electrical short to tailgate, wiring harness ?

[98cl]

I got in my Vibe this morning, lots of fog, very moist air. My dome lights were off as I approached the car. When I started the car, the open door indicator would not turn off, even after slamming all 4 doors and tailgate.No power to rear windshield wiper or rear defrost but rear washer pump worked. Dome light would not go out without turning off with dash switch.Of course I dealt with this on my way to work. Got the most important things done and then went to the dealer. Of course the fog was gone, air dryer but still had all the problems listed above. Got to the dealer, open door light still showed. Service writer opened tailgate, looking for the sensor, couldn't find it. Closed tailgate and of course problem disappeared. Tailgate was not opened after I parked the car last night until I slammed tailgate to correct the problem.I will post next time it happens and of course I will got straight to dealer next time!Searching posts, I see no issues with wiring, so I hope it's isolated, makes me feel better about the extended warranty I paid for, never used standard warranty!

[ragingfish]

Did you check the hatch GLASS?That would keep your wiper from working...the electrical contacts only connect if the glass is fully closed...Plus, I've found even slamming the tailgate DOOR with the glass open does NOT cause the glass to latch...I'd bet that was the problem...

[ColonelPanic]

Welcome aboard! It does sound to me like the hatch glass may have been the issue... If it is slightly ajar, the rear defrost or wiper will not work. For the washer, I don't think the pump is back there. I had that pump replaced on mine under warranty but still not sure where the thing resides. I do know that there is just the hose back there that goes to the washer nozzle, nothing electrical for the washer itself in that area. So that explains why the washer worked.If you open the glass, look somewhere around the bottom (kinda in the rear wiper area, IIRC - been a while since I've looked there) you'll see a connector with several copper contacts - that gets power to the wiper motor and rear defrost. When the window is closed fully, the contacts on the liftgate match up with those on the glass, and your rear defrost and rear wiper have power. When the glass is opened, the circuits for the devices are opened as well. If there was something between the contacts on the liftgate and the glass, that could explain it. You may want to have a quick look at the contacts and see if they're dirty or corroded (which I doubt they would be, but never hurts to look.) Could be simple as the glass was not latched securely, but if the problem persists, I'd suspect a bad connection somewhere. Slamming the hatch closed *could* have knocked whatever back in line. Maybe the rear window could even use a bit of adjustment... Not sure if the glass being out of adjustment would be great enough of a difference to cause the contacts to not meet where they should. Mine was out of whack when I bought the car, had to have them adjust the glass. None of the electrical stuff malfunctioned, but it did have a water leak...Keep an eye on it... Could have just been one of those things, these cars do have personalities of their own at times. I know mine does at least!And hey, at least you're getting some return on that extended warranty. It'll make you feel a bit more at ease, the extended warranty has saved my (removed) a couple of times so far.