Tail Light out? Or is it?

Volvolic · Jan 21, 2021

Hello, fellow SwedeSpeeders!

Earlier this evening, when parking my Vehicle, my neighbor asked me if one of my tail lights was out. I came out to see this image that I'm attaching.

I found no additional information in our Owner's manual, hence the troubleshooting thread.

I'm almost certain it's out, and it's a simple fix, but I just wanted to confirm this with the group. The reason being, I know the rear fog lights only light up on one side for many Volvos (I've never actually checked mine, and also, I can confirm the rear fog light button was not pressed when taking this picture). Is this light the Fog Light, maybe, and is it supposed to be this way, then?

Also, I have received absolutely no dashboard messages/CEL regarding the same. I don't know for how long has this light been out. Maybe a day, maybe months.

I'll most probably be driving into the dealer unless this is a stupidly straightforward replacement (I have the hands-on ability of a two-year-old when it comes to lights or anything electrical).

Has anyone seen this before or has done a replacement themselves? Please chime in. Thanks, all!

Pauls90 · Jan 21, 2021

I am not sure if its LED lights if it is than i would go to the dealer and try warranty replacement .

rkohou · Jan 22, 2021

Does the reverse light work on both sides?

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Volvolic · Jan 22, 2021

rkohou said:
Does the reverse light work on both sides?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I didn't try that. I was the only one there, so I couldn't put the Vehicle in reverse and walk back to take a look/picture. I'll have my wife take a look at the lights tomorrow as I cycle through them, just to confirm everything else functions. I'll also try taking that light fixture out tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, it will be an easy process and won't take much more than a screwdriver. or a pry tool.

aleteck · Jan 22, 2021

I had the same problem, after just 3 years ( warranty expired).
Initially in the workshop they asked me 450 euros for the replacement. I contacted Volvo and after "forcing my hand" I managed to get it changed under warranty. It was not easy but I did.
I've seen many V90s with the same problem on the right rear light, I think it's a defect known to Volvo, but never officially admitted.

"Also, I have received absolutely no dashboard messages/CEL regarding the same. I don't know for how long has this light been out. Maybe a day, maybe months. "

You can only see it with OBDII diagnostics, it surprised me too the lack of a warning.
Maybe because the visibility of the car is ensured by the other light (always on the right side).

Volvolic · Jan 22, 2021

aleteck said:
I had the same problem, after just 3 years ( warranty expired).
Initially in the workshop they asked me 450 euros for the replacement. I contacted Volvo and after "forcing my hand" I managed to get it changed under warranty. It was not easy but I did.
I've seen many V90s with the same problem on the right rear light, I think it's a defect known to Volvo, but never officially admitted.

"Also, I have received absolutely no dashboard messages/CEL regarding the same. I don't know for how long has this light been out. Maybe a day, maybe months. "

You can only see it with OBDII diagnostics, it surprised me too the lack of a warning.
Maybe because the visibility of the car is ensured by the other light (always on the right side).

Hi, @aleteck. Thank you for your feedback. Even I'm out of my basic warranty (75k+ miles on my V90CC) but luckily I have the extended warranty in effect until 120k. I'll probably call up my SA later today and get an appointment to have this taken care of.

About not receiving a CEL, I'm surprised even my VoC application shows all lights functioning properly (find attached screenshot). The last time I had an issue with my Left Tail Light housing and the Vehicle had given me a CEL and the VoC app had also shown me a service message.

Thanks for your advice. I'll speak with my SA soon.

Pauls90 · Jan 22, 2021

did you checked the Fuses and check id reverse light show up?

Volvolic · Jan 22, 2021

Pauls90 said:
did you checked the Fuses and check id reverse light show up?

I looked through the fuse location and lists in the Owner's Manual and couldn't find anything specifically related to the rear light that's not working. I'll check if the reverse light shows up in some time.

Volvolic · Jan 22, 2021

EDIT: Ok. So the curiosity finally got to me, and I went downstairs to check on all lights and asked my wife to see if they work. The Reverse lights (yellow incandescent bulbs on both sides come on when in R). The Rear Fog Light also works (single light on the Driver side), both turn indicator lights and all the lights on the front work too. So the only light not working is the one marked in the picture in my first post.

I just heard back from my SA, and he says it might just be that the bulb needs replacement, but it might also be possible that the entire module needs replacement. I'll probably go in today and have him take a look at it. Hopefully, it's a cheap and quick fix.

Pauls90 · Jan 22, 2021

Got ya.

aleteck · Jan 22, 2021

I did the same checks.. That light is the only LED light in that module and, I'm so sorry, YOU CAN NOT REPLACE only the Led. You need to change the whole tail light block (450€).

The light is made by a thin LED Bar sealed inside the Tail Light block.

Inviato dal mio LYA-L09 utilizzando Tapatalk

Volvolic · Jan 22, 2021

aleteck said:
I did the same checks.. That light is the only LED light in that module and, I'm so sorry, YOU CAN NOT REPLACE only the Led. You need to change the whole tail light block (450€).

The light is made by a thin LED Bar sealed inside the Tail Light block.

Inviato dal mio LYA-L09 utilizzando Tapatalk

Oof. That sounds expensive. I'll see if I'm able to get into the Dealership today and have them take a look at it. Hopefully, my extended warranty comes into play and I just have to shell out my $100 deductible, if the entire housing needs to be changed. Thanks for the heads-up, @aleteck.

Volvolic · Jan 22, 2021

aleteck said:
I did the same checks.. That light is the only LED light in that module and, I'm so sorry, YOU CAN NOT REPLACE only the Led. You need to change the whole tail light block (450€).

