Volvo Maintenance Hints for 7xx/9xx - Bill Garland's Nuclear ...

low beam is set, the high beam should be good on cars that have only 2 headlamps. On 4
headlamp cars, aim the center of the separate driver side high beam hot spot at position
A on the wall. For the passenger side aim for position B. Cover or disable the hi-low lamp
to prevent it from interfering with the separate high-beam adjustment. This sets the high
beam a bit higher than your low beam setting for maximum distance. You may want to
experiment with setting the high beam hot spot 3 to 4 inches out board of the above
settings to light up the sides of the road a bit more.
5. Take the car for a test drive. lf they aren't quite right, return to the aiming point and park in
the exact spot where you marked where your wheels were located during the aiming
process and adjust as necessary.
2. Driving Lamps, High-Beam-Only Lamps in 4-Lamp Systems, and Euro-Code High-
Beam Lamps.. These instructions apply to ECE high beam headlamps, US DOT high beam
headlamps marked "VO", and all driving lamps. These must be adjusted so that the bright,
center "hot spot" of the beam is straight ahead of the lamp in both the vertical and horizontal
planes. Use the intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines at points A and B for each
headlamp as "cross-hair sights" to center the high beam hot spot. Make sure to work on one
lamp at a time. It is best to disconnect the power to the headlamp you are not working on, so
light from the other lamp's beam pattern doesn't mislead your eyes. Also be sure to disconnect
or cover the adjacent high/low beam lamp when you are aiming its high-beam-only neighbor.
3. Fog Lamps. Fog lamps are aimed using a procedure very similar to that used for low beam
headlamps, but the vertical drop is different. Follow the vehicle-preparation and wall-marking
instructions given above for low beam headlamps, substituting "foglamp" for "headlamp", but
with the following changes: If the fog lamps are mounted below the bumper, your C-D line
should be 2" below the fog lamp axis height. If the fog lamps are mounted above the bumper,
your C-D line should be 4" below the fog lamp axis height. Fog lamps produce a wide, barshaped
beam of light. Horizontal aim is much less critical than it is with headlamps. The fog
lamps should be pointed straight ahead, not leftward or rightward.
Glass Headlamp Protection. [Tip:] Use clear plastic laminating sheet, available from office
supply stores, to protect your glass headlamps and lenses from sand and stone chips. [Editor's
Note:] I have tried these and they are not too effective against larger stones, and the adhesive
tends to craze over time. Unless you are on a tight budget, try Stongard instead: they are
custom fit to the lens and use a thick 3M clear urethane that is amazingly tough. They cost
around US$ 60 for a kit with covers for the headlights and corner markers. Another alternative is
to buy 3M Scotch Brand 300LSE Hi Strength Adhesive and cut to fit. [Tip] For less expensive
vinyl protectors, try http://home.earthlink.net/~vicrocha/
Plastic Headlamp Clarity. [Problem:] Is there any way to deal with the loss of clarity/yellowing
in those plastic lights in the late model 240s/7xx/9xx? I was able to re-seal the leaks, but all that