All ZX3 Owners Please Read Potential Saftey Hazard

[Konasabi]

How hard is it to change? Is there a connectuion inside the rear of the car or does it run all the way to the fuse box?

[bluebyutoo]

The wires are continuous until their end point. When the break occurs, it happens where the hatch opens an closes. As such a six inch section needs to be repaired.

It's an easy fix but one I fear I'll have to do again since I live in a cold Northern climate that will subject the wires to more stress during those cold months.

[Konasabi]

Are folks soldering the splices in or using solderless (crimps)?

[bluebyutoo]

Soldering is easy and works best.

If you slip on some shrink wrap before soldering it ensures that you wont have wires rub and makes for a clean job.

[Konasabi]

I ended up crimping the three that were separated and taping the rest.

So far so good.

[CanadaSVT]

This just happened to our '04 ZTW again. It was 'fixed' under warranty in Jan/07 and now the wires are broken again. I took a look yesterday and it appears last time all they did was attach the wires and shrink wrap them. I'm thinking under warranty they should have replaced the whole loom?
She's at the dealership right now...waiting for a call.

[chavezx2]

just found this thread checked my wires and this is what i found:

[chavezx2]

Is There A Fix?

[Honkeytonk Monkey]

Cut and rewire the harness with wiring using a better jacket. The stuff Ford uses is so horrible brittle, every Ford I own has had a problem with cracking wiring somewhere (like my Contour and it's main harness ) Takes a couple hours, and about $20 worth of heat shrink tubing crimps and new wiring, but you end up with wiring that won't come apart.

[bluebyutoo]

I cut mine apart and spiced in the same wire from a junk yard harness I picked up.

I soldered in the new pieces and then used shrink wrap on each individual wire, and then a larger shrink wrap for the entire harness. That was a while ago. No further problems.

[sicko]

finally got around to checking mine and yep, full-o-cracks.

[chavezx2]

so my trunk pop motor no longer works. im assuming this was the cause but would the trunk pop motor have blown or is there a fuse somewhere i should check?

[bluebyutoo]

Trunk release not working was the first indication that I had a problem.

It will blow fuses. If you keep blowing fuses, check your harness to see if this is the problem.

[chavezx2]

anyone know which fuse controls the hatch pop. i rewired the whole harness, while i was back there i noticed that my rear dome light isnt working either. i pulled the bulb but it wasnt blown. im assuming the same fuse that controls the hatch pop also controls the dome light.

[Z63R]

sicko

finally got around to checking mine and yep, full-o-cracks.

Hi.

Me too; I just now looked under the flex boot: One wire, a thicker, green-colored wire, was broken in half. Three others' insulation is cracked and copper is showing. I'm going to throw some vinyl tape over each one until I can get time to do a better job with fresh wire, solder and heatshrink tubing this weekend.

[chavezx2]

checked the central locking fuse and its cool. i have a friend who said i may have fried some wires somewhere but wouldnt that have poped a fuse?
WTF

[170499]

My 2005 is fine, although the wires did seem really stiff. I remember my 01 sedan trunk release would only work half the time.

[Terry1]

Checked mine the other day ( hatchback). The two thickest wires had cracked insulation. I just taped them up for now.

[DFF]

My apologies for the low quality-

4 wires showed copper, and one is sliced in half.

[MrBhp]

For those of you who will be repairing this wire problem, I have a suggestion for you. If/when I need to do mine I am going to use submersible water well pump cable. It is designed to stay flexible in a wide range of temperatures. A downhole pump moves everytime it starts or stops. My family has been in the well business for over fifty years and the wire we use has always amazed me in that it never has a problem. The wire is very flexible and the jacket is very durable. The only real issue is that 14 gauge may be the smallest available. It could be a pain to fit it in, but once you did, you would NEVER need to replace it.

Adam

[Z63R]

^ I have a suggestion for you, my good man...

Why not offer several colors of the stuff for sale or suggest a good online source of the wire to those of us planning the repair?

We'd be much obliged.

[Ataru]

Well, the gremlins strike Sonic.

Coming home tonight I noticed that my rear defroster wasn't working, so when I got home I popped the grommet covering the wiring harness between the rear hatch and the body and noticed at least 4 wires had the insulation split and one wire, I am assuming it is the power for the rear defroster, was split totally in two.

For those who made the repair, was it easy to pull the wires out to repair them because there is so little room to work where it is.

[bluebyutoo]

I had plenty of room to make the repair. There is just enough slack to make the process doable.

Lessons learned, put a piece of cardboard down on the hatch cover incase solder drips down otherwise you'll have a permanent reminder of the repair.

[Ja-Red]

wow I need to get out there and check mine!

[sonicblu3zx3]

Where exactly is this located at? I don't see how opening and closing the hatch would have anything to do with the tail light wiring ...