[Capndirk]

Does anybody know if the lower taillight housing/assembly is disassemblable? I'm looking to use my LED "continuous" strip to follow the outline (see pic below) of the taillight as I got a new, thinner, red LED strip for the upper taillight reflector housing that actually fits. The blue line below is where I plan to use this "continuous"-style LED strip in the lower taillight assembly: New photo by Shudhant Gautam.

I know how to remove the taillight from the car itself and remove the bulbs and its constituent wiring harnesses from the car itself, but is it possible to take apart the red outer housing from the inner reflector housing of the lower taillight assembly?

Saw this and thought about your process. I had a small crack in one of my taillights when I bought it, and pulled one at LKQ for a surprising $20. I was sure it would be more.

 

[08XC90V8]

Saw this and thought about your process. I had a small crack in one of my taillights when I bought it, and pulled one at LKQ for a surprising $20. I was sure it would be more.

Thanks for the link. I'm just scared of putting it in the oven to heat the glue up and take it apart. I'll continue to scour the internet for any videos or similar forum posts regarding the disassembly of the actual tail lamp assembly itself.

 

[BKXC90]

I thought about doing something similar when I bought my XC, along with LED strips in the upper reflectors. I ended up just biting the bullet and buying the new LED style lamps. More pricey than what you’re talking about doing, but the plug and play made it all worth it.

 

[08XC90V8]

I thought about doing something similar when I bought my XC, along with LED strips in the upper reflectors. I ended up just biting the bullet and buying the new LED style lamps. More pricey than what you’re talking about doing, but the plug and play made it all worth it.

You're right, I did look at the new LED-style taillamp housings, but they're–as you said–quite expensive. FCP has them for about $320. I just can't justify spending that much, especially after all the money I've spent on the interior/exterior LEDs...

For the upper reflectors, I'm in the process of wiring them into the car at the moment, and they're quite simple. I'll be doing a detailed write-up (as always ) on it in hopes that people can more easily do it on their XC90s. Maybe I can convince you to spit the bullet out and do it on yours too?

 

[BKXC90]

Lol!! That bullet has long since passed. Part of my justification was some water damage in my PS lamp that just couldn’t be cleaned out, resulting in a “smoked” effect. Looking forward to your write up on the uppers; I would still like to do mine. I had an idea last year about how to cut it open from the back.

 

[08XC90V8]

Last night, I got the upper reflector LED strip and the main stop lamp bulb LED conversion w/ load resistor all installed and good to go. I'm currently working on the write-up and will post it here ASAP. Looks really good, I like it!

Here's a photo album: 2003-2014 Volvo P2 XC90 AWD - Upper Tail Light Reflector LED Mod + Stop Lamp LED Conversion

A quick question:

Here's a few photos depicting where I installed the load resistor: 4 new photos by Shudhant Gautam. If you can tell, I moved all the wiring harnesses off towards the taillight of the car (this is the driver's side, BTW) using tape and sort of secured them there. I did this so that nothing rubber/flammable is near the load resistors, since from what I know they do get quite warm during operation (which in this case, is pressing on the brake pedal). I'm not sure how well this tape will hold up in holding the wiring harnesses away from the resistor, so there's my first question: Do I need to do such a thing and remove the wiring harness from the vicinity of the resistor, or can I leave the wiring harnesses as they were originally?

Second question: I noticed that the carpeted trim piece that covers the very rectangular opening in which this picture was taken (right behind the taillight assembly) has two pieces of carpeting/insulation/soundproofing sticking out of its back. I can only assume that this gets awfully close to the load resistor as well, so would that pose a fire hazard of any kind? Or am I just overestimating how hot load resistors get?

Last question: I soldered and heatshrunk every connection I could, and soldered and electrical-taped every wire tap I did. I've seen sometimes on YouTube videos showing how to solder that they use some sort of clear grease/paste, I think it's called something like "silicon paste"? Is it used for waterproofing wire connections before heatshrinking them? If this is indeed its function, I'd like to use it on my front DRL/turn signal install under the headlights. Anybody have a link as to where I can buy it/what it's called?

Thanks.

 

[BKXC90]

That is a tight space next to the Merc!
I wish I could answer some of your questions. This looks fantastic, great job man. I’ll be following your lead on this, but I think I’ll tap into the running lights instead of the brake lights. Nice work!

 

[08XC90V8]

My front DRL/turn signal light strips ripped as I was installing them, I didn't even use excessive force. I guess that's what happens when you pay for cheap Chinese products on eBay... 😐

I'm so frustrated right now... was finally going to be done, but nothing ever goes my way, does it?

 

[08XC90V8]

I wish I could answer some of your questions! This looks fantastic, great job man. I’ll be following your lead on this, but I think I’ll tap into the running lights instead of the brake lights. Nice work!

No worries, lol. Just glad I could be of some help. I know @zlead's thread was inconclusive and many had their questions left unanswered and were left hanging. I'm finishing up the write-up at the moment.

I was split between doing running lights vs brake lights, but I thought that it could confuse drivers behind me if that many lights are always on, and when braking, only one small light turns on on the lower taillight housing, but that's just me. Might be something to think about, though... Or you could get 2x the strips and have half running and half brake?

