Stuart's Volkswagen Golf Mk 5/V Forum

Hi,

I have exactly the same problem, with similar wired either exposed or broken inside the flexible conduits.

I managed to patch and/or re-connect these but I have had to pull the rubber conduit from both sides to get access and now I cannot put it back properly.

Any advice about the best way to do this?

Did VW use sealant afterwards or was all water proof as it was?

Regards,

Leif

Hi Leif,

Sorry to hear that you have had the same problem with your car's tailgate wiring.

The rubber conduit is secured by two blue plastic fastenings which snap into cut-outs in the car's body at one end and the tailgate at the other. On my car, when disconnecting one of these I snapped off one of the 2 lugs. http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5/tailgate_snapped_wires/img_1430.jpg shows the fastening and the remaining lug. The missing lug meant I could never re-secure the conduit in place afterwards. I didn't try to fix this but I guess it could be glued.

Depending upon how neatly you cut into the rubber conduit in order to check the wiring loom will determine how easy it will be to reseal. Maybe you could glue or tape it back together. Sealant might be useful in order to prevent water getting into the car's bodywork/tailgate.

The proper fix is to replace the conduit and connectors at the same time as replacing the damaged wiring loom. This is what I think the VW dealer did to my car. No sealant required.

Hope this has answered your questions. Let me know if you need any more help.

Stuart
http://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk5
https://twitter.com/radox2235

Hi Stuart,

I managed to extract the plastic fastenings (this picture was really useful) and insulate/fix the wires which were obviously damaged

Everything seems to work properly now, fingers crossed

However having all these wires white on one side with no way to identify them and above all using such crap wire sheath is really unacceptable for a car manufacturer like VW, don't you think so?

Regards,

Leif

Oh absolutely. I have been really disappointed by Volkswagen's handling of this. It is so obviously a design fault but they will not acknowledge this.

Stuart

Do you know someone from VW I could complain to?

Not really. All you can do is go through the usual channels: First see your local dealer and give them an opportunity to fix under warranty. If, or rather when, they say it is not a warranty repair you can contact VW UK. They may offer a discount but that's all I could manage.

Stuart

The local dealers could not care less
Since the car is 9 years old I am not ready to pay to have the entire wiring replaced, even with an hypothetic 50% discount from VW UK
I will try to find relevant contacts in Germany