Problem with Rear Interior Lights on W124 Estate.
 

Hi,

I'm having a bit of a problem with the Interior Lights in 'D' and 'C' Pillers. When I open the tailgate the rear interior lights work as normal when the tailgate is around half open the rear interior lights go out and I noticed the number plate lights come on briefly just before the tailgate is fully open. If I've got the headlights on the number plate lights will go out at the halfway point and turn back on when I close the tailegate at the halfway point.

When I shut the tailgate the rear interior lights turn on again when the tailgate is half way closed then turn off as normal when the soft close has finished.

The light will operate normally when I turn them on with the switch on the dash.

I noticed a couple of switches near the boot lock motor, when I removed the tailgate trim, do these activate the lights when you pop the tailgate?

Not sure where to start to diagnose the problem and find out if it's a broken switch. The wiring did look ok, couldn't find any visible breaks near the hinges. But I'm going to take out the plastic headlining and D pillar trims at the weekend for a closer look. Never had any problems with the wiring and the car hasn't been messed around with. It's never had an alarm and the factory IR locking/unlocking works fine.

Thanks

Wires are cracking in the rubber conduit, where the wiring goes from the headliner area into the tailgate itself, seen this before.
Gilly

I'm going to strip the interior trim, so I can get a better look at the weekend

There's no need to "strip," just look at the left side rubber conduit area. A new harness isn't that expensive and not that difficult to replace DIY.

I'll definatly price one up, I thought they'd be exspensive is it usually the left side that gets damaged?

The left side is the side with all the electrics.

Right side is mostly washer hose.

I'm having a go at a repair, even with my discount at the dealer the tailgate loom came in £100 about 150 U.S. I'm taking the lining out later this afternoon when it's warmed up a little outside. Had the auto heating in the car kicked in this morning britsh winters kicking in !!! Our clocks go back soon so on a mission to get it done before that happens.

It might only be a few broken wires (from the wiring flexing from the years og opening and closing), have seen this before. It might be a bit hard, but you should be able to repair the wiring. This would have been my first idea anyways, rather than replacing a harness. This is done a lot in the door conduit areas.
Gilly

Been having a fiddle with it this afternoon, it's a broken wire just havn't found it yet. I've marked the ones that seemed ok, but started it a bit late in the day today and the light was faiding.