Rewiring rear lights on hx

[poyda]

Guys. The recently purchased dogs breakfast hx sandy has stripped and scotch locked multi coloured rubbish all through in the rear lights so I'm going to pull it all out and refurbish...thinking of tying a string to one side and pulling it all through but im a bit chicken in case it gets stuck half way out inside the rear beaver....I assume there's no way in to there. Anyone done this successfully? How did you go with finding the number plate wire again?
Cheers Poyda.

[SLR_dave]

Hi Poyda,
Rear lights wiring does tend to get tampered with, and end up exactly as you've described from time to time. Usually if it's all been taped up, the reason is that there was (or is) a trailer loom wired in at some stage, or somebody has tried to connect up hazard lights (not factory avail on HX) or sometimes an alarm system whish flashes the rear lamps to show its activated.

So I spose a question is, is a trailer loom still there, and does it have a socket on the beaver panel? Anyway, I am sure you are not the first person with a mangled rear harness, but in terms of 'refurbishing' the loom, here's a few things you might consider.

The first is the condition of the intermediate loom that comes down the drivers side of the car and into the rear driverside service hatch. It should have a plug on it which connects it to the rear loom (the rear loom goes to the driver side tail light and then into the beaver / number plate and out to the passenger side tail light) . Do you still have factory plugs on the end of that intermediate loom? If so, you are in luck! That way you are possibly way better off to go with a second hand rear loom if you can find one.

However often this plug on the intermediate loom is missing, and has been cut out and wired direct. (Careful it is small and easily hidden under messily applied insulating tape, sometimes its two plugs as well). Of course, if it has been cut out and wired direct that works ok as long as the circuit is right, but, it is, I think, pretty impossible to reliably refit the plug direct to a (homebuilt) harness in a home workshop unless one is a pretty nifty auto sparky, and has the part. (if you have a cut off spare plug with the wires still attached you can solder it in... neatly, but then you have the same problem with heatshrink/elect tape all over your loom. Not nearly as bad as scotchtape but obviously not what you are currently looking for..)
Rebuilding the rear loom at home is problematic though. Getting a reliable electrical connection onto the base of existing lampholders is a specialist job (if its possible reliably at all) , but you wouldnt bother, rares sell some replacement bulb holders (expensively and without plugs), or you'd use exsisting wires from the bulb holder, or second handies, but again, you will need heat shrink/ electrical tape etc in places to rebuild it in that fashion.

What am I saying here... I suppose the initial question is; what actually happens at the end of your intermediate loom as it comes down the drivers side of the car?

I would suggest taking a decent torch and a cleaning rag to the service hatch, twist out the bulb holders from the driver side tail lamp unit and gently pull as much of the loom out that comes, (you may get a bit more by undoing the curved floor hatch at the base of the rear pillar) remove the tape and clean up all the wires with WD and work out what you actually have left of the harness. It may turn out not be as bad as you thought. Have a good look at the circuit diagram, work out the colours what is and is not orig. You'll probably find the loom under the beaver panel is still intact. I think theres probably no issue with using good quality insulated screw in tab connectors in place of the factory connector, and where otherwise needed if they are properly installed, (sparkies please jump on me here if I'm wrong).
I think thats a better option than trying to home build a rear loom.

The issue there as I see it is the connection to the taillamp holders as compared to what you already have factory installed. But if you do have the plug on the end of the internediate loom and can get a decent second hand rear loom (or are specialist and can reliably build a new one) then, I can see how to do the string thing to fit it , but you'll need at least two peices, perhaps three, of (long) string, and its easy to mess up! Let us know how you get on.

[poyda]

Hi Poyda,
Rear lights wiring does tend to get tampered with, and end up exactly as you've described from time to time. Usually if it's all been taped up, the reason is that there was (or is) a trailer loom wired in at some stage, or somebody has tried to connect up hazard lights (not factory avail on HX) or sometimes an alarm system whish flashes the rear lamps to show its activated.

