'88 240 Tailgate Wiring Harness

The left tailgate wiring harness on my '88 wagon has broken at the
hinge. I've found a new complete harness. Does anyone know if this
is the sort of thing I can replace myself? I have lost my 3rd brake
light, license plate lights, rear defrost, and rear wiper! I'd like
to just replace the whole harness, but I'm not sure if it is a job I
can tackle on my own. Thank you!

 

Jesse laid this down on his screen :

I live in AZ and have an '88 wagon with 325K miles. I have had to do it
twice on each side. It is amazingly simple. There is a separate harness
for each side. If I remember correctly, the right is worse than the
left. I just did it one side at a time, and made sure I supported the
side I was working on adequately. I would suggest doing them both at
once. They are probably close to equally worn, and then you only have
to pull the gate apart once.

Good luck!

John

 

I think I'll give it a shot. I've surfed around and not been able to
find any step-by-steps, nor is it included in my Haynes. Anybody
either know a good method to follow, or a place to find instructions?
Not only do I not want to break anything else, but I don't really want
to spend hours and hours diddling around!

Thanks,

Jesse

 

Jesse presented the following explanation :

Instructions are at www.ipdusa.com/uploads/sku_files/12625_INST.PDF

IPD is usually a good source for instructions!

John

 

Jesse formulated on Sunday :

Based on your symptoms, both harnesses are bad. Wiper is on the right,
defrost and lights are on the left.

John

 

Here's another.
<http://www.swedishbricks.net/TechTips/tailgateharness.html>

 

Cool, thanks! I think I can do that. But, I am going to get another
harness for the other side too, while it's off.

 

Yeah replace them both. If one breaks, the other is not far behind.

Stupid design really, one of the few places they really bungled on the 240.