works
Bi-Xenon headlight lamps — high-intensity discharge lamps or HID — require a ballast/igniter to produces that brilliant white light. Bi-Xenon head lamp is a metal-halide lamp, a lamp that produce intense white light when electricity is arced through a gaseous mixture of vaporized mercury and metal halides. Inside the metal-halide lamp, is a compact arc tube containing a high-pressure mixture of xenon, mercury, and metal halides. (Xenon is a rare inert gas present in the earth’s atmosphere in trace amounts)
Metal halide bulbs require electronic ballasts to limit the arc’s current. Electronic ballasts consist of an electronic oscillator which generates a high frequency current to drive the lamp. As a package, the Electronic ballast also includes the igniter circuit.
An underpowered metal-halide bulb — as a result of a lower operating temperature — will emit a bluish light because of the evaporation of mercury alone. This normaly happens at start up, when the optimum bulb temperature has not been reached — Xenon arc only happens during the start-up process.