No power to rear upper tailgate. SOLVED!!!

[Berko]

I have a problem on my 2001 E53 in that I seemingly have no power to the upper tailgate.

Neither the wiper, washer, heated rear window or upper brake light work although the internal lights function ok.

I have checked the wires at the hinge and they appear to be sound so I am assuming that the problem must be with a plug somewhere so can anyone tell me where best to start looking?

[Berko]

No one able to give me any advice???

[puddinboo]

there could be broken wires in that harness , did you do a continuity test with volt meter? possible bad ground wire.

[Berko]

Not yet. It's far too wet here and I have nowhere undercover to start playing with electrical things!

[Isambard]

Before someone else jumps on you from a height, get a signature sorted out mate.

E53 covers a lot of models. I'm sure that makes no difference to your 'current' (see what I did there? current, no power.. ) situation as they will most likely be generic back there. However it will do you favours in the future.

And when I say future, I mean you will spend a lot of time here seeking advice on this motor!

Unfortunately I can't offer any more advice because I've not come across this issue myself. But yes a continuity test would be favourite IF you can find where to test from! Good luck, and let us know how you get on..

[TerminatorX5]

the wiring to all of the upper gate goes through the right "accordeon" boot... the left boot is for the hose for washer fluid...

the harness for third light splits at entry point from rest of wires and goes into the spoiler... the rest of wires go to the wiper motor area... if it weren't for the stop light, i would say the plug at the motor needs checked...

pull the trim - 4 screws, two in the handles, two under lights - then pop the push-in pins... the side trims are very hard to disengage from bottom trim, but there are no more screws to unscrew... check the motor plug, check the wires for chaffing...

[Berko]

Thanks for the information. So am I correct in assuming that there is a single plug in the loom leading up to the right side of the tailgate? And if so, would that be close to the fuse box in the rear compartment?

I'll be on this as soon as the weather eases up a bit. Either that or it's going into a garage!

[Berko]

I've added a signature...

[Berko]

Still no joy with this. I even tried a battery reset but to no avail.

Off to a dealer next week. :-(

[bcredliner]

Even though your issues are not covered by 1 fuse I assume you have checked fuses anyway?

No dash warning lights?