Wagons beware - tailgate electricals

The antenna wiring goes through the boot on the drivers side.

 

Thanks Mike.. my antenna crapped out recently and my reverse lights don't go on anymore.. replace the bulbs, no go. Figure I've got some loose connections on both sides.

 

Will have to wait until it's warm enough to fix it.

hadvw, is 81812AG03B the right part number? I'm bad with a soldering iron unless I'm on a bench.. Maybe I'll just order a new harness too.

hadvw, is 81812AG03B the right part number? I'm bad with a soldering iron unless I'm on a bench.. Maybe I'll just order a new harness too.

 

Wish I knew - Fred Beans (or trademotion, which now seems to be the real guys behind FB OEM parts, not sure if that was always true) took a week to GET the part and ship it to me - using slow mail. Supposed to arrive later today, so if I haven't posted by tomorrow, PM me..

I had a brainwave today, and I thought I should share!

 

Check out the properties of this stuff: http://sugru.com/about

 

After reading this, I immediately thought that this would be the PERFECT stuff to wrap each wire in the gate boot in!!! I have heard really great things about this stuff, so I am going to try it!

 

I will let you know how it goes, and if anyone else tries it, let us know as well!

 

Cheers,

Elf

 

Sugru is what's keeping my 4 year old Macbook Pro charger from falling apart.

Sugru rocks. It's keeping the wiring harness on my IEMs together..

 

Replaced the earpieces on my Oakleys with them too.

 

So I guess I look like an idiot.. after work the reverse lights worked.. but my LED plate bulb pulsates to the rumble from the Stromungs. FM antenna still broken though, all I get is static.

 

Oh, my hatch handle needs replacement too.. stupid car.

hadvw, is 81812AG03B the right part number? I'm bad with a soldering iron unless I'm on a bench.. Maybe I'll just order a new harness too.

 

Got it - yes, it's the right part. Actually more extensive than I thought - it has (quick count) 14 different connectors/grounding connectors and 9 different plastic plugs that go into the body to hold it. A new accordion is included and comes pre-installed - that's a bonus - I wasn't expecting it to be included! That should simplify the job some.

 

Not sure I'll get to it this weekend - about to leave on a trip for just over a week, and will need to pack/prepare this weekend. But, it doesn't seem that hard - maybe 1-2 hours if you've never taken the hatch apart and go extra slow. If you know how to take all the trim pieces off already, the actual unplug/replug should be quite fast.

I found that it will go a lot faster if you don't care about keeping the various plastic plugs intact. Getting them out without damaging them is a PITA. I don't think they were designed to be removed (or reused).

hadvw, thanks. Arcteryx, do you still have your old harness?

 

My hatch is already in pieces.. interior has been stripped. I have to replace my hatch handle, the return spring rusted and broke off some time ago, was investigating how to get everything apart.

 

Might as well get it all done at the same time.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Claw

Silly question perhaps, I tired to pull off the trim on the rear pillar but it wouldn't come off easily and I don't want to break all the clips. How do you get them off?

 

One that is off is there anything else required to drop the roof liner?

 

 

Cheers

Give it a quick yank. see if you can find the vacation pics.

hadvw, thanks. Arcteryx, do you still have your old harness?

 

My hatch is already in pieces.. interior has been stripped. I have to replace my hatch handle, the return spring rusted and broke off some time ago, was investigating how to get everything apart.

 

Might as well get it all done at the same time.

 

I do, actually. Although I bought a new one, I patched the broken wires in the old one case I ever needed a spare. A few of the body mounting clips are broken, but otherwise it is intact.

I got another 05 wagon and some one has "fixed " the wires in the hinge .

The sliced upon the rubber accordion and wrapped stuff with tape lol

 

But the rear wiper stops in random places

As requested, here's my Walkthrough for replacing the harness.

I've got an 06 Legacy Wagon & I too found the hatch lock wire broken, both actually. Not sure why only those, but butt connectors got it fixed.

Now, I have my pass side brake light out & it's not the bulb, I've got half the hatch apart, anyone else come across it being a bad wire. My question is, where do the wires cross over to the driver side? I checked the harness, going to the fuse panel, that wire seems good, so it's gotta be somewhere in the line. I metered out the harness, but it's good, so...? Anyone else?

I would re check the connection in the butt splice first. Check voltage on both sides of the splice, before you take half the car apart.

For the brake light, it's not spliced, but if you mean going to the connector where it meets this harness, then will do.

When is NHTSA going to make Subaru do a safety recall regarding this self destructing wire harness?

When is NHTSA going to make Subaru do a safety recall regarding this self destructing wire harness?

 

:confused: How is it a safety issue? You lose your radio abilities, trunk latch, and maybe rear wiper motor. Your brake lights still work as normal. There is no safety issue as far as the NHTSA is concerned.

Trunk not being able to lock/unlock properly?! I see some serious safety implications there.. Rear wiper not working leaving visibility limited when in reverse?

I believe a non functioning high mounted center brake light is a safety issue, in California the CHP will pull you over for a non functioning brake light and issue a ticket.

