New tailgate needed - wiring harness options

[TTKT]

New tailgate needed due to a rear-ending. Serious panel damage only - all the electrics work OK.
(1) Does a new tailgate come with wiring harness or not ?
(2) If it does, is it an easier job to feed the old harness into the new tailgate, or to join new harness to the body somehow?
(3) I guess this shows - that I don't know where the tailgate harness connects to the rest of the vehicle. IS IT just inside the bellows at top LHS of the tailgate-body join? Or a long way off?
(4) An aftermarket reverse camera is in place, not sure if this complicates that choice. I have isolated those wires ready to feed into new hole in new tailgate.
Any info appreciated.
(PS After the incident the van was driven 10,500km home, with this big hole covered with black plastic lined by cardboard cartons!)

 

[roadtripper]

Ouch

I've had a poke around the wiring diagrams for a T6.1 in the VIP section and one thing I noted is that the tailgate wiring harness (for those at least) is a bit odd as all the wires internal to the tailgate are not colour coded, they are all white. I can only assume that's because in general they are pre wired and just get connected to the connection blocks in the back of the van.

 

[TTKT]

Thanks. Mine are also all white, with fine black markings. I'm still wondering where, in the body of the van, that harness is connected to the rest of the vehicle wiring.

 

[Pauly]

There’s a multi plug in the roof space above the rear left wheel

I have replaced a tailgate wiring harness before and it’s not that bad of a job, everything is exactly to length and has different connectors

 

[TTKT]

Pauly thanks.
Can you access the multi plug/sockets from the hole where the rubber bellows to the tailgate enters the body? Or do you have to access the roof space from somewhere further forward, inside? My reason for asking - mine is a carpet-lined pop-top camper conversion and the original lining isn't visible and I worry that it may have to be torn to bits to access those plugs.
After having just now removed the "un-removeable" high brakelight (using a sheetmetal nibbler), I now have the harness freed up so that we could just feed all the old wires through the new tailgate. Still not sure whether the new one will have wires/brakelight included.
The old brakelight is re-useable, just had to remove 4 clips to get it out once it was exposed. The nibbler - not a method I'd recommend if keeping your tailgate!
Regards, Tim.

 

[Pauly]

Normally you would drop the interior roof panel to access the multi plug as it’s a foot or two into the van

Don’t think there’s any reason why you couldn’t remove the tailgate harness from the bottom ie have it clear of the tailgate and all hanging out where the rubber bellows is this would allow you to swap the tailgate and then feed it all back in again
I don’t think any of the plugs are too big to pass up there so hopefully this is an option for you but you will need to access the roof space to access the hinge bolts ?

 

[TTKT]

Using the existing harness sounds best to me BUT I am going to have to persuade the repairer to do it that way (it's an insurance job). I'm just doing what I can before he gets it, to try and make it a quicker job.
The hinges - 12-splined boltheads are on the tailgate end of each hinge, should be removeable, no need to take hinges off the van body I think.
So - In case I do need to persuade him not to go digging into the roof space - just where/how far away are those plugs, in relation to the bellows ??

 

[DXX]

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[TTKT]

DXX hi - Camera - great, good idea, if we need to go that far . . .
Insurance!! = a recipe for delay, in some cases unfortunately.
I see now, above, "a foot or two" - it sounds unlikely that one could pull the van-body wires that far backwards to the bellows area. I think I have enough info for my discussion with the repair shop. Thanks all!

 

[roadtripper]

I have a vested interest as one of my future ideas may need getting to the very same set of wires - keep us updated as to the outcome.

 

[DXX]

Nothing to stop you adding an extra connection at the point that you can access the wires easily.