Rear Hatch Wiring for '88L?

[Twistiva]

OK, so my car is being painted. The rear hatch had been removed and this was the wiring hanging down from the top left of the rear roof area. This was the ONLY wiring hanging out there.

I've been told by at least 1 or 2 super-experienced Festy poster here (as in way more than 1,000 posts) that all Festivas had the wiring for the rear defrost and rear wiper enclosed in the body of the car, even if the Festiva did NOT have those options.

Notice in the pix that there are 4 wires....1 for the brake light, 1 for the rear license plate light, 1 for the ground and 1 for the ________?

My car is an '88L with NO rear defrost and NO rear wiper. So what is the one extra wire for? Does the rear defrost and rear wiper somehow plug into one pigtail?

88L Hatch Wiring.jpg

[bravekozak]

Cargo light.

[Twistiva]

Cargo light.

OK, so stupid question here....if it's the cargo light then how/where does the wiring run?

I mean, I could see if the extra pigtail connected to rear defrost or the rear wiper because then they would 'terminate' inside the rear hatch, but how/where does the wiring run from the pig tail over to the cargo light.

I don't doubt you, Brave, I'm just not understanding you.

[Prafeston]

The connector for the defrost and wiper is actually located in the panel right behind the drivers side taillight. If you had a hatch with the wiper and defrost then it would have the wiring necessary to plug into that plug behind the drivers taillight. The wiring for the cargo light in the hatch is actually for the hatch latch switch. There is more wiring behind the passenger taillight that actually plugs into the cargo light. If you don't have the cargo light then there would just be two smaller connectors hanging out back there that go to nothing.

[bravekozak]

On the hatch latch, some have contacts and blue/green stripe wire soldered on.

Here's a pic of the hatch wiring. The single blue/green stripe wire goes to the rear latch for the cargo light. The other blue and blue/orange stripe pair are for the wiper motor. red/green is for the license plate lamps. Green is for the high mount brake lamp. Black with the eye is for ground.

[Twistiva]

The connector for the defrost and wiper is actually located in the panel right behind the drivers side taillight. If you had a hatch with the wiper and defrost then it would have the wiring necessary to plug into that plug behind the drivers taillight. The wiring for the cargo light in the hatch is actually for the hatch latch switch. There is more wiring behind the passenger taillight that actually plugs into the cargo light. If you don't have the cargo light then there would just be two smaller connectors hanging out back there that go to nothing.

On the hatch latch, some have contacts and blue/green stripe wire soldered on.

Here's a pic of the hatch wiring. The single blue/green stripe wire goes to the rear latch for the cargo light. The other blue and blue/orange stripe pair are for the wiper motor. red/green is for the license plate lamps. Green is for the high mount brake lamp. Black with the eye is for ground.

Prafeston / Brave -

MANY thanks! :thumbs_up: