[Kevo]

They should replace the wiring harness for you since it's covered under warranty.

 

[olgzr]

Thanks. I'll look for the threads later.
Just called Honda. Its covered under warranty. 3yrs or 36k miles. I'm under both. So I'll be seeing what they say next week.

I almost want to try to connect the wires but at this point I'll wait and see if that's what they do.

The thread is easy to find, start at post one on this thread, (the one we are posting on). Lots of information.

 

[Tswiftma]

Just noticed this on my 2019 because I rarely open the tailgate this way

 

[daktruckie99]

My truck is a 2017 RTL-T with 51k miles.

I did some preventative maintenance today on mine and found what I believe to be a large contributor to the problem. Where the loom ends and wire begins there is not much overlap, nor is the loom taped together with the wire. Over time the loom is sliding back and the sharp(er) exposed edge is what is likely cutting the wires. My loom was starting to slide, but zero wire damage. I pulled the loom back in the picture to exagerate the problem area.

My maintenance was to tape the wires as far as possible further up under the loom, I added about an inch and a half of tape. Then run a continuous bead of tape across the wire and loom junction. To do this repair the tailgate covers and tailgate hinge needs to be removed to access the routing clip. I also unclipped a bunch of the harness to have working room and slack. The tailgate rested nicely on a 2x4 covered in terry cloth sitting on the bumper while the drop down cable takes the load.

I also unclipped the factory clip behind the taillight as mentioned earlier in this post. Best way to do that is to remove the taillight and unclip from the back. I actually found this whole job easier with no taillight, easier to see what is going on. I left it unclipped as you can see in the pictures.

Pictures attached of the exposed wires (undamaged), the repair/tape job, and final product buttoned back up.

After the repair and watching the wire as the tailgate moves in both directions, I am confident this should last years.

Mike

 

[Kevo]

I have inspected the harness on my 2019 and it looks to be in good shape. The loom is zip tied to the curved black plastic piece with a decent amount of loom in front of the zip tie. I tried pulling on it by hand to see if it felt like it would slip back and start rubbing on the wires and I got no movement.

So for now I decided to leave it alone and just check it now and then and make sure it hasn't slipped. I wonder if they updated the harness assembly or install procedure at some point and I just have the updated version or something.

 

[daktruckie99]

I've inspected this monthly since last summer and noticed my loom used to be under the zip tie too, it just slowly migrates as you use the tailgate over time.

-Mike

 

[Kevo]

I've inspected this monthly since last summer and noticed my loom used to be under the zip tie too, it just slowly migrates as you use the tailgate over time.

-Mike

Good to know. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.

 

[Shaqdiesel]

I pointed this out to my dealership about a year ago. They took some electrical tape and extra wrapped it. Seems to have held up so far.

Mine at the time had exposed wires like in the above photo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ridge2016]

Several threads about this. It's a known issue. Crickets from Honda. If you have no warranty protection they aren't obligated to do anything. Please let the forum know how you make out.

They should replace the wiring harness for you since it's covered under warranty.

So.....Went to Honda in Greenwich...
1 guy behind counter acknowledged it's a common thing and said mostly because rodents come up and chew on it.. They acknowledged I was within warranty period. I waited there outside.
After 2hrs they called me. Wires werent "chewed" by an animal, they were pinched and cut because of the way the tailgate was opened and closed. Total cost to fix $455.

I was like, ummm, nope. Not my fault. They said they dont cover physical damage. They transferred me to the service tech. No budging but will work with me on price. I said no, let me call you back. (I was respectful but firm the whole time)

Luckily I been leasing cars since 2001 at this place and I know the manager. Went into sales department. He said "let me see what I can do"

15 min later they told me it's being taken care of. No charge.

2 hrs later it was ready. I thanked the for making it happen.

I left the place and noticed the camera had a blur on the right side and the lens was scratched. Did they take my good camera as a way to "make up" for the loss???

I went back and spoke to the helpful girl there in charge of my visit. Showed her how my truck was still new and the camera is not. She went back to that service tech and she came back to me and said... we're going to order you a new camera and no charge to install.

The end.

 

[14v6]

So.....Went to Honda in Greenwich...
1 guy behind counter acknowledged it's a common thing and said mostly because rodents come up and chew on it.. They acknowledged I was within warranty period. I waited there outside.
After 2hrs they called me. Wires werent "chewed" by an animal, they were pinched and cut because of the way the tailgate was opened and closed. Total cost to fix $455.

I was like, ummm, nope. Not my fault. They said they dont cover physical damage. They transferred me to the service tech. No budging but will work with me on price. I said no, let me call you back. (I was respectful but firm the whole time)

Luckily I been leasing cars since 2001 at this place and I know the manager. Went into sales department. He said "let me see what I can do"

15 min later they told me it's being taken care of. No charge.

2 hrs later it was ready. I thanked the for making it happen.

I left the place and noticed the camera had a blur on the right side and the lens was scratched. Did they take my good camera as a way to "make up" for the loss???

I went back and spoke to the helpful girl there in charge of my visit. Showed her how my truck was still new and the camera is not. She went back to that service tech and she came back to me and said... we're going to order you a new camera and no charge to install.

The end.

Thanks for the update. Glad it worked out for you but Honda needs to be consistent and clearly they are not. It's a crap design and Honda needs to stand by their designs or fix it. It's not physical damage, it should hold up but it doesn't. It's just stupid to blame the pinched wires on the way that the consumer opens and closes a tailgate and to deny inside to the 3/36 leaves me speechless.