So I spose a question is, is a trailer loom still there, and does it have a socket on the beaver panel? Anyway, I am sure you are not the first person with a mangled rear harness, but in terms of 'refurbishing' the loom, here's a few things you might consider.

The first is the condition of the intermediate loom that comes down the drivers side of the car and into the rear driverside service hatch. It should have a plug on it which connects it to the rear loom (the rear loom goes to the driver side tail light and then into the beaver / number plate and out to the passenger side tail light) . Do you still have factory plugs on the end of that intermediate loom? If so, you are in luck! That way you are possibly way better off to go with a second hand rear loom if you can find one.

However often this plug on the intermediate loom is missing, and has been cut out and wired direct. (Careful it is small and easily hidden under messily applied insulating tape, sometimes its two plugs as well). Of course, if it has been cut out and wired direct that works ok as long as the circuit is right, but, it is, I think, pretty impossible to reliably refit the plug direct to a (homebuilt) harness in a home workshop unless one is a pretty nifty auto sparky, and has the part. (if you have a cut off spare plug with the wires still attached you can solder it in... neatly, but then you have the same problem with heatshrink/elect tape all over your loom. Not nearly as bad as scotchtape but obviously not what you are currently looking for..)
Rebuilding the rear loom at home is problematic though. Getting a reliable electrical connection onto the base of existing lampholders is a specialist job (if its possible reliably at all) , but you wouldnt bother, rares sell some replacement bulb holders (expensively and without plugs), or you'd use exsisting wires from the bulb holder, or second handies, but again, you will need heat shrink/ electrical tape etc in places to rebuild it in that fashion.

What am I saying here... I suppose the initial question is; what actually happens at the end of your intermediate loom as it comes down the drivers side of the car?

I would suggest taking a decent torch and a cleaning rag to the service hatch, twist out the bulb holders from the driver side tail lamp unit and gently pull as much of the loom out that comes, (you may get a bit more by undoing the curved floor hatch at the base of the rear pillar) remove the tape and clean up all the wires with WD and work out what you actually have left of the harness. It may turn out not be as bad as you thought. Have a good look at the circuit diagram, work out the colours what is and is not orig. You'll probably find the loom under the beaver panel is still intact. I think theres probably no issue with using good quality insulated screw in tab connectors in place of the factory connector, and where otherwise needed if they are properly installed, (sparkies please jump on me here if I'm wrong).
I think thats a better option than trying to home build a rear loom.

The issue there as I see it is the connection to the taillamp holders as compared to what you already have factory installed. But if you do have the plug on the end of the internediate loom and can get a decent second hand rear loom (or are specialist and can reliably build a new one) then, I can see how to do the string thing to fit it , but you'll need at least two peices, perhaps three, of (long) string, and its easy to mess up! Let us know how you get on.

Thanks SLR
It does have the factory connectors and yes a lot of the damage was from adding trailer wires. I am pretty competent with soldering and tidying etc. I am mainly worried about access. I have got a hq item from a wagon which is exactly the same, it was easy to remove because the spare wheel tub gives access to inside the rear beaver. One bulb holder I just can't get a bulb into, it doesn't seem to be pushing down far enough to twist in. Tried a few bulbs but they are all same. Such a simple part it seems ridiculous that it could malfunction. It had no bulb when I bought it so previous owner must have been in same boat. Between the two looms I'll be able to make one good one. As long as I can get it back in LOL. I'm taking your advice and using multiple strings.....going out tonight to gave a go at it.

[SLR_dave]

No probs, how did you go? I realise its the other side of the weekend now so hopefully you got the job done! If you still have probs with that bulb holder yeah, I dunno why they do that, sometimes it is just the case of having the wrong bulb, (maybe check what you have against the one on the other side - etc). I do vaguely recall a time I couldnt, and then realised i had got the bulbs mixed up.... From memory one has a bayonet fitting that is higher on one side.... it has to be oriented the right way, but this might just be Torana, or hmmn, genuinely cant remember. (Also, clasping the bulb with a cloth rag overlapped a few times is a good idea if applying pressure, might stop cuts to your hand if it breaks) - but perhaps examine that bayonet - it might just need a 180 rotation. Other times the holder can have dirt in them. I have usually got them to work by cleaning out with WD a few times, and air blowing with a compressor, eventually got the bulb in. I wouldnt scratch around in it too much with anything physically hard though, maybe try re-orienting the bulb.

