Trunk Wiring Harness Redux

Last spring my trunk light went out and I traced it to broken wires in the trunk just where connectors join. Thanks to good advice from Kirk I decided to buy the repair kit and fix it myself. The dealership said it wasn't economical to repair the wires, replacing the harness would be $140, including labour, I think.

The wires set me back $60 and after sitting in the glove compartment all summer I thought I'd better do it before it's too cold again. The patient made a full recovery. The other half of my license plate light and trunk light work again!

The whole thing went fairly well considering I've never mucked around with terminals and crimped connectors. For some reason one pin didn't want to come out so I had to muscle it out. Another one had no wire showing at all and I thought it'd be a bitch to remove, but it literally fell out. All that's left to do is to reinforce the wires with tape to make sure it doesn't happen again. When you watch the harness as you close the trunk you know why the wires break. The damn thing has to flex a lot.

Thanks to all who helped with advice.

Reply to
Box134
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Hey!

Glad I could help!

To prevent it from failing again, consider wrapping the whole dam thing with about a roll of electrical tape.

Reply to
Kirk Kohnen

Yes, did that, not a roll of tape but strategically placed. I thought the wires needed the most support right at the connector, on both sides. After that I wrapped the new wires to keep it all together. The crimped connectors make it all rather bulky.

I figured the harness should flex most in the middle so it can make a nice large radius. I guess time will tell how well I succeeded. It all worked out well; I made the red wire a little too long and I fudged up one crimp connector. Not easy using visegrips!

Thanks again.

Reply to
Box134

Reply to
Buster

My original advice was:

----- Don't overlook the possibility that the cable running from the car to the trunk lid has broken.

Saturn, in a blaze of sub-optimal engineering, put the connector that joins the trunk lid harness to the body harness in a place that it gets flexed every time you open or shut the trunk.

Open the trunk, look to the left near the left support for the trunk lid. You'll see a black cable with an 8 pin connector. Inspect those wires - I bet one or more are broken.

The replacement wires are Saturn part number 12112304.

If you're handy, you can do the repair yourself.

-----

Enjoy & good luck.

Reply to
Kirk Kohnen

Reply to
Buster

You bet!

I don't particularly like the 3m quick splices; I prefer stripping, wrapping, and heat shrinking the replacement and original wire together. Maybe even soldering if I'm going nuts. 3Ms are bulky and not too weathertight. But, hey, if they work for you...

The dealer is replicating a part that was chiefly designed to be quick to assemble down in Spring Hill. For you to make your own repair would put your car out of the hands of the Saturn engineers, oh gasp!

Reply to
Jeff McDonald

Reply to
Dan Hicks

It is the repair kit. It is a connector pin pre-crimped onto a teflon insulated wire. You remove the pin attached to the broken wire, put the new pin into the connector, and then you splice the wire.

Hmmm... The part number that I cited is for the trunk lid side of the connector. I imagine that there is a similar wire for the body side, but I don't have that number off hand.

Sure! You can also solder in new wires, and use heat shrink tubing to insulate things. There are LOTS of ways to repair this one.

And, unless you get in a wreck that "requires" the harness to be unplugged for replacement, it shouldn't be a big deal making the repair permanent.

Reply to
Kirk Kohnen

I just happen to have it in my hand..... it's called a Lead Kit. Not surprising the dealer said 'no' they're not likely to know every part in the system.

No reason why you can't go around the connector, it's only there to make the car easy to assemble. I thought of doing that but decided it was safer and tidier to use the kit.

Reply to
Box134

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