 

[08XC90V8]

As promised, here is the write-up for the upper taillight reflector LED strip modification as well as the LED conversion of the stop lamp bulb, for those with older-style non-LED taillights (like me) that don't want to upgrade to the newer-style LED-equipped tail lights.

2003-2014 Volvo P2 XC90 AWD - Upper Tail Light Reflector LED Mod + Stop Lamp LED Conversion

2003-2011 Volvo P2 XC90 AWD - Upper Tail Light Reflector LED Mod + Stop Lamp LED Conversion Parts: 1 x Geeon 4-Pack 24" Red Car Interior LED Strip Light 12V Waterproof IP65 Cuttable Connectable for Automotive Boats Trucks Cargo Trailer Camper-Vans Inside 1 x 2 Wire Connector, MUYI 5 Kit Electric...

docs.google.com

Post pics if any of you guys follow through with the project!

 

[SwissXC90]

Ah, sounds fun. I will try and see if I can do it. I know that if I mess up and break the housing, only the entire taillight assembly is sold, and it runs into the 3-400$ range.

On a happier note, I got my LED strips in the mail today and have stuck and glued them to the reflector and will wait until tomorrow morning for them to dry. After that, I'll wire them into the stop lamps.

Do you all think that if I am to wire these LED strips into the stop lamp, with the stop lamps having these Sylvania ZEVO LED lamps rather than incandescents, the car will still throw a "CHECK STOP LAMP" error message? Previously, I tried to install the ZEVOs in place of the incandescents and received that "CHECK STOP LAMP" error message, and I realized I needed to install an in-line load resistor like this one. So, I'm wondering if installing these new LED strips alongside the ZEVOs will be enough resistance for the "CHECK STOP LAMP" error message to disappear for good? I know that I can just test it out tomorrow when I wire them into the brake light, but I'm not sure how the resistors will wire into the brake lamp once I tap into the wire for it for the LED strips.

Thanks, everyone.

Depends on the amount of LEDs in the LED strip, but I’m picking that the load will still be less than 21W of a normal incandescent bulb.


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[Capndirk]

I've seen sometimes on YouTube videos showing how to solder that they use some sort of clear grease/paste, I think it's called something like "silicon paste"? Is it used for waterproofing wire connections before heatshrinking them? If this is indeed its function, I'd like to use it on my front DRL/turn signal install under the headlights. Anybody have a link as to where I can buy it/what it's called?

Thanks.

Maybe link the tutorial, but at first blush I would suspect they're referring to solder flux.

 

[08XC90V8]

Maybe link the tutorial, but at first blush I would suspect they're referring to solder flux.

I'm not sure, that's what I had thought it was first, but it was a clear paste that was applied by a brush that was built-in to the paste bottle's cap. I really wish I could find that tutorial once again, but it was after searching something like "how to solder wire taps" on YT...

 

[08XC90V8]

Depends on the amount of LEDs in the LED strip, but I’m picking that the load will still be less than 21W of a normal incandescent bulb.


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I actually ended up still having to install the load resistors. Thanks, though!

 

[08XC90V8]

I bought these lights as a replacement for the ones that broke on me from eBay. I'll be installing them tomorrow after school and will create another write-up for this as well since this is another one of @zlead's projects that nobody really created any solid how-to on.

Quick question: I have chrome trim on the little under-headlight vents that these are going to be going on, and it looks like this. Obviously, as can be seen in the image, the chrome trim completely blocks the light strip and it sort of ends up reflecting off the wiring and tubing mess that resides behind that part of the bumper. That being said, I'd rather have it be in place of the chrome trim somehow, which leads me to my question; is it possible to remove the chrome trim that stretches across this little "vent"? Or any other mounting ideas you all have?

Thanks!

 

[08XC90V8]

Completed the LED strip install today, here's the photo album: 2003-2014 Volvo XC90 Under-Headlight Grille LED DRL/Sequential Turn Signal Modification

I'll be completing the write-up for it soon and will be posting it here, as well. I think that this modification concludes my exterior LED makeover, and that allows me to finally get that stupid third-row dome light back into the headliner cover and headliner, somehow. And also start to focus on the interior portion of my LED makeover.

 

[Capndirk]

and that allows me to finally get that stupid third-row dome light back into the headliner cover and headliner, somehow. And also start to focus on the interior portion of my LED makeover.

Maybe this will help:

 

[08XC90V8]

Maybe this will help:
View attachment 115773
View attachment 115774 View attachment 115775

First pic is spot-on, thank you so much. Looks like you have resistors across the two leads for the bulbs, what's the spec on the resistors? The ones I got are 1K ohm, 0.25W.

Thanks again for your help. Will be tackling this first thing tomorrow after school!

 

[Capndirk]

They're 10K. I bought a bunch of different ones just for fun (thanks, SwissXC90!). The local supplier has bulk 1K's, for 15 cents, but the 10k's were in blister packs at $1.59 for 4. Gonna break the bank! Good thing the LED bulbs are only 42 cents.

 

[SwissXC90]

They're 10K. I bought a bunch of different ones just for fun (thanks, SwissXC90!). The local supplier has bulk 1K's, for 15 cents, but the 10k's were in blister packs at $1.59 for 4. Gonna break the bank! Good thing the LED bulbs are only 42 cents.

Glad to hear my post helped. Glad to hear 10k was enough. Where did you get you LED lamps for such a low price?


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