Waynerd

Anyone been able to remove liftgate wiring without cutting it. Should I just remove the whole liftgate? I have one cherokee I could just cut it out but what's the best way to put the new one in? On another cherokee I need to pull the end out of the liftgate so I'll have enough room to rewire some. The harness just seems way too stif to pull it out. Even the one I'm replacing I've tried pulling like crazy just to practice before doing the other that I'm not replacing and it doesn't seem very possible. Thanks in advance

cruiser54

It's easy. Take off the inner trim and unplug it.

SuperRA

I'm not sure what year you are referring to but I've taking it out and put it back in (a different one) on my 87. I pulled it out from the hinge area from both the liftgate and the body.

cruiser54

Yup. Me, too. I part out XJs and that's how people want stuff removed. Not hacked.

Waynerd

Replacing one in a 98. Need to pull out the end that goes through the boot in a 01. The 01 needs nearly all the wires repaired in the section that goes through the boot. Guess maybe I just need to pull harder. Maybe I'll just cut them and splice in the whole section from the roof through the boot and to the connector

Waynerd

I have one to pull out of my 99 to put into the 98 so that one I need intact. I tried pulling the one end out of the liftgate but it's like the harness doesn't want to make the tight bend it would need to make where it runs through the boot. Like there isn't enough space in the hinge area to bend the harness outward and pull

cruiser54

Have you removed the inside trim panels?

Waynerd

Of coarse. Taken panels off. Unscrewed the connector from body and unplugged the 3 harness plugs

Waynerd

In the 98 it's also unplugged from in the quarter panel and all of the body clips removed so it's just dangling there.

DFlintstone

I've never removed/changed a hatch. I have used dish soap to lube wiring I waz routing. Not sure of your exact issue, but something like that, or maybe some silicone lube could help...

Waynerd

I think the problem though is the harness is so thick and not very flexible that it doesn't want to bend in such a way to fit into the small area between the roof and gate. Especially when have the rubber boot in there with it. Might try to put some lube down in the boot. Definitely doesn't want to slide through that. Maybe that's the problem. Would go try now but it's raining too hard.

Waynerd

I have another post trying to remove passenger airbag cover. Any ideas on this one? No response to that post yet.

Parker Scholz

I have the answer for removing and fixing the harness!

I'm very late but maybe it will help someone else who is searching for answers. I had the same problem (3rd brake light not working, liftgate not locking) and my harness was a mess because previous owner tried to fix it it with wire nuts and electrical tape. What you need to do to guarantee a solid fix is remove the entire harness. I dont have pictures but hopefully it makes sense.

Step 1: Remove liftgate plastic. Two torx holding handle and some phillips around the edge. Then just pop out the clips and it should come right out. Set that aside.

Step 2: Remove the top trim on the jeep side that is right next to the weatherseal. Also remove the spare tire and all of the trim on that side. Organize your screws and set all the trim aside so you aren't bumping into it the whole time.

Step 3. Unplug the harness running up to the liftgate from the harness going to the front of the jeep. I believe it is two connectors and then you have a ground off to the side that is 10mm i think.

Step 4: Unscrew the big connector from the top of the liftgate and pull it out. Those two are 8mm i believe. Disconnect all 3 connectors on the back side and move the big connector out of the way a little bit.

Step 5: Start pulling the harness out of the liftgate. The boot (if you have one i didnt) is going to be a pain and is probably going to be attached to the wires directly on either side. There will also be a 2 pin connector hanging out above the boot inside of the liftgate that connects to the harness. Fish it out and unplug it. I think it is for the third brake light but i could be wrong.

Step 6: Once you fish the harness out of all the holes it will be hanging out in the interior of the jeep. Now you can pull it up the side and out of where the spare tire goes. Pull the harness way from the clips up top ( i think 3 of them) and it should be free. Next start tugging on the harness from the top while pushing from the bottom. Try pulling it out as straight as you can and keep the foam insulation from catching on the sides of the hole.

Step 7: Once you have it out congratulate yourself. Then go to the hardware store and get some 16g wire and maybe some 14g for the two bigger wires in the harness. Also get lots of shrink tubing. You can try to fix the wires but it will probably last longer if you just solder in new ones.

Step 8: Give yourself a nice working space and heat up your soldering gun. What i did was first measure out my lengths of wire and cut them and stripped both ends. Then i cut out the bad wires from each side leaving about 2 inches. Make sure you give yourself enough wire to work with on the connectors. Strip the ends of all the wires you just cut and get to soldering.

Step 9: Do one wire at a time and take your time. I recommend putting your shrink tubing on the wires before hand so you don't forget about it. Now solder each wire on and make sure they are matching on each side. I believe there are 14 wires and each one will have two solder points so keep that in mind while buying your shrink tubing. I started at the harness and soldered all connections and then soldered the connector side. Once you have it all nice and pretty double check to make sure you connected the right wires and slide the shrink tubes over and shink em! I suggest using a heat gun instead of lighter it will go much faster.

Step 10: Tape it all up. This will hurt your hands. Tape up the wires for each harness separately nice and tight so they are protected and organized and then tape them all as a whole and leave about 4-6 inches untaped on the connector side so you have flexibility.

Step 11: Go back to your jeep and plug the wires in at the top and bottom (dont forget the grounds) and test them. Make sure the brake light is working and your lock. Also test your rear wiper and your defrost and make sure the license plate light works. If everything works congratulate yourself.

Step 12: Now for the fun part. Getting it back in. Disconnect the harness from the connectors from when you tested it and begin putting it in the way it came out. Put the end going to the bottom in through the top and start pushing it down and keep an eye on the foam insulation again. This might take a while but just have finesse and patience. When its down reconnect all the connections and move to the top. Fish the ends of the wire through one at a time for each hole they wont fit all together and dont forget about the two pin that sits inside. Once you get them all through the two holes and the boot (if you're keeping it) and you've made sure the two pin is connected you can then connect the other 3 connectors to the big connector. Do that and screw that connector back in.

Step 12: Test everything once more and put all the trim back in place and you should be good to go. If you did away with the boot silicone both holes to prevent your new wires from being damaged and to prevent water from getting in when it rains.


This took me about 3 hours start to finish. It's alot to write out and it may sound confusing but it's honestly pretty easy. Much easier than trying to fix it while it's in the jeep.

Waynerd

Lol. I was just reading the other thread on this then went back a page and the next thread was mine. I have since removed and replaced an entire harness from a parts Jeep I have to one of my 98's. The issue I was having was that I was not being aggressive enough apparently. It really takes some manhandling. I guess at first I felt like the wires were delicate and I was afraid to F it all up.
I have also repaired the harness on my '01 by first cutting the wires that were already broken on both sides of the boot. I removed the bad pieces of wire from the boot and fished new wires through and spliced them on both sides.
As for the harness from the 99 I am going to swap the whole gate over to my other 98.

Parker Scholz

Hey whatever works! Glad you were able to fix it.