2003-2006 Hardtop Wiring

Scoutmapper

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For those of you wanting to wire your 2003-06 TJ hardtop so the wiper and defogger works here is a write-up.

This write-up was designed for those of us who want to use a salvaged harness but cannot find the exact match. Since there are so many options that affect and prevent us from doing a full harness swap like the detailed excellent write-up by Jamison C here, I came up with an alternative.

I made a diagram that will help understand things. This diagram is very large (36" x 36") so printing for most of us is challenging, but you can use Adobe Acrobat and print to multiple pages and tape it together if you like. You can pan around and print just certain spots or you could get it printed somewhere for around $15 or so.

  • Grab any harness of the same vintage (03-06) that has the factory hardtop wires regardless of the other features like soundbar, lockers, abs, etc. Technically you need two different harnesses, the main body/tub harness and the dash harness. The main body harness has wires from the rear at the hardtop to most of the connectors and through the firewall to the front engine bay for the washer pump. It also has one wire for the fuse block. The dash harness has the remaining connector wires and connectors for the switches (wiper and defogger rocker switches)
  • Diligently disassemble the harness focusing on the hardtop wires. You will want to have the service manual and this diagram but this diagram might be enough to do the job. You will need to pick some wires out of their connectors and having a few Terminal Removal Tools is necessary. You will need to do some splicing so soldering will be needed as well.
  • Skipping details of which wires you need as I am assuming the diagram shows this.
  • Things you might run into when pulling the harness apart:
    • Pulling wire terminals out of connectors with the Terminal Removal Tool is pretty easy.
      • push the tool into the backside of the connector grabbing the wire terminal with the prongs, pinch the wire and tool with thumb and forefinger and pull everything out.
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    • Pulling the terminals out of the fuse block is different. You need to remove the face plate off of the front of the fuse block with a tiny flat head screwdriver. Gently pry from the left and right midway there is a slot and it will pop off. Here you can see wiring and how the terminals are seated. From the rear, use the same micro-sized flat head screwdriver to gently pry the plastic retaining tab up. the tabs are above each wire. Move the tab up and this frees the wire to be pulled out of the back of the block. Try not to mangle it like I did the first time. I was using pliers and force...none of that is needed once I took the face plate off and saw how it all worked.
    • Edit: when putting the face plate back on you don't need to remove all the fuses, but it does get slightly tricky as they want to shift on you and get in the way of it lining up. You will need to use your micro screwdriver to push some of them back straight so the plate lines up. It will happen just takes some time.
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    • 20191020_141422.jpg
    • You will need to cut a few wires as they will need soldered back in to your harness. Mainly orange wires for switch light illumination and cutting splices for grounds.
  • Once you have all of the wires and terminals you need from the donor harness you will want to put this together more professionally and protect the wires. I recommend wrapping the wires with Split Loom Wire Sleeve Tubing and tape the ends with Wiring Harness Cloth Tape to prevent it from sliding and coming off. You can also use a vinyl non-adhesive tape like the factory harnesses use. I did this by installing and custom cutting the tubing as I went. Since this tubing is a nylon mesh once cut you will need to melt it a bit to prevent fraying. 1/4" tubing will hold quite a bit of wires as it can expand.
I started disassembly at the rear where the hardtop plug is and worked my way up the harness, taping off and labeling each terminal or cut.
1574043116710.png


If you noticed any errors on the diagram please let me know so I can fix it.
Thanks and hope this helps.
 

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  • Hardtop Wiring Diagram 2004 Jeep Wrangler.pdf
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Fantastic write-up on a very common problem / issue! Thanks for this (y)
 
Thanks Chris! Lots of hours studying the FSM trying to figure things out. There is quite a bit of information in the diagram.

You did all the work so others wouldn't have to!

Anytime the question comes up, I usually refer people to the wiring diagrams in the FSM. Of course you know as well as I do how daunting those diagrams can be. There's a ton of information in there as you said.
 
I am thinking about doing a write-up on making your own harness too since its so similar and avoids some of the terminal pins but not all. I'd say the hard part of making your own harness would be figuring out what terminal pins you need to fit the factory connectors. Some cannot be avoided unless you start cutting your harness which is worrisome. The upside to making your own harness is you can do inline fuses and bypass C202 connectors but that is about all. You still need to add terminal pins to C170, C107, and C2 the instrument cluster.
 
