Yes, the harness(es) go through the hinges. My notes say the wire for the high-mounted brake lamp uses the left hinge, like that for the defroster and tag lighting. The right side has wiring for the central locking and washer/wiper.

If you go by the wiring diagrams I posted in No Brake Lights under the ABS indicator thread, there's a discrepancy between the pictorial and the wiring diagram. It shows Brown/Black used in the '92, but still shows the Blue/Black in the pictorial at the lamp. Blue/Black was the color in '91, so I suppose this is one of the common editing mistakes in the factory manual detail pages.

Now it is time for you to cuss yourself for only fixing the one wire for the tag lamps at the time. To reassure yourself this is the issue, just look into the hinge with the gate closed to see the damaged wiring. Then open it.

To prove it is the issue, you'd need to do similar tracing as you did to fix the bulb-out relay, checking for juice where it connects above the headliner, and again inside the tail gate.

There are four approaches to repair I can think of. I cuss with #3.

1) Buy Genuine Volvo replacement harness. Cuss the price, but get the longer-lasting wiring, using the high strand count conductors and silicone insulation.

2) Buy Aftermaket replacement harness. Cuss yourself in a few years when you need to do it again.

3) Splice in some scrap wire on one end of each harness and pull good portion of original cable through the hinge. Cuss yourself perhaps, for not having a complete collection of wire splicing supplies.

4) Run the wires out the headliner and into the tail gate without putting them through the hinge. Add a ground wire, because those in both hinges are broken. Let others cuss you for doing a schlock job on a beautiful Swedish Wagon, but smile and let it roll off.

Actually, I can think of a fifth approach re-purposing a defroster wire you don't need in S. Florida and probably won't miss on Tobacco Road, but I can't give you the benefit of any experience doing that. The defroster actually uses two of the wires in tandem to double the current carrying capacity.


--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

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