2003-2006 Hardtop Wiring

[AdelaideTJ]

Having some similar problems getting my rear window defroster to work. I have a 2005 RHD TJ that was wired for hardtop from factory. I have a working rear wiper and pump, and defroster connections on the glass look good, but the rear defroster switch doesn't appear to work making me think there's issue up front, or at the fuse/relay box.

Hoping for some help diagnosing the problem. All fuses and relays appear present and correct to my knowledge (I haven't inspected fuse #15 yet, but I will after work in case it is as simple as that), but the switch in the cab doesn't illuminate. Is it also supposed to stick down once activated on a timer? I'm guessing it may be a broken switch? I bought my TJ in the warmer months and it's its first winter with me, so it may not have worked for years for all I know.

 

[Rcroane]

Have you checked the 40A fuse under the hood in addition to #15 fuse behind the glovebox? Have you confirmed that you actually aren't getting power to the defroster grid? It's possible that the indicator bulb on the switch is bad. You can check this by starting the Jeep, pressing the defrost switch, and then putting a multimeter on the two defrost connections on the rear glass. You should see 12v there if the system is working.

 

[Scoutmapper]

Rcroane is right. I will also add that the switch doesn't "stay down" when you engaged...neither the defogger or rear wiper. The Rear wiper will "stay up" when you lift the switch.

 

[AdelaideTJ]

Thanks for this. Fuses all look ok, and just moved cities so need to go pick up a new multimeter to check if its getting 12v at the rear glass. Failing that I assume it'll be new switch time!

Have you checked the 40A fuse under the hood in addition to #15 fuse behind the glovebox? Have you confirmed that you actually aren't getting power to the defroster grid? It's possible that the indicator bulb on the switch is bad. You can check this by starting the Jeep, pressing the defrost switch, and then putting a multimeter on the two defrost connections on the rear glass. You should see 12v there if the system is working.

 

[Rcroane]

Thanks for this. Fuses all look ok, and just moved cities so need to go pick up a new multimeter to check if its getting 12v at the rear glass. Failing that I assume it'll be new switch time!

If no power to the rear glass, you can use the multimeter to see if you are getting power to the switch. If yes, I think that would confirm that the switch is bad.

 

[deadbeat son]

If no power to the rear glass, you can use the multimeter to see if you are getting power to the switch. If yes, I think that would confirm that the switch is bad.

Or that could also be indicative of a break in the wire between the switch and the rear glass. When checking the switch to see if there's +12V going into the switch, you can also check to see if the switch is passing +12V out of the switch when switched on.

 

[Rcroane]

Or that could also be indicative of a break in the wire between the switch and the rear glass. When checking the switch to see if there's +12V going into the switch, you can also check to see if the switch is passing +12V out of the switch when switched on.

Could it also mean a possible break somewhere in the defrost grid?

 

[deadbeat son]

Could it also mean a possible break somewhere in the defrost grid?

Not if there's not 12v at the glass. If there is 12v at the glass but it doesn't work, then look at the grid. It's all about isolating where there is and isn't power.

 

[CreepinDeth]

I am thinking about doing a write-up on making your own harness too since its so similar and avoids some of the terminal pins but not all. I'd say the hard part of making your own harness would be figuring out what terminal pins you need to fit the factory connectors. Some cannot be avoided unless you start cutting your harness which is worrisome. The upside to making your own harness is you can do inline fuses and bypass C202 connectors but that is about all. You still need to add terminal pins to C170, C107, and C2 the instrument cluster.

Is there a write up yet for just adding rear defrost and the rear wiper with some flip switches?? Im assuming theres blank fuse holders in a fuse block. Havent read WHOLE thread yet

Im thinkin just 2 circuits to splice in cant be as complex as sourcing an OEM rear harness and all this.

Could also bypass the OEM plug and just put in a Metripack / Weatherpack connector

 

[Rcroane]

Is there a write up yet for just adding rear defrost and the rear wiper with some flip switches?? Im assuming theres blank fuse holders in a fuse block. Havent read WHOLE thread yet

Im thinkin just 2 circuits to splice in cant be as complex as sourcing an OEM rear harness and all this.

Could also bypass the OEM plug and just put in a Metripack / Weatherpack connector

I haven't read through this, but the title suggests it might help.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/simple-tj-hardtop-wiring-harness.28637/

 

[J.Cain]

Scoutmapper,

First off great write up, excellent detail and myself and others can’t thank you enough for this. I’m in the process of wiring a factory hardtop on my 04 and I’m going to do it as factory as possible. I know many bypass C202, but having pulled the dash on numerous TJ’s to do heatercores I see a huge disadvantage of bypassing it. Being able to unplug the three main connectors on the lock panel makes it a snap to get the dash off and out. So far I have fully pulled all the wires, terminals from all cavities from a factory hardtop equipped 04 TJ tub harness. (I also have the factory dash harness that I’ll be pulling the needed wires for the install).