There is a shortcut if you want to save a bit of money. You can skip the dash harness but you will need the connectors for the switches. I acquired switches from DeadJeeps and they came with the connectors and about 2 inches of wires. These could be spliced in to any spare wires and routed to the rest of the harness. The colors would not match but its cheaper.
Also, If you need a full list of what parts are needed here is what I remember:
  • Re-purposed harnesses from an 03-06 TJ with hardtop
  • switches (rear wiper and rear defogger)
  • 40 amp fuse
  • Washer pump and rubber grommet
  • Dual washer reservoir. (you can also drill your existing one out at 7/8ths diameter hole I believe. if you do this make sure there is room around the other items like the radiator reservoir. you likely will want to stack the pump above the other one so things fit.)
  • 20 amp mini fuse
  • 10 amp mini fuse
  • Relay
Parts image.jpg
 
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Thanks for posting this, I’m working through it now. There are a few wires that are different colors on my 2005, but knowing the pin locations helps with that.

But, where is the C2 dash harness connector located on the vehicle? I can’t seem to find it for the life of me.

Also, does anyone know what the difference between the early washer pump grommet and the 03-06 one is? 03-06 has been discontinued, and the only aftermarket I can find seems to be for earlier models.
 
C2 is the instrument cluster connector. Pull the guages out and it's the white connector in the back.

I am unaware of different grommets for the pump... Sorry I can't be of more help on this one.
 
Ah ok, your drawing identifies it as the black connector, which didn’t have enough pins to match connector C2.

Do you know off hand if any connector pins that are available in the body harness can be repurposed for the C2 dash connector? I didn’t buy a dash harness, and am trying to make do with just the body harness and switches with pigtail leads.

Also, is there any reason why I couldn’t just tie the two orange wires from the switches together and then make one run to the dash connector?

thanks for the help, there is quite a bit that goes in to this.
 
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If you have extra pin connectors I am sure you can make them work but I don't know where a matching pin might be. Those are tiny ones in C2.
Yes your idea on the orange splice should work
 
Just so you know the orange is illumination for the switches (back light if you will) not an indicator light which is only on the defogger switch.
 
Right, it makes sense that that they are fed from the gauges cause I believe thats where the dimmer feed is. If they were fed straight 12 volts they wouldn’t dim with all the other dash lights. I’m just going to connect them and then run them to the dash connector, that way I don’t have to splice into my HVAC connector. I’m trying to leave as much of then original harness untouched as possible.
 
I’m gonna try and find a pin for that dash connector in my Spare body harness. That way I can just plug it in and avoid doing any splicing. If I do end up splicing, hvac or radio would be a good option since they’re so close. However I’m gonna have to find some pins for the C2 connector anyway so I can hook up to the Defogger switch, and connect to C170.
 
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I went and looked at the back of the gauges again in better light. Your diagram is correct in that C2 is the black connector. I managed to find some pins that fit that connector in the body harness, but only 3, so don’t damage them cause that’s how many you’ll need.
Did you buy a dash harness too? I did not manage to find a pin for C170 which is a shame cause I only need 1 pin and would hate to buy a whole harness to salvage one pin.
 
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If you are building your own harness you could bypass C170 but you will need to remove the light blue /white stripe wire from the back of the connector and solder your wire to it. Otherwise you can bypass it all but you'd need to get access to the PDC to connect to the relay which is more work than pulling the wire out and soldering. Some folks have even created their own relay to bypass the PDC so that's an option but I'm not going to be very useful for that process.
 
@Scoutmapper I got a question for ya. I've been following your diagram and was curious if you knew what the other end of 'Fuse 6' was. It comes from pin 5 on the C326 connector. I figured the other side of the fuse went to pin 6 of the wiper/defrost switch but wanted to get your input just in case. I appreciate it!

Screenshot_20200831-225248_Drive.jpg
 
After some research I found it, it's an ignition switch output for the 'run' position.
SmartSelect_20200901-132202_Photos.jpg


All of the fuses in that row have a bridged ignition circuit pin.
Screenshot_20200901-132627_Drive.jpg
 
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Anyone know where the timer circuit for the rear defrost is located? I'm going to make my own harness and looking at the info posted makes me think it's built into the switch itself. Or does it come from the dash cluster?
 
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