[Uncledumbo]

I have a 97 Wagon that has been shooting the fuse marked tail. (dash lights, marker lights, chime for lights on, radio dimmer, lic. plate lights) I have been trying to figure out for months why. I finally broke down and took it to a dealership to have a look and the fuse would not shoot and they could not find the problem.

This weekend I had the liftgate up and happened to notice the little rubber boot on the upper right hand corner was split open. Looking a little closer I noticed two wires completely broken and a third on its way. The broken wires are red w/ black stripe and the other is a sold black wire. The third wire that looks like it is about to break is red w/ yellow line. Could this bee my problem? Everything else on the lift gate works fine except the lic. plate lights.

Is it hard to replace the wire harness on the lift gate? How do I go about this? The wires are broken off almost at the very top of the boot with no room for splicing.

 

[BOSS302man]

Have you given thought to just repairing the broken wires only in that area?

 

[pextor]

plenty of people have done repairs in that area, it's a common failure in wagons.

 

[denisond3]

I have made that repair. At least its one you can do standing up. One of the wires has broken again though, and this time I will have to drop the headliner and pull off the inner panel of the hatch, in order to run a couple of replacement wires. On mine its the wire for the rear wiper, so I can procrastinate.

 

[Uncledumbo]

After looking at it closer I think this is an easy fix. Can anyone tell me what gauge wire to use to fix this?

 

[denisond3]

Im guessing most of them would be AWG 18, though the wires for the rear window heater might be AWG 16 or 14. Use stranded wire of course.

 

[Sparky34kv]

I just went through that with my wagon. The brake lights were making the dash and marker lights come on. I would just remove the plastic panel in the cargo area on the passenger side and disconnect the tie downs for the wire bundle. Next, remove the boot from the body of the car and pull out as much wire as you are comfortable with. You can skin about a 1/4 inch of insulation from each broken wire, then crimp some inline(butt) splices on them. I had to do 4 out of the bundle, the rear wiper was starting to go on and off on it's own. If you wrap some tape around them afterward it helps to protect them a little. If you take your time and do it carefully it should only be a half hour job at most, and tha's with removing the plastic inner panel and putting it back.

 

[BOSS302man]

I have to laugh at your screen name. A guy named Sparky giving out wiring instructions just doesn't seem quite right....

 

[Sparky34kv]

I have to laugh at your screen name. A guy named Sparky giving out wiring instructions just doesn't seem quite right....

Especially one who has been electrocuted, the 34kv at the end is the volts I got hit with. I am learning mechanical parts on these cars the hard way, but most of it is pretty straightforward once you take your time and go through the steps. :lol:

 

[ttfleury]

its not super difficult to replace... just a bit of a pain to get the new wires back through the hatch. id recommend you just temporarily unbolt the hatch , it makes wire repairs easier not attached to the car. it unplugs inside of the car u just have to pull the headliner down to disconnect the wiring from the hatch.

 

[STLHOPE]

oo that just happened to mine like amonth ago,the darn windshield wiper on the back kept coming on all by itself ((spooky huh) and then the light would come on like the hatch was left open and it wouldnt be....then the back light wouldnt go off on the hatch...I thought I was being haunted till my uncle saw the wires crossing there on the right side of the hatch...he did a little fixer upper there and got me back on the road....maybe he did a little exorcisim too....haha.....stay away ghosts....

 

[ethangsmith]

I too am a survivor of the damaged rear liftgate harness. I cut through all of the wires and put crimp connections in and then put heat shrink tubing over all of them, then wound electrical tape around the harness. So far so good.

 

[Grunchy]

Yep same here.. I too had broken wires leading to the tailgate. It wasn't a difficult fix, it involved a soldering iron, a bit of new wire, electrical tape. No problems since.

 

[ethangsmith]

I'm about to buy another wagon with a damaged rear hatch harness. Has anyone actually replaced one of the harnesses? I hate doing band-aid fixes.

 

[LariRudi]

Bandaids

I'm about to buy another wagon with a damaged rear hatch harness. Has anyone actually replaced one of the harnesses? I hate doing band-aid fixes.

No, a goood splice and shrink tubing AND elect tape for triple comfort I don't consider a "band aid". Do a concientious job like they show above and I think you'll feel quite secure in a "job well done".

Good luck,

LarryR : )