GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

Tailgate Wires Broken! Rear lock, reverse lights, handle not working. Soldering advice/comments please!

Sj7

New member
Location
New Zealand
Hello Peoples -

The electrics on my MK5 have been wonky for a while as far as the rear hatch/tailgate is concerned. Wiper stopped working a few years ago. Now the tailgate won't unlock! Found some vids on youtube showing how other people have fixed this but I'm looking for some tips. I've got 7 wires to solder. The three bigger ones are easy enough to match up: Thick brown to thick brown. Thick white to thick white. Med white to med white.

But what about the 4 little guys? Too small to solder? How do I match them up? I've got a decent voltmeter and have worked on guitar amps but diagnosing German Auto electric is a whole different world! What I really, really, really want to avoid is shorting anything out and making a relatively simple repair into one beyond my ken.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Please see photo.

S

PS - This is the rear left wiring loom that moves when the tailgate is opened or closed. This is a relatively common problem and for some reason never occurs on the right side.
 

Attachments

  • Wires_Crop.jpg
    Wires_Crop.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 3,097

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
With that mess in that location I would get a new harness. If you want to make repairs I would not make them in the hinge point in the rubber boot but splice repair wires at the hatch interior & body side interior so that you would not have any repairs made inside the rubber boot. I have no idea why VW decided to use single color wires in that area. You will need to find a wiring diagram and trace them from the plug Pin location at the C-pillar to the plug Pin locations at the modules or lights.

 

Sj7

New member
Location
New Zealand
With that mess in that location I would get a new harness. If you want to make repairs I would not make them in the hinge point in the rubber boot but splice repair wires at the hatch interior & body side interior so that you would not have any repairs made inside the rubber boot. I have no idea why VW decided to use single color wires in that area. You will need to find a wiring diagram and trace them from the plug Pin location at the C-pillar to the plug Pin locations at the modules or lights.
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I managed to find an incredibly detailed guide on how to replace the entire harness. Total time about 2 hrs, and with luck a long term solution. Seems some people solder or splice in place only to have to redo down the road when wires start breaking again. Rather do it once and do it right. Apparently only takes a couple hours. Cost around $150 for OEM harness, so I'll go that route. In case any one is interested, here's the guide: https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=86689.0
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
Yes it is better to replace the harness for the hatch or the door and not spline in the flex area of the boot. I know they make a repair harness for the doors with the connector plug and long pigtails($25) so you can make the splices inside the door frame. Someone needs to do the same for the hatch at a reasonable cost.
 

Sj7

New member
Location
New Zealand
This is what I wound up ordering. Complete harness $350 at the dealer! This less than $100. Now the challenge to match wires. . .

Not clear yet how to go about it, despite your indications above. Could you elaborate: "trace them from the plug Pin location at the C-pillar to the plug Pin locations at the modules or lights."

Are you talking removing all the tape and physically sighting which wire terminates at the reverse lamp, fog lamp etc and then matching these with the appropriate connection at the C-Pillar?

Thanks for your insights
 

Attachments

  • s-l300.jpg
    s-l300.jpg
    10 KB · Views: 787

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
I thought you had purchased the complete left side harness from VW, did not realize that the aftermarket had come up with a boot repair harness.

Whats the model & year of this car? Do you have a wiring diagram? Because Vw decided not to use color coded wires in that harness you will need to find what wire at the C-pillar pin location goes the what plug at the hatch. You do not have to unwrap the harness but test it with a Dvm etc.
 

Sj7

New member
Location
New Zealand
This is a 2005 MKV Golf TDI. Technically it is a 2005.5 which makes finding parts a mystery sometimes. I live in New Zealand so parts are only available at the dealer ($400 all up!) as no one else would stock that. I saw a decent looking solution for less that $100 and went for it. I'm keen to learn how to use my multimeter to trace the wires but don't know how to go about it quite yet. Sounds simple, I realize. But I'm more artist than electrician and the only reason I have a decent DVM and know how to solder is from re-capping my amplifiers and swapping out guitar pickups. Every time I learn how to do something I have to find a decent video or writeup showing step by step how to go about it.:unsure:. I'll find a wiring diagram and start from there. Thanks!
 

GTI's

Drag Racing Champion
Location
MD
Thanks much GTI :)(y)

You've saved me a headache! Now I have a starting point.

Looking at your picture again it look like three of the seven broken wire are easy to splice correctly because of color & size, the four white wires that appear to be the same size is a different story.
 

Sj7

New member
Location
New Zealand
Yes - it's those four little guys that will require detective work. Fortunately I've got some time until the part arrives as it's coming from overseas to figure it out. There's not a huge amount of electronics in the tailgate so hopefully won't be too crazy,
 

DONDIWHO

Ready to race!
Location
new york
Hello Peoples -

The electrics on my MK5 have been wonky for a while as far as the rear hatch/tailgate is concerned. Wiper stopped working a few years ago. Now the tailgate won't unlock! Found some vids on youtube showing how other people have fixed this but I'm looking for some tips. I've got 7 wires to solder. The three bigger ones are easy enough to match up: Thick brown to thick brown. Thick white to thick white. Med white to med white.

But what about the 4 little guys? Too small to solder? How do I match them up? I've got a decent voltmeter and have worked on guitar amps but diagnosing German Auto electric is a whole different world! What I really, really, really want to avoid is shorting anything out and making a relatively simple repair into one beyond my ken.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Please see photo.

S

PS - This is the rear left wiring loom that moves when the tailgate is opened or closed. This is a relatively common problem and for some reason never occurs on the right side.
Wow this is the worst i've ever seen.......
 
Top