2004 Volvo S60 HID XENON issues

Hi ashokp. Welcome to the forum. Yes, besides being a severe safety problem for oncoming drivers, these systems are very expensive to repair. My personal opinion is they should be left in parking lot and street lamps. $300.00 is a real good deal. On some cars, the bulb and the ballast are each around $700.00 although I think the cost of the bulbs has come down a lot for some models. Either the bulb or the ballast can be intermittent, and I've read about corroded ground wires for the ballast.

The place to start is by switching the left and right side bulbs from side to side, then see if it is still the right one that goes out intermittently.

Caradiodoc

MY SUGGESTION IS REMOVE THE BULB AND LOOK AT THE BULB; LOOK FOR DISCOLORATION AND SIGNS OF WEAR. IF THE FILAMENT LOOKS ROUGH, THE LIGHT MAY BE GOING OUT. MAYBE IT JUST NEEDS A NEW BULB. START WITH THE BASICS. I HAVE SEEN BULBS FLICKER ON AND OFF WHEN THEY ARE GETTING READY TO FAIL.

I agree with both of the replies but the BI-XENON bulb can be pretty expensive so I would do what caradiodoc
recommends doing. If you swap the bulbs from one side to the other and it starts to flicker on the other side, then you now know the bulb is faulty. Keep us poted.

I'm afraid you're out of my area of expertise now unless I had a car to look at. Can you find the ballasts and switch them side to side? I've been reading that they cause just as much trouble as the bulbs. That pertains to any brand of car, not just Volvos.

Caradiodoc

There was an old tech net note about a faulty ballast. Here you go.

NO: 35-14

DATE: 3-8-2004

MODEL:
S60 / V70 / XC70 / S80 / XC90

M. YEAR:
MY 2003-2004

CHASSIS:
See below

SUBJECT:
Bi-Xenon Headlamp Ballast

REFERENCE:
VADIS

DESCRIPTION:

Under certain conditions, ballasts in vehicles equipped with Bi-Xenon headlamps may not function.

The ballast functions as the voltage regulator and generates alternate current. It transforms the vehicles current from 12V to 1,000V during start-up. Once the bulbs are lit, it then reduces the voltage to 100V. Its main tasks are to light the bulbs and to control the light during operation.

A new improved ballast has been introduced into production from the chassis break shown.

SERVICE:

When a vehicle with Bi-Xenon headlamp is not functioning properly and it is below the chassis break listed above

First check the ballast in the vehicle to be sure that it is Rev D as shown in the photos. If it is not a Rev D ballast, replace it with the new spare part, P/N 30674786.

So check the last six digits of your VIN and compare to the list above for the S-60 If you are withing that chassis break then this applies to you. You will need to remove the headlight assembly to access the ballast. The ballast is under the headlight assembly. To remove the hadlight you will need to remove the bumper skin. Once you have removed the headlight from the vehicle, check the ballast tag. If it says REV B then it is faulty and you will need to replace. If it says REV D then the updated one is already intall but does not mean it is still good? You can swap the ballast with the other side and see if it follows the problem. If it does then the ballast is faulty. Let me know what you find.