When I close and open the hatch the lights take on a mind of their own. Sometimes the third brake light turns on and the drivers side taillight turns off. Sometimes all of the brake lights are stuck on. Sometimes the tag lights work and sometimes they don't. It seems as if the hatch being opened and closed causes most of it's light issues. Also the radio is on and off when it pleases with the tag lights as well. I replaced all of the fuses and cleaned the fuse box and I cleaned the bulb sockets and it seems to be working as it should at the moment. The wireing in the hatch has been tinkered with by the person who owned it before me and it looks like they did a hack of a job rewireing the hatch. Is there anything else I should look for or replace if the problem comes back?

 

Where the wires go through the hinge on the hatch can be a place where the wires chafe. This can cause problems. It may be difficult or impossible to visually inspect the wires in the hinge. IPD and other sell a wire kit for the wires that go throuugh the hinges. The hatch must be removed to run the wires through the hinge.

The second time I did this repair, I ran the wires from under the pulled back headliner, down the side of the hatch and into the hatch behind the carpet. I used electrical tape to keep the wire in place. The advantage of this method is that hatch removal is not needed and by bypassing the hinge there is no chance of chafing or crimping wires.

With that said, I am thinking about running the wires through the hinge at some point in the future because it does look better.

 

The wires have already been bubba rigged by the previous owner, he did bypass the hinges thought and sent them through a hole in the hatch.

Is there any disadvantage to. It using the prefab harness and just rewiring the entire hatch myself? I would like to go a little overkill on it and reroute some things so this doesn't happen again. Thanks!

 

The advantage of the harness kits is that it includes the connectors and has the correct color wires. This makes it simple. You could do it yourself, but you will have to splice wires because you probably don't have the correct connectors.

The kit is available from IPD, FCP Euro and others. Even if you bypass the hinge, it is still worth getting the harness kit.

 

Sounds like the prefab harnesses will be the way to go. I checked and thankfully the guy who rigged up the wiring didn't remove any connectors.

Been buzzing around in it and haven't had the issue again, but I really don't trust the wiring back there.

Of course my speedo died today after I fixed everything else, lol. Car must have been factory equipped with a poltergeist.

 

That harness routing through the hatch hinges was not one of Volvo engineering's better ideas. I "bubba rigged " mine by drilling with a 1/2 hole saw a hole in the hatch,then a hole just outside the headliner perimeter,on the car side. Ran new wiring with a 4 pin weather pak connector on each side,so if the hatch needs to be removed,there is a harness disconnect. The harness's have enough slack so the hatch can open. Not as clean looking as OEM,but better longevity,and reliability.

 

do note, that wire used in the hinge is made with extra fine strands and a high strand count, so its more flexible.