Disconnectiong electrical in '90 wagon hatch

lalunette

Hi folks,

I will be swapping my rusty hatch for a brand new one later this summer and have been studying the electrical connections involved (lights, power to wiper, etc...).

I've removed the skins thinking I would find some type of connectors I could unplug and thereby make the swap easier.

My problem is that it doesn't seem that easy...

There is one bunch of wires leaving the wagon body and connecting to the hatch. This bunch of wires is in a rubber tube that acts as weatherproofing for the wires.

The only course of action I see is cutting these wires and manually resplicing them afterwards. This jusn't seem like the best option.

Has anyone ever completely removed a hatch and knows what I should be doing ????

Thx for any tips or advice !!!!

pas_wagovan

is there a conctor under the head liner? if not i recomend you drsconect the wires at the lights, motor, ect. if you cut and reconect the wire you will run into problems years later like open or shorted wires. pull the wire harness out like an engine harness. good luck

lalunette

pas_wagovan wrote:

is there a conctor under the head liner?

I've pulled the hatch skins and there is no obvious connections right there. Do you mean the connections could be under the headliner in the car??

pas_wagovan wrote:

if not i recomend you drsconect the wires at the lights, motor, ect.

At this point that's pretty much my ONLY option.

pas_wagovan wrote:

if you cut and reconect the wire you will run into problems years later like open or shorted wires.

There isn't much room to cut and reconnec t anyway... it's pretty tight in there.

I'll go with the suggestion of unplugging/disconnecting the wires where they connect with the lights, the wiper motor, etc..., pulling the wire harness, installing the new door, and reconnect everything with the original wire harness.

Sounds like quite a job but at least I'll have a rust-free hatch to show for it...

Cheers !!

pas_wagovan

good luck. try and look under the headliner. there should be one somewere when they made the car, like on the doors, i think.

JDMshuttle

if you are taking off the hatch and trying to slide the wires out. just pull the right side rear panel off reach up on the rear side of the wagon there should be a harness connectin there. just clip the tab holding it to the metal. and pull the wires down disconnect the wire. un bolt 4 10mm bolts that hold on the hatch. and pull the wires out kinda easy.

lalunette

JDMshuttle wrote:

if you are taking off the hatch and trying to slide the wires out. just pull the right side rear panel off reach up on the rear side of the wagon there should be a harness connectin there. just clip the tab holding it to the metal. and pull the wires down disconnect the wire. un bolt 4 10mm bolts that hold on the hatch. and pull the wires out kinda easy.

Thx for the tip !!

I'm going to do a dry run before I get my new rust-free hatch...

Cheers !!