The light is made by a thin LED Bar sealed inside the Tail Light block.

Inviato dal mio LYA-L09 utilizzando Tapatalk

I just did some research and found out that the rear-right backup lamp assembly (SKU: 32293884) is for around $90 on my Dealership's parts website.

Volvolic · Jan 22, 2021

Update!

Drove down to the Dealership and the SA got the car in for an eval/troubleshoot. It turned out, and as @aleteck rightly pointed, the entire module needs replacement. Luckily, the Volvo VIP Extended warranty comes into play, as my SA confirmed with them over the phone, and I'll only be $100 out for the deductible. I don't see the part + labor costing much more than maybe $300 or so, but good to see the extended warranty finally making itself useful.

The part is on order, and the Vehicle should be ready for pick up Wednesday. They gave me an MY21 V60 T5 with Polestar. That little thing is decently peppy and agile. I almost forgot what I was missing out on, owning the V90CC T6 behemoth.

Thank you all for your helpful comments, guys. I'll update next when I have the Vehicle back.🍻🍻

Dave E · Jan 22, 2021

I had a similar issue with the vertical tail lamp unit on my 2018 V90 T6. The vehicle was under warranty. The dealer pushed back with non-sensical explanation, but finally determined on the 2nd warranty trip that this was a failed ballast that controls the LED. The only bulbs in the tail lights that can be replaced are the reverse lights, and the turn indicator lights... they are incandescent bulbs. Everything else is LED. Mine was looked after under warranty after some push back.

Okidiver · Jan 24, 2021

Hey Volvo, that's a FAIL if owners get a tail light out and no notification. Granted, cars are more complicated these days--that's a reason, not an excuse.

Dave E · Jan 24, 2021

Okidiver said:
Hey Volvo, that's a FAIL if owners get a tail light out and no notification. Granted, cars are more complicated these days--that's a reason, not an excuse.

...in fairness, mine did show as a notification, likely because it was the main vertical taillight.

Volvolic · Jan 26, 2021

Dave E said:
...in fairness, mine did show as a notification, likely because it was the main vertical taillight.

Dave E said:
I had a similar issue with the vertical tail lamp unit on my 2018 V90 T6. The vehicle was under warranty. The dealer pushed back with non-sensical explanation, but finally determined on the 2nd warranty trip that this was a failed ballast that controls the LED. The only bulbs in the tail lights that can be replaced are the reverse lights, and the turn indicator lights... they are incandescent bulbs. Everything else is LED. Mine was looked after under warranty after some push back.

I had my driver's side vertical tail light replaced under warranty last winter. Read through this thread for my experiences. I'm surprised they gave you a hard time with the warranty. Maybe it's based on the dealership, but in my case, mine has always proactively replaced my parts under warranty as & when necessary and has even managed to push for a "Volvo Goodwill" warranty for parts that are not necessarily covered under warranty.

Volvolic · Jan 26, 2021

Okidiver said:
Hey Volvo, that's a FAIL if owners get a tail light out and no notification. Granted, cars are more complicated these days--that's a reason, not an excuse.

My guess is, and as you can see from the image in my first post, the particular section of light not working is not part of the brake/turn/fog/reverse light feature, and hence, there might be a chance, Volvo deems it not important enough to put out a CEL or even a VOC update for the owner to know. Of course, they should, but maybe that's the reason they don't. As mentioned in my earlier post, back when I had the entire driver's-side Brake light module fail on me, I had more than enough error messages on my dashboard and also VOC to understand, something was wrong with my tail lights.

Dave E · Jan 27, 2021

Volvolic said:
I had my driver's side vertical tail light replaced under warranty last winter. Read through this thread for my experiences. I'm surprised they gave you a hard time with the warranty. Maybe it's based on the dealership, but in my case, mine has always proactively replaced my parts under warranty as & when necessary and has even managed to push for a "Volvo Goodwill" warranty for parts that are not necessarily covered under warranty.

Glad you had a better experience. Mine started with "we need to update the systems, that will solve the issue" ... you can see where it goes from there. Rarely will a system update fix a hardware failure, and it didn't. It clearly wasn't a software issue, and I drew their attention to discussion of part failures to no avail. Ironically, right rear on mine was affected also.

The SA has been a challenge to deal with - starting with when the car was delivered with some minor damage to the drivers side exhaust tip. Initially started with "what damage" and must have been your issue not ours until I was able to show them photos of the damage while it was on the lot, and the papers in their sales file that stated the damage was to be fixed. The did fix the exhaust tip, although they missed some of the securing screws under the bumper (you can't miss them, the screw receivers are lime green in colour) and the bumper cover was loose as a result.

Funny thing is one day I had the V90 in for service, and my Jag XF in for service (same dealer). The Jag SA called me at 11:30am and said your Jag is completed, and they have finished the Volvo - come when you like to pick them up. The Volvo SA (They work 6 feet apart) called me at 4:00p.m. and asked what time I would be there to collect it, and they hoped to have it finished by 4:30. Same dealership, feet apart, worlds apart in service.

Sadly the really good Jag SA just left, and I suspect the service will have dropped to the lowest common denominator.

I have to work with objective data, not BS answers, and sadly I have had quite a few that make no sense from this dealership. I have always supported the dealers for service and do with the Jag, Volvo and my Benz but this kind of experience repeatedly makes me want to re-evaluate that.

Tail Light out? Or is it?

Volvolic

Pauls90

rkohou

Volvolic

aleteck

Volvolic

Pauls90

Volvolic

Volvolic

Pauls90

aleteck

Volvolic

Volvolic

Volvolic

Dave E

Okidiver

Dave E

Volvolic

Volvolic

Dave E

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