It looks like the tailgate hinge on our '89 240 wagon has severed the wire harness on the driver side. License plate light, third brake light and power lock do not work. How easy is this to do and what should we look out for? Unfortunatly, we failed our inspection because of this problem and so we are in a bit of a rush to get it fixed... any info would be greatly appreciated.
-mikenbeck

Check the archives for a wealth of experience with this job. Mr Foster has posted pictures of the whole process, Mr Reisner has posted instructions to reroute the wires so that they no longer go through the hinge. I spliced on wire inside the tailgate so that I could pull enough of the special flexible wire up through the hinges, then spliced to the wiring inside the car. Zero dollars vs 30 per side. Hmmm? No matter how you do it, be sure to reseal the hinges so that your roof won't leak.

They are easy to fix. It does help to have an extra pair of hands the first time you do this.

You can buy the harness already made up from ipd or ebay, or make/fix them yourself, as others have posted.

If you have access to a garage, it's easier to suspend the tailgate from your garage door or rafters instead of using a 2x4 or broomstick to hold the door open.

Check your hinge pins, if the holes are out-of-round, it's a good time to replace the hinges. Also consider purchasing new hinge gaskets.

Lay a blanket or some cardboard over the roof to protect it from the tailgate and hinges when you undo the bolts. When un-tethered, the tailgate always seems to take a dive straight for the paint on the roof.

Good luck,

--
don hodgdon '89 744ti, '81 242t, '71 D-35

After repeated wire breaks at the hinges, I decided to run my wires outside the hinge. Ie. Through a small hole in ceiling vinyl (drivers side corner) to hole in gate to components. Somebody posted pics of their work.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

My 1982 245 wagon needed several repairs to this through-the-hinge wiring shortly after I got it but before I knew much about Volvos or where to look for help. I got frustrated with the repeated costly shop repairs so I decided to look into the matter myself. The shop I had been taking it to was patching up the original wiring with a rig job of heat-shrink tubing. The rigidity of the tubing, it seemed to me, could never survive the repeated flexion of the hinge. I came up with my own fix, and so far it has stayed fixed. Here's what I did: The harness wires which pass through the hinges are made of very finely-stranded wire. Think "angel hair" pasta compared to stroganoff noodles. The thinner strands bend easier and are less resistant to terminal stress when being flexed. I surmised that the short length of my original hinge-harness that was actually getting flexed in the hinge had been thoroughly worn out, but there was still a good length of the same finely-stranded wire "upstream" from the hinge that hadn't done any hard duty at all. Upstream from the hinge, I extended each of the conductors about six inches by splicing in some lengths of ordinary multi-stranded wire. This allowed me enough length in the harness so that I could work some of the underworked "angel hair" finely-stranded wires downstream into the high-flex hinge area. The inch or so of wiring that passed through that hinge was not new, but it acted like new. Hope this helps!

Should be a one-day project if you DIY. Might as well do both sides. The harnesses are about $30 each.
Search the archives for directions. Get a 2x4 that you can cut to the correct ( I don't say "right" anymore) length to support the tailgate up after you remove the hinge...the only thing that is not clear is that you need a very small screwdriver (I use my Leatherman's) to pop out the connectors from the plastc housings so you can feed the ends through the holes. Also get a metal coat hanger to help thread the wire bundle through the tailgate channels.
Buena suerte,
el Raidman