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Tailgate wiring

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Old Jul 29th, 2017, 15:44   #1
firosiro
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Default Tailgate wiring

Yes I have some of the usual problems. Number plate lights not working but will light when the tailgate is close to horizontal (that scenario is getting more flaky though) and the third brake light comes on when the tailgate is fully open so looks like two of the wires are compromised. Heated rear window and wiper works fine as does the tailgate solenoid. I know that the earth link in the loom side is broken but the other side seems to be working fine at the moment. The loom casing in the hinge is still intact so I cant see what is happening to the 4 wires. Not taken anything apart yet, have ordered a loom from Charlton.
Question - Which colour wires go to what? There are 4 wires in the loom, Blue, Yellow and either 2 greys or a grey and a black.
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Old Jul 29th, 2017, 19:33   #2
Angie
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As far as I remember - I enlisted a friend to help with the wiring about three years ago - it's more or less foolproof, as each wire has a different type of connector. It was a reasonably straightforward job, just a bit of jiggling needed to feed the wires down through the tailgate, and of course the need for two people as the tailgate is heavy.

Various people on here have worked out ways to bypass the hinges so as to avoid future problems but I prefer to keep things original if possible. I think it's sensible to replace both looms while you're about it, unless one side has been replaced recently. They're not expensive and you want to avoid the hassle of removing the tailgate again in possibly the fairly near future.
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Old Jul 30th, 2017, 18:40   #3
BrianH
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Default Rear hinge thread through

I do one side at a time. Both, as Ange says is better.

In 29 years Ive done this so many times.

Open the rear door pull off the tee shaped plastic tee cover on the door, lift off the plastic base. Pop off the plastic gromets under the card carefully. Release shaped wire leads colour matched plugs. Can't go wrong.

Loose the roof lining by pulling back and hooking up and out.

I support the door with a bench to support the door.

Unplug the top wires all mached to colour by plug shape as below.

Use a socket to remove the hinge bolts.

This is messy as there is black unset sealer on the joint so much I have never added to it! Gloves are no good.

Attach a length of cord to the wire to be extracted from the top and ease down and out. Not easy. Loose it and you are lost. Make a good joint, otherwise its treading a wire through.

Bind the new wires to the cord tightly, pull through gently.

Once to the top..... beath again...... and the connecting plugs are easy.

Reposition the rubber seal carefully underneath the hinge and stuggle to locate the bolts, especially the body bolt.

Pull and streach the head lining and hook over the channel.

If there are broken plastic location buttons on the rear door card you can still get them from Swansea Volvo. Just make sure you give a good description.

I have no rear wipers at the moment....... so time.

Time to try something different, after suggestions from Mr Clurer a Volvo Club Technical Director a few years ago.

I have soldered push connections to an elongated loom so that, hopefully I can pull through the damaged portion cut and recrimp and reconnect!!

So far I have tried to pull though without loosening the bolts.....no go.

BrianH 245 GL 1989
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Old Jul 30th, 2017, 21:21   #4
Stephen Edwin
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BrianH.

Thank you.

I take it you refer to opening the tailgate. Where in Earth is the tee shaped plastic tee cover please? Are you referring to the early style tailgate? On the newer style I guess one removes the rectangular panel across the lower part of the tailgate?
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Old Jul 31st, 2017, 14:46   #5
Jungle_Jim
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Hi all
Facing this same recurring problem, this time I've bought some flexible cable from ebay - silicon shielded, 18awg gauge, and using connectors and a crimper, replaced each of the four wires in each side.

The wire I used was thicker, and more flexible than a normal harness. What makes it flexible is that it uses lots of very thin wires, as opposed to fewer thicker ones. Added to this is the silicon shielding which is more softer than the standard plasticy shielding.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=862766194023

Installing them was easy - passing the groups of four wires down the sides of the tailgate - using the old wiring to see which wire went where, and crimp in the relevant connector (you need a crimping tool and range of connectors). The only drawback is that all my wire was black - it was cheaper than buying lengths of different coloured stuff. I think 10 metres did the whole job, both sides. (each length is roughly a bit over 1 metre and you need 8 so 10 metres suffices.)

So far (a few months) it's been working very well.

One area of weakness with the 240 tailgate design is that the wiring is exposed to the elements just at the vulnerable pivot point. This means that the wiring insulation gets exposed to UV light and deteriorates. Just on this point I wrapped the wiring in some tape which I believe is UV resistant - we'll see.

When you've got 4 individual wires going through the hinge, as opposed to a 4-core, you need to make sure that - once the hinge is bolted down either side - each wire is not pinched or trapped more than it needs to be, allowing as much movement as possible, so it can slide back and forth somewhat around the pivot point - this will increase its longevity as much as possible.

Anyone else done something similar?

