unusual electrical situation

[j_saffron]

greetings,

after i purchased my car a few years ago, i found that my spoiler brake light didn't illuminate. i found the wires that come into the trunk with a connector that hooks up to wires that lead to every light on the trunk lid(spoiler, license,reverse, and tail lights).

one was broken and disconnected. i did the typical splice and the spoiler brake light worked from then on. :sunny:

i use my trunk lid everyday to get to my tools. its been getting colder in Portland and i noticed my spoiler brake light wasn't working today. i look at the wiring, and notice my splice had come undone. (thats cool i'll fix it tonight after work) :smt023

i go to fix it and,with the weather being colder, and my trunk lid opening everyday, the wires bend and eventually break.
every wire coming from the connector was fraying, so i had to break them off. i used speaker wire shoved into the connector to replace the broken wires, wrapped them with electrical tape, and spliced all wires leading to the trunk lid. it worked! :sunny:

now here is my inquiry/concern :

i consider this a temp fix because the speaker wire is not the correct gauge.

i want to find and purchase the correct gauge wire and a new connector.

the wires leading from the trunk lid are attached to the passenger side arm of the lid, so it is a moving part and i have to be gentle for now with opening and shutting the trunk.

any advise on where to find the wire and connector? i think the connector might be Subaru specific. im not sure.
i want to splice again, but with plenty of slack to compensate for the moving trunk lid.

thanks for reading and any suggestions that may come forth

[d1giPhux]

You should just get some proper gauge wire and re-wire the whole thing. Solder all the connections and heatshrink tube them. Should be good after that.

edit: whats wrong with your plug? Can you hardwire it? If not.. you could just use quick disconnects and wire however many you need.. then use split loom and put all the wires into it?

[j_saffron]

right on, im not too familiar with electrical terminology so bear with me..

my connector looks like this only with 6 pockets
http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/5085471/226414-main_Full.jpg

i couldn't get it to let go of the original broken wires so i just bent the grabbers open and made sure the original wire was exposed for the connection.

thanks for the helpful reply, i looked up some terms you threw out there and now i know what to get.

i think i'll try and salvage/hardwire the connector, re-wire with correct gauge, solder, heatshrink, and split loom.

Ossum!

one more question...if i use quick disconnects, will i be able to get by without soldering?

[d1giPhux]

Possibly.. but to get the best connection that wont malfunction later down the road.. i would solder the wires. If your not very good at soldering wires.. you can get the quick disconnects and use them just like crimps. Just make sure you properly crimp them so they get a good connection. Also.. heatshrink tube the stuff.. every connection.. just keeps things nice.

If you cant salvage the connector.. the quick disconnects would be the best option.. since technically you can disconnect all of them, its just not all on the same connector.

If you wanted to be super hardcore about it.. you could hunt down another 6 pin connector of sorts (or however many wires there are).. and get the male / female pieces and re-wire the stuff properly.

[j_saffron]

thanks again kind sir!
solid advise!

[Matty2Hotty]

Hey guys... I had this problem too! I dont know what wires go where in the white plug. Any wiring pictures or color to color wires?

[j_saffron]

i took care of my problem by cutting off the white connector plugs and just did quick disconnects on each wire.

i also added wire to each one because they wouldnt reach anymore after removing the plugs(so, 4 disconnects per wire)

you just peel back some of the insulation and match wire colors up(solid white, white w/black stripe, brown w/ yellow stripe,black w/ red stripe, solid black).i crimped them to the disconnects and heat shrink tubed them on. then heat shrinked them again after they were connected and split loom over that.

i wont be having this problem again anytime soon, if ever.

GL, it was pretty easy.

[Matty2Hotty]

ahhh I didn't even think to pull back the other side and see if wire colors would match up. Thanks for the info and sounds easy!


Hey guys... I had this problem too! I dont know what wires go where in the white plug. Any wiring pictures or color to color wires?