My questions are:
1. Did you run your tub wires through the factory plastic wire loom or did you tuck it up behind somehow using the 1/4” split loom?
2. The wires behind the dash, did you pull the original harness and add the needed wires and wrap it back up like the factory with non-adhesive vinyl tape or did you just route the wires along the harness taping every so often? The latter sounds like a time saver.
Thank you again for putting this together and sharing it with all it has been a huge benefit.

 

[J.Cain]

I have finally finished the factory hardtop wiring. Everything is working 100%. I went a step above to ensure it was nearly identical to how the factory installed it by de-pinning everything from a donor tub harness, unwrapping the factory plastic wire mold channel and concealing all the hardtop wires and washer fluid tube inside rewrapping it using non-adhesive vinyl tape and finishing the ends with cloth tape. I wasn’t about to pull the dash to remove the factory tub harness. I ran the three wires to fuse block in mesh tubing routing it next to the factory harness and securing it with zip-ties. I was fortunate and able to locate a factory Rubicon dash harness with hardtop option for a $100.00. I removed the factory dash harness and replaced it with the donor harness. (This was the worst part of the whole project, cut knuckles and removing the Christmas tree zip-ties on the underside of the dash was the most challenging. I have small hands and can’t imagine how someone with larger hands could manage to do it.) After getting everything tied in I found my rocker switch lights were burned out. I replaced those with LED T4’s along with HVAC lights as two of those were burned out as well. Before actually screwing dash panels back together I checked all functions and everything worked as designed. I won’t list all the items I purchased as it has been listed in previous posts but in it ended up costing about $300.00. (Thanks eBay)

 

[4x4 EVC]

For those of you wanting to wire your 2003-06 TJ hardtop so the wiper and defogger works here is a write-up.

This write-up was designed for those of us who want to use a salvaged harness but cannot find the exact match. Since there are so many options that affect and prevent us from doing a full harness swap like the detailed excellent write-up by Jamison C here, I came up with an alternative.

I made a diagram that will help understand things. This diagram is very large (36" x 36") so printing for most of us is challenging, but you can use Adobe Acrobat and print to multiple pages and tape it together if you like. You can pan around and print just certain spots or you could get it printed somewhere for around $15 or so.

• Grab any harness of the same vintage (03-06) that has the factory hardtop wires regardless of the other features like soundbar, lockers, abs, etc. Technically you need two different harnesses, the main body/tub harness and the dash harness. The main body harness has wires from the rear at the hardtop to most of the connectors and through the firewall to the front engine bay for the washer pump. It also has one wire for the fuse block. The dash harness has the remaining connector wires and connectors for the switches (wiper and defogger rocker switches)
• Diligently disassemble the harness focusing on the hardtop wires. You will want to have the service manual and this diagram but this diagram might be enough to do the job. You will need to pick some wires out of their connectors and having a few Terminal Removal Tools is necessary. You will need to do some splicing so soldering will be needed as well.
• Skipping details of which wires you need as I am assuming the diagram shows this.
• Things you might run into when pulling the harness apart:
  • Pulling wire terminals out of connectors with the Terminal Removal Tool is pretty easy.
    • push the tool into the backside of the connector grabbing the wire terminal with the prongs, pinch the wire and tool with thumb and forefinger and pull everything out.
    • View attachment 125403
  • Pulling the terminals out of the fuse block is different. You need to remove the face plate off of the front of the fuse block with a tiny flat head screwdriver. Gently pry from the left and right midway there is a slot and it will pop off. Here you can see wiring and how the terminals are seated. From the rear, use the same micro-sized flat head screwdriver to gently pry the plastic retaining tab up. the tabs are above each wire. Move the tab up and this frees the wire to be pulled out of the back of the block. Try not to mangle it like I did the first time. I was using pliers and force...none of that is needed once I took the face plate off and saw how it all worked.
  • Edit: when putting the face plate back on you don't need to remove all the fuses, but it does get slightly tricky as they want to shift on you and get in the way of it lining up. You will need to use your micro screwdriver to push some of them back straight so the plate lines up. It will happen just takes some time.
  • View attachment 125406
  • View attachment 125404
  • You will need to cut a few wires as they will need soldered back in to your harness. Mainly orange wires for switch light illumination and cutting splices for grounds.
• Once you have all of the wires and terminals you need from the donor harness you will want to put this together more professionally and protect the wires. I recommend wrapping the wires with Split Loom Wire Sleeve Tubing and tape the ends with Wiring Harness Cloth Tape to prevent it from sliding and coming off. You can also use a vinyl non-adhesive tape like the factory harnesses use. I did this by installing and custom cutting the tubing as I went. Since this tubing is a nylon mesh once cut you will need to melt it a bit to prevent fraying. 1/4" tubing will hold quite a bit of wires as it can expand.

