Tailgate Wiring Mess

[unclefalter]

Hi there.

I'm having a heck of a time with my 1985 Grand Wagoneer. It's actually a stripped down version that was a former police truck, two owners ago. The most recent owner said the tailgate window motor was in fact working until just a week or two before he sold it to me.

I've removed the panel and had a preliminary look. The wiring has been altered, I think, because if you look at the attached link to a picture I took, you can see three cut-off wires coming from the motor, two of them with colours matching wires that seem to have been rerouted to suit whatever needs the police had at the time. I'm thinking maybe it'd be easier to return the wiring to the way it originally should have been, rather than trying to figure out how the cops had it all done up.

If anyone, in looking at this picture can tell me what the three cut-off wires do, and whether it'd make any difference to reroute things (assuming I'm right about those wires having been rerouted in the first place), it'd be appreciated.

Brad/unclefalterhttp://www.icc.ca/jpwir2_0004.jpgJeep wiring pic (http://www.icc.ca/jpwir2_0004.jpg)

[sailingjeep]

The yellow and black wires should be the only ones coming from the motor. Maybe the third goes to the tailgate switch? There is an article with a pretty good description (including wire colors) in the tech section under "tailgate". You should have a relay on the passenger side of the tailgate, that has a hot, reddish wire going to it. You have two browns that go to the corners of the window for the defroster on each side.I can't remember it all in detail, but the tech article got me through it.

[shadowfax101]

The yellow and black are the ones going to the motor, and the black one coming from the side is the neutral safety switch. It looks like he ones that were cut are the ones coming from the tail gate key switch. I had to bypass those wires and the safety switch wire. If you run 12 volts up the yellow and ground the black you can test the motor, and if you reverse the wires it will go the other direction.
The PO had messed mine up so bad that I had to take the yellow and black wires run them through the tail gate and connect them to a spare battery to get mine up and down. I am going to wire up a special switch when I get around to it. At least this way you know if the motor works

[sailingjeep]

http://reasononastick.virtualave.net/images/wiring.gif