In terms of strings, I hope it went ok. If you didnt get it done, its always a better idea to use long lengths I find, (always an extra two or even four metres more than you initially think you need) and most importantly make sure not to forget to anchor the loose end. The string will often behave of its own accord, just having a loose metre or so un-anchored which looks like plenty is an easy mistake, it's amazing sometimes how fast the loose end of one string can find its way into a difficult to access channel whilst you are drawing another string or cable through. The other thing is a really solid connection from the string to the loom, looped and tied, solidly, test how hard you can pull on it before beginning the draw through - and then taped, (the tape is just to tuck everything in to reduce friction and snagging, not for the join). I would generally use something like nylon woven clothesline for a job like this. So, that means taking the grommet for the number plate wire out of the beaver panel.

Anyway, hope it went ok! I nearly posted these string tips with my last post but it was getting a bit lengthy! Hopefully you had no probs.
Dave.

[poyda]

No probs, how did you go? I realise its the other side of the weekend now so hopefully you got the job done! If you still have probs with that bulb holder yeah, I dunno why they do that, sometimes it is just the case of having the wrong bulb, (maybe check what you have against the one on the other side - etc). I do vaguely recall a time I couldnt, and then realised i had got the bulbs mixed up.... From memory one has a bayonet fitting that is higher on one side.... it has to be oriented the right way, but this might just be Torana, or hmmn, genuinely cant remember. (Also, clasping the bulb with a cloth rag overlapped a few times is a good idea if applying pressure, might stop cuts to your hand if it breaks) - but perhaps examine that bayonet - it might just need a 180 rotation. Other times the holder can have dirt in them. I have usually got them to work by cleaning out with WD a few times, and air blowing with a compressor, eventually got the bulb in. I wouldnt scratch around in it too much with anything physically hard though, maybe try re-orienting the bulb.

In terms of strings, I hope it went ok. If you didnt get it done, its always a better idea to use long lengths I find, (always an extra two or even four metres more than you initially think you need) and most importantly make sure not to forget to anchor the loose end. The string will often behave of its own accord, just having a loose metre or so un-anchored which looks like plenty is an easy mistake, it's amazing sometimes how fast the loose end of one string can find its way into a difficult to access channel whilst you are drawing another string or cable through. The other thing is a really solid connection from the string to the loom, looped and tied, solidly, test how hard you can pull on it before beginning the draw through - and then taped, (the tape is just to tuck everything in to reduce friction and snagging, not for the join). I would generally use something like nylon woven clothesline for a job like this. So, that means taking the grommet for the number plate wire out of the beaver panel.

Anyway, hope it went ok! I nearly posted these string tips with my last post but it was getting a bit lengthy! Hopefully you had no probs.
Dave.

Dave
I was sussessful with the string BUT thought I would update on a few tips;
1. I took off the connectors by making a long thin tongue out of spouting metal and it will release tab so you can pull wires out without killing the end. Then I put a tiny wire wheel on a Dremel and took Rust and oxidation off and reassemble.
2. I had to take off the beaver for rust in the end so I used gorilla tape to stick the loom to inner panel. I mucked this up once by marking the half way point on the loom and matching to half way across panel. Turns out its not same each side due to fall of connector on main harness. My suggestion is small cable tie ends to light mounting hole each side then tape. Of course you don't have to tape it as it might make future removal a bugger but I didn't want it sitting on bottom when I welded beaver back on.
3. Obviously test it all before closing up, including any trailer wiring. Not hard if you have removed the terminals from the connectors to accidentally put them in back to front. Make a dot or mark on connector before you remove the inners so they go back the same.
Finish with a question,
Has anyone used the chrome paint inside the tail light assembly to get brighter reflection? I'm thinking it might be better than simple silver???