1999 V70XC awd. When I bought the car (this summer), the trunk release (both keyfob and driver's door mounted) did not work. no big deal, just had to reach over the back seat to lock or unlock the tailgate.

Since then, the rear wiper/washer has stopped working, and last week (now that its getting cold), the rear window defrost/mirror defrost seems to not be working. it worked fine in early september (upper michigan is cold at 6 am). Its almost as if the entire rear of the car has stopped working (electrically).

I have a basic voltage detector, but no idea where to check. seems like maybe a wire somewhere got cut? any ideas? Is there a way to check the wires without taking interior panels or headliners out?

 

oh, and all the lights work fine.

 

Had similar issues with my 2001 V70 and it was multiple broken wires in the left hinge area from flexing. Not sure if the 1999 wiring harness is routed through through the left hinge but the symptoms sound very similar. When checking the wires be sure and check some distance from the actual hinge area. My car had several completely broken wires and several more with just a few strands of wire holding things together. One thing you might try is turning everything on related to the tailgate and slowly open and close the tailgate to see if anything starts or stops working. If so this would indicate broken wires, the broken wires can make intermittent contact as the harness is flexed. My license plate lamps would go on and off as I raised and lowered the tailgate.

 

tried that...didn't really help. and in fact, it confused me more. I do know now that my license plate lights are out too.

what confused me was that I could hear the mechanism for the rear wiper going. I put it on intermittent and moved the trunk up and down, fast and slow. I could hear the "clunk" of the motor trying to move the wiper, but it wasn't moving.

I'm getting confused. Does andyone know if the power cable (that you can just see by the left hinge) run down from the hinge, or forward thru the roof line? aka, do I have to take the rear interior panel off or mess with the headliner (which is mint...I really don't want to do that.)

 

I had this problem with my V70 99 GLT. The problem is likely broken wires inside the wire harness at the tailgate left driver side hinge. I was able to expose the harness, slide the outer harness up the wire bundle from the broken wires, pull minor slack from both sides, and re-splice the individual wires.

 

dead on with this diagnosis....i found 2 broken wires inside my woire harness by the left hinge...both my rear wipers and power tailgate lock were inop...i repaired the wires in abouth a half hour and they now work perfect again...

thanks
steve

1999 v70 xc