I gotta swap rear hatches. The tree that tried to kill it last year came back at me again and creamed it good this time. Note; working with the hatch up/open seems to attract trees. I do happen to have another white Jeep, that 84 hatch should fit on my 90 OK.
The wiring is the fun part. Anybody got any tips? I'd be OK with just the license plate light........I wonder how long those wires are and where they terminate. Please don't tell me behind the spare.

 

They are behind the passenger's cargo panel in a connector that includes the high stop light on my 2000 XJ, although they originate on the driver's side (Behind the spare).

 

I'm so not thrilled about this. There is no ding in any tree any of us can find. So I pull both panels on both Jeeps, and the wires going in on the right, passenger side end up.................Trees should have a speed limit.

 

Thanks, I'm nit sure what "high stop light....OH! third brake light.............So there is a connector behind the right panel also, much thanks.

 

The FSM lists it as "High Stop Light."

All the wiring in the rear of my 2000 XJ went up in smoke from (salt)water getting in thru rusted wheel wells off the road and shorting them out. This happened the day after Christmas last year and it took me until late February working outside in single digit cold to rewire everything with crimp splices. Absolutely too cold to solder. I'd do a couple of wires, then my hands would stop working effectively. On the tail light harness on the passenger's side, I trudged thru the snow at the JY to cut a connector out to match the wire color codes only to find they didn't match across the connector! I crossed them the way the connector showed and they worked! The harness on the driver's side just smoked and melted the connectors for the trailer tow module, but the passenger's side caught fire! No connectors left, just a handful of charred wires. Luckily I had just bought a gallon of distilled water before this happened and it was still in the jeep to put out the fire! What I can't figure out is none of the fuses blew. I now have a tennis ball size hole in the cubby from the flames.

Everything is working now except the rear wiper, but that hasn't worked since I bought the jeep. I stuffed a plastic bag in each side backed up with 1/2 of a U-Haul shipping pad in each side to keep the water out until I can do the body work.....maybe.

 

Sheez....your story makes me feel lucky! Thankfully it's summer and I have a white replacement.....but it happens the only Cherokee at my local JY is white also. The owner and a friend sometimes acts like a little girl. $100 he says even if I give him my glass that didn;t break. No thanks I say, then he messages me back make an offer. I just don't need this.....also.

 

.You can "re-feed" the trunk of wires down the left top to the business in the hatch with a "fish wire" (electricians have spools of fish tape) . Idea is you "fish" baling wire up trough, then attach and tape the connectors slim enough to pull down through. No inside panels removed. In my lucky case the 90 I got my hatch from had different wiring connectors than my 90, different bolts and a different setup the way the hinges fit. I have great luck, but not usually where I think I want it. My weeny butt friend at the JY wanted a C note for a crummy hatch that he was about to crush, Fine, then the helper hacks the wires of the sad thing. Good thing he didn't want the glass since a helper here knocked over the "new" hatch, which found a metal stub from an old heater in the right place in the grass to shatter the safety glass. So an ordeal fitting the other glass that was 12 feet away into its rubber gasket. (do this with help, emotional at least), (dish soap and two butter knives worked for us)


This sucks. If you have any bank and can hire somebody, do that. If they want allot, pay them. On three Jeeps I looked at, those "nifty" looking four screws that separate the hatch from the hinges, no, no. They brake or are stuck.You gotta pull the cover inside and remove the nuts holding the hinges to the roof. Park angled up-hill.

To wrap up, in my opinion it's unfortunate that those four screws are stuck and will break in the hatch, and you need to remove the interior panel to get up into the hinge bolts. Secondly, it is indeed possible to "fish/snake" the Jeep side wiring into the crap hatch you bought. Even if your 90's are completely different connectors........so far with time and a meter I've achieved a license plate light, and my old defrost with two of the heating wires out out. JUST DON'T GO HERE UNLESS YOU REALLY NEED TO .