I'm doing a bunch of electrical repairs to my 1st gen FB 85, and my latest project is reconnecting the rear wiper motor.

The wiper motor looks like a replacement procured by a previous owner, but not actually hooked up; the wires have been simply cut off near the wiper motor housing, so I'll need to splice in some wire to reconnect to the rear wiper motor connections on the glass canopy.

My question is: in "intact" vehicles, what was done with the wire connecting from the wiper motor to the connections on the glass about a foot away? Is it cable-tied to the support strut? Does it hang loose?

Input appreciated, thanks.

 

You should have 2 collars on the right side strut. They slide together when the hatch is closed. The collars have terminals that press together to make the electrical connections. Pictures of strut replacement are here.

http://intertron.com/ron/hatchstruts.html

Here's the collar that the wires from the motor connect to. You can see the tabs that make the connection when the hatch is closed.




Here's the collar the wires from the car connect to.

 

If you are talking about the wires as they run along the length of the strut, then no they normally don't hang loose. From the factory there is what looks like a shrink-wrap along the length of the black body of the strut that covers the wire.