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Wiring Gurus: Help! 1988 Header Panel on 2000 Wiring

Mtb Jak

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Seattle WA
Well I wish this was "Plug n Play" but that was wishful thinking.

I have an 1988 Jeep Wagoneer Header panel with "fog light" hookups on the wiring harness which I am trying to use on my 2000 Jeep, I need to know how I can cheaply and easy mate these two plugs. I do not need the foglight hookups on the header panel wiring harness. I also have the 2000 Jeep header panel wiring harness.

What should I do, I know how to make things work and stuff but I am at a loss with making sure my headlights and turn signals work properly!

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2000 Wiring Bundle
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1988 Wiring bundle
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Do both the '88 and the '00 plug into the main harness behind the driver's side headlight? Do they both have a different shaped plug? If the answer to both these questions is yes, I would probably cut the plugs off both harnesses, leaving yourself enough wire on the '00 plug to do some splicing. I would then reference the FSM wiring diagram for each to figure out the wire colors and splice the '00 plug onto the '88 harness.

Even better yet, I'd ditch both harnesses and wire up my own custom harness with heavier gauge wire and relays so you can actually get some decent light output from your headlights. You could still splice the turn signal wires directly into the '00 plug, but I'd use the headlight wires from the '00 plug to trigger relays instead of using them to power your headlights...
 
I was looking for someone who has done this before and either used the plug off the 2000, wiring harness and spliced it into the 88 harness, that seems to be the best idea?

I would love to run heavier wire and what not but at this time that is not an option!
 
Cannot Wait to trim and get the thing painted! and back on the trail its almost been a XXXXing year

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I was looking for someone who has done this before and either used the plug off the 2000, wiring harness and spliced it into the 88 harness, that seems to be the best idea?

I see you added pictures since my first post... Yep, as I previously suggested, use the plug from the '00 and splice it onto the '88 harness. You seem to have already realized this is probably the best option short of upgrading the wiring.

And no, I haven't done it myself, but I don't see what difference that makes. I've completely stripped down the front lighting harness on my '99 and rebuilt it so I'm pretty familiar with what's going on in there. Good luck finding much advice if you only want to hear from people who have spliced a Wagoneer front lighting harness onto a late model XJ. That being said, what is your question anyways?
 
the question is what color on the 2000 harness does what? And what color on the 88 does what? and how do they correlate? such as the 88 having high and low beam on different lights, I took the 2000 harness off the broken header panel and began looking into it.
 
a wiring guru would have the diagram that I need! They would also have advice that I may not find just from a diagram! I think i have someone who is going to help me Saturday with shrink wrapping and getting the plug sliced in!
 
Well, you could try a Haynes manual, but that would honestly be a bit of a crap shoot. It might be a good starting point, anyway.

I would probably take 15 minutes and a $15 voltmeter and probe out the plug on the 2000.

Turn on the parking lights, see which wire goes hot. The headlights, low beam then high. Left turn, right turn. Write it all down. (The one that never goes hot is your ground.)

Then trace the wires in your header. I "assume" the lower lights are the low beams, the upper are high. One wire will go to both sides ambers, that's parking, and so on. The wire that goes everywhere is ground.

Then just splice (crimp) each wire to its mate. Heat shrink it if you can, or at least tape it up well...

Best advice I can offer, sorry!

Robert

(For what it's worthy, I'm really diggin the Waggy nose on the 2000. Good luck with it!)
 
So you don't need a wiring guru so much as a wiring diagram.

:D:thumbup: Anybody can look up and read a wiring diagram, a guru would have them all memorized...

While a FSM wiring diagram for both the '88 and '00 would make life much easier for you, you should still be able to figure it out pretty easily with two complete headers/harnesses sitting in front of you. Just perform a continuity test between each socket and the pins on your main harness plug.

A whole bunch of them will share the same pin or two (and probably have some variation of a black wire) and will be your grounds. The other wires (most likely reds, violets, light greens, and maybe light blues on your '00) should each have their own pin and will be the 12V+'s. Label them as you go to keep track. Match the '88 and the '00 together when you're done.

The separate highs and lows on the Wagoneer header should be a moot point as their grounds will likely be spliced together long before they get to the main harness plug.
 
thanks for all the advice! I'm hoping me and jason (jap813) can look at it this weekend and figure it out with some of his wiring skills!

I will post more pics as it progresses along hopefully faster, it will be almost a year it has been dead by the time its done!
 
I did find my notes from when I rewired my 89 (non-waggy)

Black - Ground
Blue - Park
Green - Low beam
White - High beam
Grey - Left turn
Brown - Right turn

These might be exactly what you need, or they may all be completely different.

Use at your own risk. :D

Robert
 
Using a volt meter would be your easiest option for determining what wire is what on the 2000. IIRC the front marker and side markers flashed opposite of each other on a 2000. That being the case you may need to experiment to find the correct turn signal wire that will not cause rapid flashing. I'm guessing the wire that is hot when the rear signal is on will be your best bet. Also remember when your testing the signals will flash rapidly unless you have bulbs in the circuit.
 
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