tailgate strut removal and wiring loom repair

[rogereld]

How do I remove the plastic trim panels in the rear of the luggage area. The ones that cover the rear lights and the tailgate struts?

The rear wiper stopped working, and now the boot will not lock or unlock. Replacing the fuse fixed the problem but it soon blew again and inspection of the wiring loom at the hinge point suggests the wiring has probably broken. I want to release the loom at the connector block which is by the rear speaker and get some access to remove the sleeving and do a repair.

I have also had some oil dripping through one of the trim panel joints in the top of the luggage area on to the luggage cover for a while and I suspect one of the tailgate struts has been leaking so I want to tackle both jobs at the same time if they both need the trim removing.

I have been searching the forum and also looking for videos and so far I have found one video on wiring loom repair that says he used a chisel because he did not know how to remove the trim, and one on tailgate strut replacement done by children that does not show how the panels were removed.

I have removed the top centre plastic trim, that holds the interior light for the luggage area, and I have removed the speaker covers. I can not see how to remove the large plastic trim section that covers the lights and speaker area and goes up to cover the hinge and tailgate strut pivot.

Can anyone help with any directions or useful links please?

[Brendan W]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzODxCjalKQ

[rogereld]

Thank you Brendan. The V70 in this video has different trim panels, and still left me guessing on where to pull, or how to avoid cracking the plastic.

I have now removed the top side trim which runs above the side window which is shorter in my 2001 P2 v70 than the sections shown in the video. That has allowed me to pull the pillar trim away just enough to reach the point where the tailgate loom is cable tied to a fixing point and I have managed to snip the cable tie. That has allowed me to get the grey multi connector up and with a bit of lowering of the tailgate, out through the hinge.

Peeling back the two layers of sleeving has revealed a lot of broken wires. At the point where they are broken they are very stiff and it feels like the insulation on each wire has gone hard and brittle.

I will need to get some heat shrink sleeving and then do a bit of soldering.

There was oil on the roof trim panels from the struts on both sides so I will need to find a couple of good tailgate struts before I reassemble the trim.

[Brendan W]

Wow. Never seen one as bad as that. Looks like someone took a hatchet to it.
What was pinching them? You wonder about the wisdom of putting wires and a hinge in the same hole.
Rock and a hard place with the soldering. Not really enough room for spades but if the wires start bending near solder they will break soon. Bind them up good and tight a good length both ways from the break I suppose.

[rogereld]

There is a plastic clip on cover that holds the loom to the hinge bracket. From the bottom of the hinge, the loom bends approximately 90 degrees and feeds to the side, where it is held on the side of the pillar by a cable tie. The damage appears to be where the loom exits the plastic cover on the hinge.

A main dealer have quoted just under £150 inc VAT for a replacement loom. I could get something from a breaker, but it could have hidden faults and be not much better than what I have now so repair seems a good place to start.

[Brendan W]

At least you have a 'smoking gun'. Quite often you see people know the wire is broken but the insulation is intact. I wonder how big a job it would be to completely rewire from plug to plug.

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by rogereld

Peeling back the two layers of sleeving has revealed a lot of broken wires. At the point where they are broken they are very stiff and it feels like the insulation on each wire has gone hard and brittle.

I will need to get some heat shrink sleeving and then do a bit of soldering.

Whatever repair you do, do NOT solder the wires in the middle of the section that flexes.

The section that flexes undergoes a lot of movement over time and the copper wires break our to metal fatigue.

A solder joint is not flexible, and thus the flexing occurs at another location, which will consequently become the weak point and inevitably break.

To effect a repair that will work over the long term, you need to replace every single wire with a new wire, at best using highly flexible wire, and then make the joins inside the tailgate and inside the vehicle, so that the joins themselves do not move

However, given the relatively low cost of a new loom, I would recommend replacing the loom itself. Then the loom is entirely new and should last another 16 years, similar to the lifespan of the original loom.

PS: many cars have this problem, and a lot of car manufacturers provide replacement loom repair kits to perform such a repair so that the flexing part of the loom is always brand new, and uses highly flexible wiring.

[rogereld]

I have removed all the tailgate trim with the intention of removing the old wiring loom. There are lots of plastic clips that hold the wiring to the tailgate panels and I can not see how to undo them.

Can anyone tell me how to release the clips from the wiring without breaking the clips please.

[rogereld]

Originally Posted by rogereld

Can anyone tell me how to release the clips from the wiring without breaking the clips please.

I can now answer my own question. It is difficult. I used two very small flat blade instrument screwdrivers. One to lever the gripping tab away from the serrated strap and at the same time another to push the strap part out of the clip. Same procedure as trying to undo a cable tie with the spare end cut off flush with the clip. I broke one but the rest have survived.