A real live wire!

jpjeep26uk

jpjeep26uk

YJ Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 12, 2022
Messages
192
Location
UK
Hi, me again! Whilst searching under the rear of the yj to see if a tyre mechanic had whacked something or crimped something when jacking up the car and caused a new backfire issue, I found an always-on stray live brown wire tucked away behind my bumper. No tape, no end seal, just a open ended live wire. Is this supposed to be powering something? I have a LHD and from the back it's on the rear off-side, hanging between the body and the rear bumper bar? Any thoughts? Thanks all.
 
Any evidence of a once trailer hitch on it? Typically a hitch tail light system will have a green for left light,yellow for the right IIRC and brown for the running lights or in your case a possible lisc plate light. Is it hot all the time or just when the lights are on or??
 
Hi, yes there was once a trailer hitch on it, or rather,the flip cap electrical block on the rear bumper but no physical hook. It was really old and the relays were totally rusted. They were bolted to the rear left hand side of the tailgate lock inside the tub under the carpet and really dodgy so I disconnected the whole thing. But this brown wire feller is hanging free on the right side externally. It's constant live so I've secured it and tucked it behind the bumper for now. The license plate wires are coming from the rear left of the vehicle and are hooked up to two LED plate lights so I think this wires are OK. I'm worried this stray live wire is related to the fuel system and should be plugged into something out of site!
 
jpjeep26uk said:
Hi, yes there was once a trailer hitch on it, or rather,the flip cap electrical block on the rear bumper but no physical hook. It was really old and the relays were totally rusted. They were bolted to the rear left hand side of the tailgate lock inside the tub under the carpet and really dodgy so I disconnected the whole thing. But this brown wire feller is hanging free on the right side externally. It's constant live so I've secured it and tucked it behind the bumper for now. The license plate wires are coming from the rear left of the vehicle and are hooked up to two LED plate lights so I think this wires are OK. I'm worried this stray live wire is related to the fuel system and should be plugged into something out of site!
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Sorry, I meant 'to the left of the tailgate lock' not bolted to it.
 
Yeah, a 30+ year old Jeep with multiple owners... No telling what has been installed and removed. I had four radio harnesses hanging down from under the dash and removed about 20ft of wire.
 
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Flyer58 said:
Yeah, a 30+ year old Jeep with multiple owners... No telling what has been installed and removed. I had four radio harnesses hanging down from under the dash and removed about 20ft of wire.
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Yeah, 6 owners in Germany & 3 in the UK since Nov 1988! Same here, a lot of PO wiring under the dash. It's a mess and probably needs stripping out and starting again. A project for next summer.
 
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