I started disassembly at the rear where the hardtop plug is and worked my way up the harness, taping off and labeling each terminal or cut.
View attachment 125408

If you noticed any errors on the diagram please let me know so I can fix it.
Thanks and hope this helps.

I do this for a living (convert 1976 to 2006 CJ and Wranglers to all EV) and I can tell you, this is the best writeup diagram I've seen in a while - nice job!

- Patrick

 

[Scoutmapper]

Scoutmapper,

First off great write up, excellent detail and myself and others can’t thank you enough for this. I’m in the process of wiring a factory hardtop on my 04 and I’m going to do it as factory as possible. I know many bypass C202, but having pulled the dash on numerous TJ’s to do heatercores I see a huge disadvantage of bypassing it. Being able to unplug the three main connectors on the lock panel makes it a snap to get the dash off and out. So far I have fully pulled all the wires, terminals from all cavities from a factory hardtop equipped 04 TJ tub harness. (I also have the factory dash harness that I’ll be pulling the needed wires for the install).

My questions are:
1. Did you run your tub wires through the factory plastic wire loom or did you tuck it up behind somehow using the 1/4” split loom?
2. The wires behind the dash, did you pull the original harness and add the needed wires and wrap it back up like the factory with non-adhesive vinyl tape or did you just route the wires along the harness taping every so often? The latter sounds like a time saver.
Thank you again for putting this together and sharing it with all it has been a huge benefit.

Sorry for the very late response. I was out for some extended medical issues at the time of your post and never replied.
I did not run my wires through the factory plastic loom. I ran along side them in the tub. In the dash loom I did a mix of taking some factory loom apart and running along existing factory bundles too keep them intact, Everything is in a mesh loom with cloth tape holding it together for tidiness and a more "factory look".

 

[J.Cain]

As many have read, I was one of those who took on this project 2yrs ago by sourcing the tub wiring harness, switches, washer bottle and pump from multiple sources. I spent the better half of a couple of days to install it and make it identical to factory as possible. The amount time spent doing it and fun I had along way reminded me of how much cheaper and simpler it was in 2001 when I bought the factory mopar kit for my 97. Since mopar stopped making it years ago for both the 97-02 and 03-06 I figured the odds of ever locating a kit would be impossible. But to my surprise I found one for sale still in the factory bag, receipt and instructions.

 

[Rcroane]

As many have read, I was one of those who took on this project 2yrs ago by sourcing the tub wiring harness, switches, washer bottle and pump from multiple sources. I spent the better half of a couple of days to install it and make it identical to factory as possible. The amount time spent doing it and fun I had along way reminded me of how much cheaper and simpler it was in 2001 when I bought the factory mopar kit for my 97. Since mopar stopped making it years ago for both the 97-02 and 03-06 I figured the odds of ever locating a kit would be impossible. But to my surprise I found one for sale still in the factory bag, receipt and instructions.

View attachment 651116

Soooo....what are your plans for the kit, since you've already completed the wiring project?

 

[chili_pepper]

Soooo....what are your plans for the kit, since you've already completed the wiring project?

 

[J.Cain]

I’ll see who is going to attempt the project next, pull it out of the Bag, lay everything and take a ton of photos to ease the wiring pain. IDK what the heck I’m gonna do with it, guess just sit on it and let it collect dust like every other Jeep part I have collected over the years. Just a hobby locating OEM vintage parts.

 

[Natander]

I just purchased a "two pump" washer reservoir to the the ball rolling on making my own harness. It should be a fun little challenge. I plan on using the info in this thread heavily. Unlike most of my projects, I will document this one as well as I can for anyone else who wants to do it.

 

[J.Cain]

I just purchased a "two pump" washer reservoir to the the ball rolling on making my own harness. It should be a fun little challenge. I plan on using the info in this thread heavily. Unlike most of my projects, I will document this one as well as I can for anyone else who wants to do it.

Let us know if you have questions along the journey.