XC70 tailgate electrical fault

37 RUBY · Apr 18th, 2020, 14:21

Hello

So just now en-route to work I get a dash message telling me tailgate is open. Tailgate will not open on dash switch, remote nor the external tailgate switch change the situation.

It's not the first time this has happened. Last time the lock was the culprit. A good clean of the lock and normal service resumed.
Nothing else was affected.

This time I have a slow struggling to function rear wiper and yesterday the tailgate was slow to open. The tailgate open message is fluctuating on and off.

So I'm thinking a bad earth or broken wire which shares a common earth point with the tailgate lock, rear wiper and tailgate motor.

Car is as per signature.

To give me a head start tomorrow, has anyone had similar?

minibull · Apr 18th, 2020, 14:29

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=295625

37 RUBY · Apr 18th, 2020, 14:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by minibull

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=295625

Spot on thank you.

I like the official Volvo work around of snipping the potential offending wire from the multiplug in the headliner and extending it. Ha ha.

Your last post in that thread was that all was working again. Did you leave it at that or did you end up investigating further?

minibull · Apr 18th, 2020, 17:43

Everything is still working fine, I will do the Volvo "technical upgrade" and reclip the connector now I've been furloughed from work and have time.

37 RUBY · Apr 18th, 2020, 17:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by minibull

Everything is still working fine, I will do the Volvo "technical upgrade" and reclip the connector now I've been furloughed from work and have time.

If I remember I'll take some pictures while I'm doing it

37 RUBY · Apr 19th, 2020, 11:57

So as minibull correctly pointed out, my issue is temporarily resolved by cleaning the earth terminal in the roof block connector, which went as follows...

Gather tools and coffee...

Pry down the interior light and remove the 8mm hex head bolt...

Peel rubber boot seal up...

Using a plastic panel pry tool, lever the rear roof panel down. Take your time. You don't want to snap anything. A quick squirt of silicone or similar aided removal of a couple of stiffer ones...

The clips look like this...

There are two connector blocks. It is the left hand side one...

Disconnect the two halves. I found that removing the block from the roof clip assists with this. Be careful when doing this as they are fragile.
Looking inside mine there was corrosion on the earth terminal(Orange/Black wire) on both respective pin connectors along with evidence of the pin overheating. You see this in the images...

For the time being I have cleaned the corrosion with a needle file but there is a resolution from Volvo which is to snip the Orange & black earth wire at either side of the block and splice with cable and crimp connectors...

The Volvo repair Instructions can be found here https://pdfhost.io/v/~5o2AYcEY_Volvo...ectorENpdf.pdf

For note as I was doing this I checked by wiggling the connector block and wiring either side to search for breaks with no change to the situation. When I unplugged the connector and cleaned the terminals it immediately rectified the issue.

I hadn't got any 2.5mm² (24a) cable so will get this done when able as the tiny pins in the connector are clearly not up to the job.

Hope this helps someone in the future.

Cheers

Dave

Tatsfield · Apr 19th, 2020, 15:03

Great posting with helpful pictures. I belong to another classic car club where they have a separate forum area for these sort of How To contributions, complete with an alphabetical index to create an owner experience workshop manual with all the things that professional technical writers leave out, like what not to do! This sort of posting is worthy of such a knowledge base.

minibull · Apr 20th, 2020, 20:28

Very informative post 37 RUBY, well done.

37 RUBY · Apr 20th, 2020, 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

Great posting with helpful pictures. I belong to another classic car club where they have a separate forum area for these sort of How To contributions, complete with an alphabetical index to create an owner experience workshop manual with all the things that professional technical writers leave out, like what not to do! This sort of posting is worthy of such a knowledge base.

Quote:

Originally Posted by minibull

Very informative post 37 RUBY, well done.

Thank you guys.

Hopefully the title will enable someone to easily find the post when searching t'interweb

Cheers

Dave

apersson850 · Feb 18th, 2021, 11:49

The last one I fixed was so badly welded inside the connector that I couldn't unplug it.