John
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Old Aug 2nd, 2017, 19:56   #6
BrianH
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Hi Stephen

Yes its the opening rear tail gate. The interior opening handle. (I only know the 1989 estate)

Further to that above you need to remove the dedicated plugs before you can thread the cable through the rear pillar. This done with a small screw driver down the back of the plug following the wire in. The aim is to fiddle the metal tag holding the wire in the plug. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes very fiddley.

Ive ignored the earth tag over the hinge itself as its always broken.

Been raining solid today. Must get round to this!!!

BrianH
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Old Jul 1st, 2018, 00:02   #7
Nicholas Lewin
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I have 97% completed replacing both (short) looms on my 240 over the past few weeks

I was surprised how (generally) straightforward this job was and that actually the original design is not entirely batty - a few thoughts to help anyone contemplating this job

Make sure that you have a replacement left and right hand loom to hand (Brookhouse Volvo, Charlton Volvo, Skabdix and Ebay to name a few sources), before you start

Find out how to release your headlining and wash your hands (or use clean gloves) when you do so

To be crystal clear. Each hinge has two cables in it. There is a short length of black plastic sheathed copper wire which is the negative return cable ensuring a good return path from tailgate equipment to the battery. This is attached to the hinge itself. The other cable is the loom itself. The outer sheathing is also black and altho routed thru the black rubber mounting pads, this cable is not in anyway attached to either hinge - it has a routeing slot/space cast for it within the hollow space of the hinge

I replaced both hinges*. I transferred the black unset goo from the old hinges to the new ones. My take is that this goo is a flexible weather-proofer around the cables

*I did this for three reasons; 1st, the new OEM Volvo items from FRF Swansea have the earth return cable screwed in place - a distinct upgrade on the car's originals which have the cable stamped in place. Will make it much easier to replace in future. 2nd, this is my only car. I couldn't afford to have the car un-useable as I did this job. 3rd in putting new hinges on, I now have new hinge hardware too - that's worth doing I reckon on a 27 yr old car...

I have retained the original hinges. I will drill-out the stamped negative return cable and refit with self-tap screws or indeed tap threads for new screw terminals. That way I have a spare set of hinges for potential future use. If time were on my side, I'd have simply done this as part of the job and not bought new hinges

I applied a small mount of copper ease on all four screws/bolts holding the hinges in place - to prevent steel to aluminium oxidation and to help with electrical flow back to the battery

I did one hinge at a time - removing it entirely. I left the other hinge on and also the gas props. I then propped the tailgate up with a stout piece of timber. Just be careful not to knock that wooden prop out...

What's left to do? I have a couple of electrical connections to remake (because a previous owner has messed-up two in the tailgate - were it not for that, all the electrics are literally plug and play with different connectors for every item - you cannot mess this up assuming that your wiring is all in place!). I have enlisted the help of a friend to adjust the tailgate whilst I do bolts up. At the moment, the tailgate is about 1mm out to the left. The adjustment is almost entirely in the two bolts that secure the hinges to the roof of the car (the two torx screws on the tailgate appear to have no adjustment). So whilst he applies some sideways pressure to the hinges/tailgate, I will then tighten the bolts. Simples!

Hope that is helpful. Nick
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Old Jul 21st, 2018, 12:28   #8
speedyG50
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The black unset gunk is ... gum gum, not made any more and used by volvo to also stick down loose cables to prevent rattling...great stuff.

If you are wiring the tailgate yourself, you need a top quality braided wire with excellent conductivity..... also good if you are replacing the short earth connectors in each hinge.....
https://www.copperbraid.co.uk/round-flexible/

To prevent the exposed part of the loom being weather battered, cut and then slip a piece of thin rubber into the hinge to cover the loom
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Old Jul 22nd, 2018, 18:56   #9
Bob Meadows
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Speedy: ~ the product you refer to is Dum-Dum (Gum/Gun is exhaust putty) Dum product is excellent as you say and a great pity that it has been discontinued- you will find the same used in various places on the 240 particularly in the engine bay.
I have a 63 year old classic that has the entire removable floor panels sealed with the stuff, I still have a half tin on the shelf that is plus 20years & as new! If you want a descent substitute then the attached is a good alternative but you need to extrude the quantity and allow the oils to evaporate it can then be worked in a very similar way to Dum-Dum.
The same product is great for the true use i.e. Windscreen sealing.
Bob
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Old Jul 23rd, 2018, 19:05   #10
speedyG50
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Thanks Bob, you're absolutely right ..... Dum Dum it is ... silly me. Whenever I find some on the car I nick about 10% so have got a reasonable amount in reserve now.... just found some yesterday when I was inspecting the prepump, a great big glob holding down the wiring. Appreciate the info regarding the alternative too, useful tip .... thank you
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