volvo v70 tailgate issues

jinksman · Post by **jinksman** » 03 Jan 2011, 14:34

hi all can anyone help. this prob has just started. washer works on and off wiper works when wash dosen`t. central locking works now and again but when it locks it stays locked and i have to climb in the back to open it from inside????. tailgate light is not working but bulb is ok. 1 thing might be the cause of al this.
is there a connecting block somewhere that might be causing these probs.
thanks
Dave

kayakncycle · Post by **kayakncycle** » 03 Jan 2011, 15:52

Jinksman, the good news is several owners have experienced this issue and have repaired it themselves. The bad news is Volvo used the design error for several years. I would bet the the license plates lights do not work either. The frequent cause is broken wires near the left hatch hinge. Sometimes the symptons are intermittent; broken wires sometimes connect enough to power the switch.
Just went to the garage to look at mine - memory refresh trip. My description should be close. There is a plastic cover that snaps over the left hinge. Inside the hinge channel is a bundle of wires taped together. Start working off the tape, proceeding forward up into the passenger compartment - above the headliner. You should not need to remove any of the headliner. At first it may seem the wires are good. Just keep working your way inward. This is a bit of a pain; relax, take your time. You will get to the problem if you're patient. I did not have any broken wires inside the hatch. Don't bother removing the rear hatch panel.
I soldered my wires back together. Used lots of heat shrink and tape. Some wires are big; thinking #10, some are small; #16. Your 15w pencil iron will not get the the large wires hot enough to solder. The color codes are easy to see. You will not have any trouble connecting the correct sets.
Good luck, Dennis

zerdas · Post by **zerdas** » 03 Jan 2011, 16:34

Most probably wires behind left hatch hinge are your problem. Take it apart an inspect them.

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 04 Jan 2011, 15:56

+1

Been there, done this.

gchardy · Post by **gchardy** » 05 Jan 2011, 09:41

Jinksman, I too had about eight of the thirteen (?) wires severed. Had to cut sections of wire out and splice in extensions. Used shrink wraps to secure and seal the solder joints. Wrapped the entire wire cluster with either 1/2 or 3/4 inch polyethlene "Split Loom" wire protector. When it comes to clipping that moulded plastic clip around the wire cluster and clamping it to the hinge, I used three bands of electrician tape to squeeze the plastic clip in place and hold it there!
Only problem I have now is which color coded wires feed the power to the alarm system and rear spoiler brake light... looks like I have to revisit and change a couple wires around, and I thought I was being vigilant to prevent this from happening.
Anyone who knows what the color of those wires are let me know - Wiring diagrams on this site not helpful!
Graham

jinksman · Post by **jinksman** » 06 Jan 2011, 11:56

thanks everyone. will look at weekend... if no snow ha ha. keep you all updated. happy new year

JOGR · Post by **JOGR** » 07 Jan 2011, 13:20

All of my wires are broken except the pink one! I have two gray wires that I cannot tell apart, they appear to be the same, are they interchangeable? I need to solder them back together...

Post by **JRL** » 07 Jan 2011, 14:07

Tape it first
Try everything, see if it all works now.
If it works, solder it.
If not, switch wires and repeat

jinksman · Post by **jinksman** » 11 Jan 2011, 11:59

thanks everyone for your help you were all spot on. you saved me £££££`s. you no what volvo charges
thanks again
dave

Post by **cartagena** » 01 Dec 2013, 00:31

Thanks for your help with the tailgate. I'm new to Volvo's and this site has been extremely helpful. I'm a long time reader. I'm only now being able to post on mvs. Cheers.