Hey, so this is only my 2nd post because while I have had a 4runner for a while, I just used it as a utility vehicle and didn't really care that much about most stuff on it. Anyway, now I am actually trying to restore an 86 SR5 and have a question about the rear window. No, it's not about the troubleshooting the switch or the wiper arm or anything. I am fine with most of that stuff and have bookmarked RedRunners posts, 4Crawlers page, etc. What I DO need help with though is identifying a pair of clipped wires from the harness in the tailgate. I need to know if I need to address these wires before I move on to troubleshooting relays etc. Since a picture will explain it all, can someone who has an intact tailgate harness maybe tell me what these two wires go to? The red and black one in the top left.

 

I remember those two. I don't think I used them on mine but can't remember. Do you have the rear defroster hooked up to the bottom of the window? The tabs on the bottom of the window are bad to break off and not even be there when you open it up to look at it. If this rings a bell to you and it's connected to your truck harness, you might try hitting the defogger switch and measuring voltage on those. You may have to have the gate shut and the window up to do it. Not sure if it has it's own set of safeties like the up down switch has. Being that they are bigger than the other wires, they are going to have some load on them. That's what made me think of the window heater at first glance.

Don't quote me on that, just saw that you were online late and thought you might be waiting on some kind of guess.

 

Does the Red wire have a blue strip that is not seen in the picture??

If so it might be the defrost wires as black is the color of the ground

I don`t see any solid red wires in the hatch at all at least from the factory looking at the 86EWD

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I thought that might be the case too. I did notice the tabs on the window brackets for the defroster, but it looks like there is a little wire coming off the window, connected to the tabs. I guess I was wondering where in there the brackets hooked up to the rest of the wiring. I will investigate that further, but as long as it doesn't prevent me from troubleshooting all the switches then I should be good to go. Thanks!

 

I don't remember seeing a blue wire on the red wire, but I didn't look that closely? I will check when I get home. But it's definitely part of the factory harness I think, so it's probably that?

 

I wish I could find the pictures and videos I took when I rebuilt my tailgate into my spare shell. I really felt like I remembered those wires and that I didn't need them. I got real deep into a box of beer that night because I swore I wouldn't sleep until that thing was out of my shop and on the truck. I remember putting in back on the truck in the morning's light. I laid down under the truck to hook up the connector and it felt good. My wife woke me up around ten in the morning. Had a good little nap on the concrete.

Hook everything up and test it. If everything works, tape them off and don't worry about them. Make sure you tie all of the harness to the shell. If you don't take your time and secure the section that's on the back side of the window, you'll end up having a connector drag against your window every time it goes up and down and that will eventually scratch that hard to find window.

 

Ok, yeah I can't find where they would go. I see a number of people posting on other forums asking about them, so who knows. As long as everything works I am good to go. Thanks for the help!

 

Defrost wires, left side
the wire loom will/can catch between one of the self tapping bolts and the inner or outer skin and pull free.

On the right hand side are two similar lugs that are tied together with a short loop of wire (no picture) to complete the circuit.