Where could I buy a new wiring harness for the tail of a 500c. The brake lights, number plate light, boot catch, high level brake light etc. On mine the wires feeding the high level brake got chewed up by the roof mechanism and caused a short which blew fuse 37.

I have taped that up. But during my investigations I had to cut through the outer sheathing on the loom to inspect various sections of the harness which now looks ugly, I want it pristine. I can find repair kits that you splice in, but I would prefer to replace the whole lot.

Even though I think I have fixed the break in the cable my dash is still flashing up random warning messages. But they clear when I restart the ignition. Most annoying, but more annoying that I can't find the part I want

robinma2000 said:

Where could I buy a new wiring harness for the tail of a 500c. The brake lights, number plate light, boot catch, high level brake light etc. On mine the wires feeding the high level brake got chewed up by the roof mechanism and caused a short which blew fuse 37.



I have taped that up. But during my investigations I had to cut through the outer sheathing on the loom to inspect various sections of the harness which now looks ugly, I want it pristine. I can find repair kits that you splice in, but I would prefer to replace the whole lot.



Even though I think I have fixed the break in the cable my dash is still flashing up random warning messages. But they clear when I restart the ignition. Most annoying, but more annoying that I can't find the part I want

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eBay, about £40 from Latvia

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264858463145

typecastboy said:

eBay, about £40 from Latvia

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264858463145

Click to expand...

Thanks for this. I have found a few repair looms on the internet, but it looks like you would have to cut every cable and put a bullet on the end. Ideally I want the whole harness so I can replace it without any joins. I'll take another look, but if anyone knows how to get hold of the oem part.

The entire harness? Presumably that would go all the way back to the BCM?

That's a job and a half. If you don't want to cut the wires where the join is, how about getting a harness that joins behind the cream interior quarter panel. It's easier to get too. I did that once when replacing a tailgate although I now use the original.

If you really want to do that the guys at Club500Italia would sort you out I'm sure.

typecastboy said:

The entire harness? Presumably that would go all the way back to the BCM?

That's a job and a half. If you don't want to cut the wires where the join is, how about getting a harness that joins behind the cream interior quarter panel. It's easier to get too. I did that once when replacing a tailgate although I now use the original.

If you really want to do that the guys at Club500Italia would sort you out I'm sure.

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I know it sounds ambitious. But I was hoping that it might terminate in a plug connector, and somewhere shy of the bcm. If I could find a part or a picture of one i could get an idea of how it connects and it might temper my enthusiasm. Thanks for replying. I'll look at the guys you suggested.

It probably does terminate at a plug as there are several plugs that plug into the BCM. You would have to take the BCM out though I think.

Sounds like a lot of work for something that can be achieved much easier.

Good luck.

Just repair the tail gate section! Instead of opening “a can o worms” most of us on here have suffered from this “common” fault it’s a relatively easy though time consuming fix

robinma2000 said:

I have taped that up. But during my investigations I had to cut through the outer sheathing on the loom to inspect various sections of the harness which now looks ugly, I want it pristine. I can find repair kits that you splice in, but I would prefer to replace the whole lot.

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IIRC the wiring from the tailgate is a contiguous part of the main harness, so achieving this, whilst possible, would be prohibitively expensive; probably several thousands of pounds, since you're talking about replacing the main wiring loom. A lot of internal panels would need to be removed for access and doing that without breaking any clips is, well, let's just say most unlikely. You'd almost certainly have a permanently ratteley car afterwards.

Plus, the standard wiring isn't fit for purpose, anyway - the cable is not sufficiently flexible to do the job and even if you fit a complete new loom, it will break again, sooner or later.

As has been said, repairing by splicing in a more suitable type of cable is the only sensible option here; if you want it to look tidy, don't use a repair kit; buy some cable and splice in behind one of the rear interior panels.

jrkitching said:

IIRC the wiring from the tailgate is a contiguous part of the main harness, so achieving this, whilst possible, would be prohibitively expensive; probably several thousands of pounds, since you're talking about replacing the main wiring loom. A lot of internal panels would need to be removed for access and doing that without breaking any clips is, well, let's just say most unlikely. You'd almost certainly have a permanently ratteley car afterwards.

Plus, the standard wiring isn't fit for purpose, anyway - the cable is not sufficiently flexible to do the job and even if you fit a complete new loom, it will break again, sooner or later.

As has been said, repairing by splicing in a more suitable type of cable is the only sensible option here; if you want it to look tidy, don't use a repair kit; buy some cable and splice in behind one of the rear interior panels.

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Thanks for this I sort of hoped it would run down the passenger side and just be for the tail. Dashed!I will post a picture of what is upsetting me most. I take you point of the panel clips. A few years ago I removed the heater to fix a common fault on my daughters and that was a massive job

robinma2000 said:

Thanks for this I sort of hoped it would run down the passenger side and just be for the tail. Dashed!I will post a picture of what is upsetting me most. I take you point of the panel clips. A few years ago I removed the heater to fix a common fault on my daughters and that was a massive job

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All the smart money seemed to be on this section being faulty. So I cut into the outer covering and found out it was ok. Unfortunately i had to use the tape to hand to strap it back together and instantly regretted it

robinma2000 said:

All the smart money seemed to be on this section being faulty. So I cut into the outer covering and found out it was ok. Unfortunately i had to use the tape to hand to strap it back together and instantly regretted it

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Ironically the section of cable in your photo is the the longer version(<>200mm) that FIAT started fitting in about 2013, replacing the much shorter (<>120mm) one fitted to my 2012 500C! The plastic clip was also added at that time to keep the extra length under control. My cable was stretched tightly over the edge of the boot lid when open and was bound to fail eventually.


I could be mistaken but I don't think there is a replacement kit for the 500C - the one posted above is for the hatch while the cabrio has no rubber sleeve and fewer wires in its boot loom, not requiring a rear demister, wiper or brake light supply, or of course the washer pipe. I got my boot cable re-done last year after one wire, to the boot light, snapped after six years of opening the boot several times every trip. The black wrapping actually split years before the wiring started to go so it was obvious where it was going to fail. My wife's 500C, like yours with the longer cable, never looked like failing.


If you just wrap the exposed cable in black tape it'll look original.