Has Your Rear Wiper stopped working?
Solution to a problem many of you may have with the rear wiper assembly on a V70.
Hey everyone. I discovered my rear wiper stopped working about 6 months ago, and I just haven’t had a lot of time to diagnose what the problem could be until recently.
Last week, my rear lock actuator wouldn’t lock or unlock the tailgate either, and that’s when I had to get to the bottom of this issue.
After taking the actuator apart, dismantling the wiper motor, and breaking my tailgate trim pieces, I’ve figured it out! IT”S THE WIRING!!!
Check the wiring AFTER the rear wiring harness which is located just above the rear speaker(see pics). My situation happened to be 3 wires were cut from the zip tie strap that was factory fastened onto the frame. It was one of the those “ah-ha” moments where you realized all of your frustrations could be solved by 3 butt splices!
I hope this post helps someone, because finding this myself certainly saved me a lot of money in fixing the problem.
Bonus! More on the Volvo V70
Late in 1996, Volvo introduced a new estate car to the market, the V70.
The Volvo V70 was developed from the concept of the successful 850 Estate which had then been on the market since February 1993.
The exterior of the new V70 showed softer styling than its predecessor, but still carried a strong Volvo identity including the typical almost vertical rear end. Inside the car, the dashboard was new, as was most of the interior. As regards safety, a number of important improvements were also made.
An interesting and successful addition to the V70 models was the all-wheel drive XC 70 models.
The Volvo V70 was produced until 2000, when it was replaced by the second-generation V70.
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Last Updated on June 2, 2021
2 Comments
I have a similar problem- if I find cut wires can I simply
repair them using electrical tape or do I need to solder?
Thanks Charlie
2001 V70 158,000 miles non turbo
My rear wiper didn’t work and the tailgate latch finally failed in lock mode. I followed the excellent photos and wiring suggestions but found the problem further up the harness where the covered loom had been pinched by the stop pin that limits how high the tail gate goes. Pulling on each wire at the connector plug located the cut ones so I carefully sliced open the cover about three inches at the plug end so I could pull the sleeve down enough to tape/solder the damaged wires.
The covering plastic interior piece couldn’t be removed until the tailgate was opened but I could flex it down just barely enough to get to the seven damaged wires and repair them so the tailgate could be opened. The color coding of the wires is different in my car, I had two cut yellow wires but of slightly different gauges so matching was possible. I secured the loom to the hinge in two places to prevent a pinching reoccurence.
A big Thank You to the forum for pointing me to within 6 inches of the problem.