2000 V70 SE, Denso, AW-5, 235K miles.

Searched the BB forum and didn't come up with much on this one.

The license plate lights are out when the tailgate is latched closed, and when the tailgate is in the full open position. When the tailgate is halfway open, the license plate lights will illuminate and then cut out when the gate is raised or lowered. The rear wiper and the high-mounted brake light work fine.

Our old 245 would break the wires running through the tailgate hinges after long service, and had to be spliced every now and then. But the V70 wiring configuration looks quite a bit different.

Any ideas?

loose / corroded ground wire ?

That's a good place to start I suppose, if I can locate the ground for that particular wiring harness. I behaves like the wire is broken, and makes contact only when the gate is in the halfway position. I remember 240s doing the same thing, and splicing in a new wire.

You might be right about the broken wire, but that is a difficult procedure. A piece of protective plastic covers the wiring loom. With the tailgate halfway up, you might try moving the wiring up/down and see if the light goes out.

You are in California, so I doubt that you have any corrosion in the bulb holders or loose bulbs. I had to replace both of my bulb holders due to salt, the bulbs were fine.

The ground wire can be inspected by removing the bulb holders, I think, without removing the inside panel of the tailgate. If the end of the wire cannot be seen, just create a ground against the tailgate and see if the lights come on.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Spent the afternoon today troubleshooting and repairing and that's exactly what it was: Broken wires. I ended up soldering a wire joint and taping with black electrical tape on four separate wires in the bundle. The bundle gets thicker with each solder joint & taping; and probably could have done a few more wires but the bundle would hang up in the small hinge opening. It's a different design than the 245, but as the car ages and after 1000's of tailgate openings and closings the result is the same: broken wires and no license plate lights, rear wiper, window defroster, high brake light, etc. I'd buy a new tailgate wire harness if I could find one, but I don't think any are available; unlike the 240 aftermarket.

Everything works for now, but I still have to tie off the bundle with a cable tie to the hinge, so it doesn't move and bind in the hinge, breaking wires again.

Here are a couple of links to poste on the subject from Matthews Volvo Site:

http://matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16479

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35351

I didn't realize until too late that removal of the interior tailgate panels are not necessary to do this tailgate hinge wire repair. But now, there are some clips that broke in the brittle plastic as the panels were removed, so that repair is next.

Happy to have all electrics functioning in the tailgate again.

V70 wiring diagrams are online and they at least list/show the ground connection points. I have not had much luck trying to print them out.

Greg