My problems started a few years ago and i poked around a bit at the time but didn't have a chunk of time to really dig in. Decided to look here and I found what I think is both the funniest and most tragic thread on the boards. Reading the first few descriptions made me feel like I'd found a lost relative It needs to be pinned if it isn't. Anyhoo, after reading this I went out and popped the passenger body grommet and found 14 very nice looking wires. I tugged on them and all 14 popped out, broken cleanly at the same spot. Does this make me the winner? ;-) My plan is to pop necessary trim and add in 8"-12" long pieces of "quality" wire which will then span the gap between body and lift gate, and for the critical ones, latch, brake, etc I'll also surround with shrink wrap. I figure this will be faster, and way cheaper, than buying and replacing with either new or junkyard harness, especially if car ended up in junkyard because cyclops light wasn't working. Any future breaks will then have adequate surplus wire to work with when butt-joining. After rewiring a big house with 2000 ft of non-metallic I have learned that excess wire in device and junction boxes is a good thing.

 

On a humorous note, after having the clutch replaced, the rear wiper started to work again, but only when the car was put into reverse. Talk about a phenomenon which fits no reasonable diagnosis. But it all makes sense now, as for a brief periods of time the backup light wire was in contact with the wiper wire.

 

The subaru engineer/bean counter in charge of this should do the honorable thing ASAP. They did it on Billions with the non-performing smart phone screen, so I think it is a reasonable request.

 

edit 6/5 : The honorable thing is to jump out a high window.

 

Fixed mine over the weekend.

 

In a nutshell, I started with all wires broken because I excel in procrastination. I pulled off boot and pulled through (14) approx 10" long pieces of automotive 16 gauge wire. In retrospect, only 5 need to be 16 gauge and using 18 for the others will make it easier, as is making the wire about an inch longer for more working play. I then put butt-splice connectors on the 14 wires from the car. I unclipped the harness from the side post to give a couple more inches of play but did not undue any connectors (just battery negative). At this point I was about 1 hr into the project and took a break for lunch. The way the rear bumper sticks out makes this tough for those of us with 60+ yo bodies. At this point I made a "happy accident" screw-up. I had intended to match ends of the pull-through wires with a multi-meter continuity tester, but in my haste I crimped one of the pass-through wires to the wire in the car body. I had only enough splice pieces to do the job (hint, extras is good) so I pulled on that wire and the other end moved, so I ended up using that technique on the remaining wires which probably saved a few minutes of testing per connect. I would identify both ends of a pass-through wire by pulling and then place a butt splice on the gate side, then attach the car-side to the car-side butt-splice, and finish with placing the gate-side free wire in the butt-splice. Again, 9 of the wires could be 18 gauge which would make this easier but I had no real problems with all the wires being 16 gauge. The insulation on the wire was pretty slippery, at least for now. The splicing part took about an hour. Excess wire can be stuffed into the lift gate side as it is much tighter on the car side above the ceiling panel. Speaking of ceiling panel, some nitrile gloves would help here as I have a few pieces of fiberglass embedded in my knuckles for the next few days. Lessons learned include having a wire stripper on the end of the tool and not on the handle part as it gets cramped in there at the end if something needs to be redone. Oh, and be sure to place electrical tape on the metal opening in the car body where the wire harness goes up through the frame (different than the opening where the grommet end of the boot attaches). A background in brain surgery (seriously) is not necessary, though I found it helpful here.

 

And when I was finished, the sun came out. The birds didn't chirp, but the locking fob did for the first time in, well, an embarrassingly long time.

 

edit 6/10 complaint to NTSB submitted.

Edited June 10, 2017 by MajorWood
added walk through details and pictures

Submit a complaint to NHTSA and to SOA.

 

Subaru is a business, and doing the honorable thing is irrelevant. They probably wouldn't do anything unless there was a lawsuit. I don't think this happened to many people while under the initial warranty, so they aren't obligated to do anything and people that keep a car for more than 7 years aren't thier target market anyway.

 

I complained to SOA and they said this was a very isolated problem that was most likely caused by over using the tailgate or opening it in extreme cold conditions.

Submit a complaint to NHTSA and to SOA.

most likely caused by over using the tailgate or opening it in extreme cold conditions.

 

LOL, so using the car

Submit a complaint to NHTSA and to SOA.

 

Subaru is a business, and doing the honorable thing is irrelevant. They probably wouldn't do anything unless there was a lawsuit. I don't think this happened to many people while under the initial warranty, so they aren't obligated to do anything and people that keep a car for more than 7 years aren't thier target market anyway.

 

I complained to SOA and they said this was a very isolated problem that was most likely caused by over using the tailgate or opening it in extreme cold conditions.

 

LOL, so using the car

 

Yea, I thought that was funny too. This is not just a once in a lifetime thing, I'd guess more then 20% of the wagons yes, outbacks too have a issue.

Is this just a 4th gen problem? I am mentioning it to wagon owners when I see them (which is pretty much an hourly event here in Portland), and one guy who'd bought the car used was told by the first owner that the wiring harness had already been replaced.