Apr 18th, 2020, 14:21	#1
37 RUBY Master Member Last Online: Apr 24th, 2024 20:45 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Chesterfield	XC70 tailgate electrical fault Hello So just now en-route to work I get a dash message telling me tailgate is open. Tailgate will not open on dash switch, remote nor the external tailgate switch change the situation. It's not the first time this has happened. Last time the lock was the culprit. A good clean of the lock and normal service resumed. Nothing else was affected. This time I have a slow struggling to function rear wiper and yesterday the tailgate was slow to open. The tailgate open message is fluctuating on and off. So I'm thinking a bad earth or broken wire which shares a common earth point with the tailgate lock, rear wiper and tailgate motor. Car is as per signature. To give me a head start tomorrow, has anyone had similar?

Apr 19th, 2020, 11:57	#6
37 RUBY Master Member Last Online: Apr 24th, 2024 20:45 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Chesterfield	Update on issue with tailgate earth fault So as minibull correctly pointed out, my issue is temporarily resolved by cleaning the earth terminal in the roof block connector, which went as follows... Gather tools and coffee... Pry down the interior light and remove the 8mm hex head bolt... Peel rubber boot seal up... Using a plastic panel pry tool, lever the rear roof panel down. Take your time. You don't want to snap anything. A quick squirt of silicone or similar aided removal of a couple of stiffer ones... The clips look like this... There are two connector blocks. It is the left hand side one... Disconnect the two halves. I found that removing the block from the roof clip assists with this. Be careful when doing this as they are fragile. Looking inside mine there was corrosion on the earth terminal(Orange/Black wire) on both respective pin connectors along with evidence of the pin overheating. You see this in the images... For the time being I have cleaned the corrosion with a needle file but there is a resolution from Volvo which is to snip the Orange & black earth wire at either side of the block and splice with cable and crimp connectors... The Volvo repair Instructions can be found here https://pdfhost.io/v/~5o2AYcEY_Volvo...ectorENpdf.pdf For note as I was doing this I checked by wiggling the connector block and wiring either side to search for breaks with no change to the situation. When I unplugged the connector and cleaned the terminals it immediately rectified the issue. I hadn't got any 2.5mm² (24a) cable so will get this done when able as the tiny pins in the connector are clearly not up to the job. Hope this helps someone in the future. Cheers Dave Last edited by 37 RUBY; Apr 19th, 2020 at 14:22. Reason: Spell checker on my fire tablet takes over again.... Narrrgh!

Apr 19th, 2020, 15:03	#7
Tatsfield Premier Member Last Online: Apr 25th, 2024 17:47 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Poole	Great posting with helpful pictures. I belong to another classic car club where they have a separate forum area for these sort of How To contributions, complete with an alphabetical index to create an owner experience workshop manual with all the things that professional technical writers leave out, like what not to do! This sort of posting is worthy of such a knowledge base. __________________ 2012 XC70 SE Lux Polestar 230 bhp D5 Auto Oyster Grey

Apr 18th, 2020, 14:29	#2
minibull VOC Member Last Online: Dec 18th, 2023 19:52 Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Bradford	https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=295625

Apr 18th, 2020, 17:43	#4
minibull VOC Member Last Online: Dec 18th, 2023 19:52 Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Bradford	Everything is still working fine, I will do the Volvo "technical upgrade" and reclip the connector now I've been furloughed from work and have time.

Apr 20th, 2020, 20:28	#8
minibull VOC Member Last Online: Dec 18th, 2023 19:52 Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Bradford	Very informative post 37 RUBY, well done.

Feb 18th, 2021, 11:49	#10
apersson850 Premier Member Last Online: Yesterday 13:07 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Traryd View Photos By: apersson850	The last one I fixed was so badly welded inside the connector that I couldn't unplug it.

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