No Brake Lights with Hopkins Plug-In Harness On a 2013 Volvo XC70

Updated 09/19/2019 | Published 09/18/2019

Products Featured in This Question

Hopkins Plug-In Simple Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-Pole Flat Trailer Connector

(32)

$70.52

T-One Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-Pole Flat Trailer Connector

(18)

$68.65

Curt T-Connector Vehicle Wiring Harness with 4-Pole Flat Trailer Connector

(28)

$80.10

Question:

I purchased the tow light harness above for my 2013 Volvo xc70 and installed it. My problem is that the harness connects to the lower brake lights on the car. When the volvo rear hatch is closed, the vehicle only uses the lower brake lights as adaptive brake lights and not during normal braking. When the tailgate is up the lower brake lights work, when the tailgate is closed they do not. Since the harness is tapped into the lower lights, I dont get trailer brake lights. I realize that this is on the vehicle side of things, but the harness sales should not be compatible with my vehicle if this is the normal state of the car. I can find no information on the web about re configuring the lower brake lights to operate outside of adaptive mode. If you have any insight on how my might adapt this harness to work with my vehicle, Id appreciate input.

asked by: Anthony R

Expert Reply:

There are two different sets of tail lights on a 2013 Volvo XC70, a pair in the quarter panel at chest height and a pair in the lower bumper at knee height. I took a look at all the trailer wiring harnesses for a 2013 Volvo XC70 (Curt T-Connector part # C56386, Tekonsha T-One part # 118774, and Hopkins Plug-In part # HM11143735) and these all show the connectors plugging into the tail lights at chest height (see photo). It sounds like you may somehow have them plugged into the tail lights at knee height and not the tail lights at chest height as that would very well cause the issue you are having.

If you take a look at the attached instructions for the Curt T-Connector, these are much more detailed so they should help with the Hopkins Plug-In. I took a look at all of the other reviews for the Hopkins Plug-In and no one else mentioned this same problem so I believe the issue is with the installation portion.

expert reply by: Conner L