 

[daktruckie99]

Hearing about people being jerked around on here is exactly why I tried to get out ahead of the problem. And if mine ever breaks, I'll be soldering in my own wires and resetting the clock another 3-4 years and 50k miles before I ever spend a minute of my time at a service department.

-Mike

 

[Chuck Coulson]

2018 Touring:
Tailgate wiring exposed in hinge. Plastic cover has split/separated, may never have been attached correctly.
I'll let the dealer fix this before I take it apart again, installing my Pop & Lock.

Update: Dealer has ordered new tailgate (camera) wiring harness

I have a 2017 Ridgeline. This just happened to me this weekend. Pictures I've seen on this thread are identical to the failure-point on my truck. 3 months out of warranty. We'll see how Honda responds.

 

[mainuh64]

Getting ready to hook up boat trailer and noticed no image on backup camera. Really? I thought the original tires on my 2018 Ridgeline would be the first item to replace on a $41,000 Truck,-not a failed poorly engineered wiring harness on a tailgate. I can hear my barbershop buddies now: "mall terrain vs all terrain". Disgusted. This is a safety issue. Included my pics for the record. 43 K miles .

 

[Jeff zimmer]

I did the repair myself. My neighbor is a Honda mechanic rep so I'm going to see what he says. I repaired it using a solder marine butt connector that has a waterproof seal:

View attachment 394462

Since the wires were exposed due to the fact I had to strip the insulation, I sealed them with hot melt glue then wrapped the wires with electrical tape and further sealed them with liquid electrical tape. Luckily only the camera wire was broken and used the Painless Powerbraid recommended by 2012 Alabaster. It should create a nice seal and flex point.

I'll let you know what my neighbor says when he takes a look at it.

I'm an electrical engineer so didn't want to wait for the runaround by the dealership plus my wife relies on the backup camera.

Took approximately an hour to do - its straightforward. The hardest part is stripping and cleaning the wire. You can't easily strip it using wire cutters so used a soldering gun to remove the insulation so it wouldn't damage the stranded wire.

I am going to attempt to fix mine this weekend as honda will only cover the cost of the labor and want to charge me 120us$ for the part.

Any tips?
I am an electrician by trade but I am not sure if you pulled apart anything mechanically or if you just fixed it in the open tail gate?

Regards
Jeff Zimmer

 

[YetiXing]

View attachment 403125

Just noticed this on my 2019 because I rarely open the tailgate this way

Does it appear that opening down..vs..sideways cause more stress?
And will taping that area help support it..so it doesnt flex as much?
Crazy they dont have a fix for this..

 

[progro]

My camera went out last week and a search found this thread. I took it into the dealer immediately as I'm very close to running out of warranty. I showed the service rep the broken wires, referred her to the ROC thread and requested the updated part be ordered. Today, I returned to have the work done but guess what? THEY HADN"T EVEN ORDERED THE PART! A wasted trip to the dealer. Not a happy camper.

I am going to attempt to fix mine this weekend as honda will only cover the cost of the labor and want to charge me 120us$ for the part.

Any tips?
I am an electrician by trade but I am not sure if you pulled apart anything mechanically or if you just fixed it in the open tail gate?

Regards
Jeff Zimmer

Hi Jeff, the repair has been holding up well with just soldering the wires together (make sure you use a cleaning flux) and the water tight heat shrink connections. I didn't have to take anything apart except for the plastic bumper panel.

I did find a black flexible hot melt glue on Amazon that I put on the repair after I taped it up and that's been holding up really well.

Good luck!

 

[zroger73]

I am going to attempt to fix mine this weekend as honda will only cover the cost of the labor and want to charge me 120us$ for the part.

Any tips?
I am an electrician by trade but I am not sure if you pulled apart anything mechanically or if you just fixed it in the open tail gate?

Regards
Jeff Zimmer

$120 is a bargain - you better jump on that while you can. There's a lot of labor involved to replace this harness.

 

[Jeff zimmer]

Hi Jeff, the repair has been holding up well with just soldering the wires together (make sure you use a cleaning flux) and the water tight heat shrink connections. I didn't have to take anything apart except for the plastic bumper panel.

I did find a black flexible hot melt glue on Amazon that I put on the repair after I taped it up and that's been holding up really well.

Good luck!

Thanks!

 

[Robert Ruiz]

I was able to fix pretty painless. if you cut the wire tie downs you able to loosen up the wires to splice. I used Waterproof terminals butt splice. it was easy. about an hours work.

 

[Ublguy]

I just noticed Honda changed the tailgate wiring harness part number for 2019.

For 2017-2018 Ridgelines, it is 32109-T6Z-A00
For 2019 Ridgelines, it is 32109-T6Z-A01

I don't know what the difference is or whether or not the 2017-2018 can be use the A01.

According to the service information, the appearance and routing appears to be identical.

Has anyone installed the A01 on the 2018? Mine failed at 50k, and if I can order the A01 part...will it be better? Will it work? The dealership didn't know. Thanks....btw I will keep researching this tread looking for the answer.

Update: Post #73 seems to state it will work...hopefully I can get confirmation.

Update #2: Dealership tried the A01 harness and told me it wouldn't work. Now going to the A00