MrCanuck Posted August 30, 2022 Report Share Posted August 30, 2022 Hi there. I just bought a 2012 Dodge Journey SXT. My 3rd brake light is not working and I took a look at the wiring in the tailgate and found some broken wires. You can see in the photo that someone had already repaired some of the broken wires. Looks like I will have to do the same. My question is... does anyone know what gauge of wire I will need to repair this? I am going to solder a piece of new wire between the broken wiring. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted August 30, 2022 Report Share Posted August 30, 2022 dont really know what gage wire but most reg wire for speakers and it would take longer but might be good idea to just cut and splice and use shrink wrap on all the wires so you won't have to do it again later on down the road and welcome to the group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanuck Posted August 30, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2022 4 minutes ago, 2late4u said: dont really know what gage wire but most reg wire for speakers and it would take longer but might be good idea to just cut and splice and use shrink wrap on all the wires so you won't have to do it again later on down the road and welcome to the group Thanks for the reply. I read somewhere to make sure that you use the correct gauge of wire when making this repair, but I never could find what the gauge size was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted August 31, 2022 Report Share Posted August 31, 2022 Most car wiring is 14 gauge multi strand for up to 15 amps, some is 20 amp or 12 gauge wire; around battery is crazy big stuff. I would think defroster would be 20 amp wire in that harness, so using 12 gauge for all the fixes is safe way to go. Voltage drops over distance so bigger gauge is always a little better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCanuck Posted August 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2022 3 minutes ago, John/Horace said: Most car wiring is 14 gauge multi strand for up to 15 amps, some is 20 amp or 12 gauge wire; around battery is crazy big stuff. I would think defroster would be 20 amp wire in that harness, so using 12 gauge for all the fixes is safe way to go. Voltage drops over distance so bigger gauge is always a little better. Thanks for the info. Makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted August 31, 2022 Report Share Posted August 31, 2022 would be interesting to know from which climate the the wires seem to break the most, havent really heard from drivers in the south with the wires breaking as we have from the northern states and Canada extreme cold and opening and closing the hatch seems to be what would be the cause also probally cheap or undersized wire gage as well MrCanuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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