We are in the midst of replacing the left tail gate harness on my 1992 240 wagon and when I apply breaks, the defrost turns on, and then when I depress the breaks the center light turns on. Any advice on what to look at, weather it be grounds or something?

 

So the center brake light works correctly but the defroster also turns on when you hit the brake? If that is the problem, it sounds like the brake light wire is shorted to the defroster wire.

By the way, did you repair your harness or purchase a new one? For new ones, I always bought Volvo harnesses as they use a special kind of wire (very fine strands) that holds up to flexing that goes on. It's been years since we had our wagon though so I don't know if Volvo even stocks them anymore.

 

Thanks for the reply. We figured out that the hinge was the ground and we had the hinge off. As to ordering the part directly from Volvo, they no longer make parts for it which is slightly dismaying. I got replacements from FCP Euro, about $12 a harness. Today as we were doing the right side however, we discovered the hinge was broken by who ever messed with this last. We figured it would have been them because I first undid the torex for the long metal piece, came out like a champ. The other torex was extremely hard to get out. The long metal piece was no longer attached. Anyhow, know of any where a hinge could be gotten for cheap? I looked on FCP Euro and they're like $67 a piece!!!
Thanks for any advice.

 

Only other place to get one is the junkyard. Hard to find 240s there anymore. Wagons are even harder. Usually for a part like that I look for Volvo specialty shops. Around me (northeast IL), I found a couple of shops that specialize in Volvos - one even has a mini junkyard. They tend to be rather pricey though but for something like a hinge it might be worth it.

 

That "harness through the hinge" arrangement is one of the stupidest ideas Volvo had. Every time you open the tailgate, you're flexing the wire. When I replaced mine, I ran it directly to the tailgate from the headliner. This leaves a little bit of the harness exposed, but it's hardly noticeable and certainly makes more sense.