The red boxed in part...? It's a panel for something & I don't think it's worth prying open to find out... just curious...

2nd & 3rd pic- what is this wire- red boxes in both pics....? IF you look closely, it goes in below pillar & comes out at back where the hatch shock it- the other side has the same thing, but the passenger is not connected for some reason... is it a ground? Obiovously, it's not neccessary...? Might be something I can pull...??

thanks

 

the red boxed in part in the first pic is the door that covers the gasoline overflow tank... other than that, I'm stumped...

 

i *think* it is either the hatch brake light, or for the hatch open idicator.

 

Ok, it's DEFINATELY not for any tail/brake lights- it connects to the hatch at the right hatch shock & is UNhooked there- you can sort of see it in the pic- the wire has ALWAYS been loose- it's 1/4" away from being connected... So, this could be the reason I can't get the hatch light to come on UNLESS the passenger door is open? Are you sure it's not a ground? IF it's a ground, it's unneccessary & I think I'll pull the whole thing in interest of nickle & diming weight away, but if it's something to do w/hatch light, then, I'll consider leaving it... Anyone know...? I can take more pics if needed...?

Geoff- overflow huh...? Hmmmmm.... I was going to ask if there was one for the driver side of car but I guess not, if that's what it is... Thanks for the info...

thanks everyone...

 

Yeah, I discovered that tank in the fwsm while looking at how to fix my fuel tank pressure releif valve...

 

on the driver's side, that's where the sunroof motor hides.

 

The wire is either for the cargo light or rear defroster; but my guess is the light as my defroster is on the drivers side, as for the panel (that I dont know)

 

The one on the left hand side should be the power supply for the defroster and the one on the right should be the switching point for the interior light - small reed switch that isolates from earth by the plastic cover on the base of the strut when the strut is closed.

The right hand strut should have a metal swivel at the chassis end to allow the interior light switch to work as well as provide an earth for the Demister.

I think the left hand strut has a plastic end from memory to isolate it from the chassis so that it can carry the current for the demister. I'm at work at the moment and my car is at home.

 

Ok, the wire is not connected at the hatch end- my hatch light and hatch defroster both work, except that the light only works when the passenger door is open... This makes no sense to me whatsoever. The driver door can be open or closed or whatever, but the light only comes on when the passenger door is open... Also, I had forgotten, & there might be some confusion over this, but there are two wires that connect at the hatch shocks- this is the closer one- I just took another picture- the one outlined in red is the one I'm talking about & you can see that it's disconnected in the pic- the one in blue does something too... anyone here know the dif...? Is either one a ground wire? All i know is, when I pull on the wire where it feeds into theright B-pillar, I can see this wire, the one outlined in red, move- where it feeds into the pillar, though, is much thicker, so I'm now wondering if more wires travel through the same loom & go dif places...? Maybe both of the wires that meet at the right hatch shock run through it...?

Thanks a lot....

 

The wires at the hatch end are the connectors for the Demister.
The left hand chassis end connector is for the demisterpower and the right one is the earthing switch for the hatch interior light.

Both hatch struts are used to conduct electricity but the left strut is live and must not be earthed. It provides the power to the Demister when the bottom connector is connected to the cable fron the chassis and the top connector is connected to the window element itself.

The Rear wiper power supply is separate and contained in a small tube on the left side of the window itself with a separate cable fed in fron the top left side of the hatch..

There is a second switching wire in the hatch light which goes through the car and into the door circuit. If you prise out the light unit you will see two brown and white wires - one goes to the front of the car and goes into the right hand door switch, the other goes across the car and into the grommet you have in your first picture and comes out again at the chassis end of the right hatch strut unit.

In my car this had broken the copper cable internally - I repaired it and re-ran the cable.
The clip should be connected to the conector at the bottom of the right strut and this is the hatch light switch in addition to the front passenger door.
You have the correct strut on the right hand side as it has a metal connector to provide the earth. Make sure the earth is broken to the hatch light cable when the hatch is closed - there is adjustment in the plastic shroud that controls the earthing at the chassis end of the right hand strut,

Bill Babe

 

that last red circle in the last pic is the hatch open indicator. if you fix it the light should come on when the hatch is open. mines broken too.

 

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation Bill- I'll look into this- the only part I don't really get is that last part where you said "Make sure the earth is broken to the hatch light cable when the hatch is closed" - does this mean the wire will un-attach when the hatch is closed? I may have to look at this to figure it out...


Campeck- mine does come on, but only when the passenger door is open...I'll hook it up & see if it will just straighten itself out...

 

Look inside the circular body of the plastic switch circled red in your last photo. There should be a small copper tang visible in the plastic housing of the switch which contacts the metal arm of the strut. When you close the hatch it rides up the arm of the strut and sits on the plastic insulated area of the strut (visible at the end of the chrome area of the strut beneath the gasfilled part of the body in your photo)- thus breaking the earth (Breaking the circuit - like turning off a switch) and turning the light off.

I think all you have to do is push the connector back on (If it is loose on the connector it may need to be lightly tightened with a pair of pliers) and if the wire is not broken in the cabling where it moves on opening and closing the hatch it should work. I believe it should work the interior light as well as the hatch area light at the same time as well as Visa Versa - working the doors should also light the hatch area (as the circuits are interconnected). I do not know why only one door works - must be missing a connection to the driver's door.

Very complicated engineering to attempt to simplify some wiring.

Bill Babe

 

Thanks a lot Bill, for all of your input on a not-so-interesting subject- Actually, it's not that incredibly important & I've ignored it for years, but now it's really getting under my skin b/c I'm doing a ton of interior work & I either want to get it working correctly OR just remove it, in my endless quest to save weight. and, as I'm sure it's obvious as can be, the weight reduction benefit is next to worthless & that's including all the wiring to make it work- probably lose more weight from the wiring than the actual light- & also, I'd then need to find a way to fill in the hole to make it look good...

Here's what's weird- the hatch light will ONLY come on when the passenger door is opened- when I say this, I mean that even the "on" swith will not work unless that door is opened... I mean, there are three settings- 1- on, 2- auto on/off, & 3- off -not neccessarily in that order(?). Anyway, the passenger door has to be open no matter what. I'm wondering- when it's all functioning properly in the [auto-on/off] position, does a front door have to be open for it to work? This wouldn't make much sense, but that doesn't mean anything... Anyway, it sounds like you're saying that the interior light AND the hatch light should come on/turn off, when opening/closing any of the doors assuming they're both set to the auto-on/off position...? This makes sense, but as you said, seems like a whole lot of technical effort for such little benefit....

Also, here are some pics of something I'm wondering, might be the culprit...? This is the backside of the hatch light itself- left side of car & it's right across from the SR motor... Notice the loose wire....? I can't tell where it's supposed to connect....? The other wires connect somewhere in the SR motor area, but I don't see a place for this one...

 

The last black box is for the rear shoulder belts that were an option until 89 when I believe they were standard.