Minnesota Focus Owners Club

A few years ago I had issues with my brake light fuse blowing and I traced it to some broken insulation inside the flex tube between the hatch and the body. I got a new harness from Steve and replaced it since I didn't want to try to splice the wires in there.

Yesterday I tried popping the hatch with my remote and the brake lights flashed. The brake lights also stayed on when the headlights were on and the license plate lights lit up when I opened the hatch. Sure enough, the harness is broken in the same place. My wife's car (also a 2000 ZX3) hasn't had this problem. Anybody else have issues here? I've got a bunch of wire left over from my 944, so I'm planning on replacing sections of wire so the splices are on the hatch and body sides of the flex, but I'd like to know if I'm doing something wrong or if it's an issue with the design I've run up against.

I had to repair the wires in mine a few years ago, just spliced in extra wire.

Steve@Tasca wrote:I had to repair the wires in mine a few years ago, just spliced in extra wire.

That's what I did, too. I still had some wire left over from the 944 project. I even had some that was a color and gauge match.

I'm actually starting to suspect it's happening to my wife's car. Her cruise control stopped working a few months ago and I haven't gotten around to troubleshooting it. When I drove my car to the shop to work on it yesterday, my cruise didn't work. On the way home it did. I suspect the cruise box is hooked up to the 3rd brake light. I'm not too happy that it took less than 5 years for this to happen to a brand new harness. As I recall, you said they even had to build it, so it's not like it was sitting on a shelf for 10 years hardening.

My guess is a big part of it is our climate, opening and closing the hatch in sub-zero temps probably isn't doing it any favors.

Steve@Tasca wrote:My guess is a big part of it is our climate, opening and closing the hatch in sub-zero temps probably isn't doing it any favors.

Obviously I need to steal the hatch or sliding door contacts from a minivan and hack them in there. That'll fix it!

harold wrote:

Steve@Tasca wrote:My guess is a big part of it is our climate, opening and closing the hatch in sub-zero temps probably isn't doing it any favors.

Obviously I need to steal the hatch or sliding door contacts from a minivan and hack them in there. That'll fix it!

Not a bad idea really.

Steve@Tasca wrote:

harold wrote: Obviously I need to steal the hatch or sliding door contacts from a minivan and hack them in there. That'll fix it!

Not a bad idea really.

I'd be tempted to do it if it wasn't my daily driver. Maybe the next time I have to fix this, I'll head out to the U-Pull.

I have some of the wiring (ZX3) you can nab if you wish. Just have to unpin yours and add these in.
I'll have to dig them out to make sure, but I don't think i had to cut anything.
And all I won't give up is the 3rd brake light stuff. Everything else is up for grabs.


Also, I've never had this issue. But I've had the interior in and out a few times and maybe I moved something that was binding. I'm not sure.

iminhell wrote:I have some of the wiring (ZX3) you can nab if you wish. Just have to unpin yours and add these in.
I'll have to dig them out to make sure, but I don't think i had to cut anything.
And all I won't give up is the 3rd brake light stuff. Everything else is up for grabs.


Also, I've never had this issue. But I've had the interior in and out a few times and maybe I moved something that was binding. I'm not sure.

I spliced in wire the day I posted. I was wondering more if I was doing something wrong or if it was a bad design. Seems like it might just be a design issue.

Really seems to be.
Those of us who've dicked with our cars really don't have issue. But those who haven't have. So I'm going with, it's an issue of no slack in the wiring.

Yet when I removed mine there was well over a foot of useless wire. What I left I re-routed in a shorter and less obtrusive path (wire tuck).
But that's no surprise. Ford's aren't known for good/clean wire routing.

I haven't had the lights on my plates work since probably 2004. This is probably why, I used a meter to check for power and never got anything back there. Make sense now.

Louis Zerr wrote:I haven't had the lights on my plates work since probably 2004. This is probably why, I used a meter to check for power and never got anything back there. Make sense now.

I'd pull that back and check out the wiring if I were you. The first time it happened to me, it blew the brake light fuse. Don't want to get rear-ended.