My tail light connector ground pin is toast and I'm thinking about buying a connector off eBay, de-pinning my original connector and replacing it. Does anyone have experience doing this and can provide some advice and/or recommendations regarding pinning/de-pinning tools...? Also, how to properly crimp the wire terminal with a new one.
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
SwissJetPilot
De-pinning and Replacing Damaged Connectors - Tail Light Non-OEM Fix Part II
1 reading
My tail light connector ground pin is toast and I'm thinking about buying a connector off eBay, de-pinning my original connector and replacing it. Does anyone have experience doing this and can provide some advice and/or recommendations regarding pinning/de-pinning tools...? Also, how to properly crimp the wire terminal with a new one.
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
Thanks guys. The other question is how to remove the terminals from the ends of the wires and replace them with new ones. Most of the information I have found says to cut off the old terminal, strip the wire and use a crimping tool to crimp on the new terminal. In my case, only the ground terminal needs to be replaced. Is there a work around to this? I really don't want to drop a ton of money on a crimping tool just to crimp one or two terminals. Video link here.
![Image]()
![Image]()
Once I have the ground terminal de-pinned and inspected then I can decide whether it can be saved or not. Due to the severity of the burning, I suspect it's been heat-worked for so long it has lost it's ability to properly maintain good contact with the male pin. So I'm betting it will have to be replaced.
The addition of an internal ground wire "jumper" across both ground planes (upper and lower) is done so I'll test it tomorrow. Link here.
With regards to replacing the burnt earth/ground terminal inside the tail light connector and also the connector itself, I'm wondering if it's even necessary. 
With good contact achieved with the jumper across both ground planes inside the tail light assembly, the non-OEM ground wire now makes the OEM ground wire completely redundant. And with it gone, it will completely avoid any long term connection or resistance issues at this point.
Thoughts or opinions on this...?
![Image]()
With good contact achieved with the jumper across both ground planes inside the tail light assembly, the non-OEM ground wire now makes the OEM ground wire completely redundant. And with it gone, it will completely avoid any long term connection or resistance issues at this point.
Thoughts or opinions on this...?
Nice reference here -
To translate it to English (using Chrome) right click on the page and select "Translate to English"
![Image]()
This PDF may come in handy as it shows most of the VAG connectors, the correct de-pinning tool to be used with it and part numbers -
![Image]()
Detail on how the de-pinning tool fits into the connector and releases the terminal barbs. Note the slight curvature on the ends of the de-pinning tool -
![Image]()
To translate it to English (using Chrome) right click on the page and select "Translate to English"
This PDF may come in handy as it shows most of the VAG connectors, the correct de-pinning tool to be used with it and part numbers -
Detail on how the de-pinning tool fits into the connector and releases the terminal barbs. Note the slight curvature on the ends of the de-pinning tool -
My new tail light connectors and de-pinning tools have arrived for this little project.
Everything was ordered from Amazon. The pair of connectors and wire/terminals were 12-Euro and came with splice connectors which I won't be using.
The de-pinning tools were about 3-Euro for the set of three. Not the greatest quality, but hopefully it gets the job done.
![Image]()
Everything was ordered from Amazon. The pair of connectors and wire/terminals were 12-Euro and came with splice connectors which I won't be using.
The de-pinning tools were about 3-Euro for the set of three. Not the greatest quality, but hopefully it gets the job done.
@ richydraper - Agreed. I prefer to use quality tools for my projects, but in this case spending a ton of money to replace a single burnt terminal didn't make a lot of sense. Now if I was replacing an entire wiring harness, then the investment in proper tools is a no-brainer.
In this case however, I will be removing the OEM wires from the OEM connector, and installing them into the new connector. I will not include the OEM ground terminal to avoid the possibility of another burnt connector.
At this point the OEM ground wire is redundant anyway, so I will just cut off the damaged terminal, put a bit of tape over the end of the wire, and shove it in the connector just to keep it out of the way.
In this case however, I will be removing the OEM wires from the OEM connector, and installing them into the new connector. I will not include the OEM ground terminal to avoid the possibility of another burnt connector.
At this point the OEM ground wire is redundant anyway, so I will just cut off the damaged terminal, put a bit of tape over the end of the wire, and shove it in the connector just to keep it out of the way.
Job #1 is removing the pre-installed wire/terminals from the connector. This was a bit fiddly trying to get the de-pinning tool onto the terminal sweet spot, but once you figure out the first two, the rest are pretty easy to do. There's a slight click or thud when the tool hits home which indicates both tangs are now depressed enough to pull the wire/terminal out of the back of the connector. If you have it right, the wire/terminal comes out very easily.
I did run into one terminal which was a real PITA to remove and after it came out, you can see where the tang was bent back on itself. The trick is to let the tool do it's job. If both tangs are correctly depressed, the terminal wire will come out easily. If you're pulling on it and it won't come out, then reposition the tool and try again.
Now if you decide to go with these cheap 1-Euro tools, don't expect too much from them. The metal is soft and the "fingers" can twist and bend which results in them not lining up properly when inserted. One finger will be on one tang, but on the other side it won't be on the tang at all. I suspect this is how I ended up damaging one of the terminals shown below. So check that the fingers are correctly aligned if you can't seem to get the tangs to release.
In this case I was much less concerned with the condition of the wires/terminals than I was in not damaging the connector since this is going to be my replacement.
Next step will be de-pinning the rear light connector, and inserting OEM wire/terminals into the replacement connector. But as I"m running out of daylight, that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Start by sliding pink retaining clip out of the connector. A small jewelers screwdriver works perfectly -
![Image]()
Get the de-pinning tool lined up in the center of the terminal and press it into the connector. Be sure both fingers are on the outside of the terminal and not one finger on the outside and one finger into the terminal itself. There should be a click or thud and then you can try pulling the wire/terminal from the connector. If there's any resistance, remove the tool, reposition it and try again -
![Image]()
When the de-pinning tool is correctly positioned inside the connector, both tangs will be fully depressed. Only then will wire/terminal will come out easily from the connector -
![Image]()
Note the lower terminal has a tang bent over on itself. If you pull the wire/terminal out without the tang fully depressed, this is the result -
![Image]()
Be sure the fingers are not twisted and misaligned or it will only depress one tang and miss the other -
![Image]()
Seems to be a legit VAG part number, but the lack of any VAG logo makes it suspect.
![Image]()
I did run into one terminal which was a real PITA to remove and after it came out, you can see where the tang was bent back on itself. The trick is to let the tool do it's job. If both tangs are correctly depressed, the terminal wire will come out easily. If you're pulling on it and it won't come out, then reposition the tool and try again.
Now if you decide to go with these cheap 1-Euro tools, don't expect too much from them. The metal is soft and the "fingers" can twist and bend which results in them not lining up properly when inserted. One finger will be on one tang, but on the other side it won't be on the tang at all. I suspect this is how I ended up damaging one of the terminals shown below. So check that the fingers are correctly aligned if you can't seem to get the tangs to release.
In this case I was much less concerned with the condition of the wires/terminals than I was in not damaging the connector since this is going to be my replacement.
Next step will be de-pinning the rear light connector, and inserting OEM wire/terminals into the replacement connector. But as I"m running out of daylight, that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Start by sliding pink retaining clip out of the connector. A small jewelers screwdriver works perfectly -
Get the de-pinning tool lined up in the center of the terminal and press it into the connector. Be sure both fingers are on the outside of the terminal and not one finger on the outside and one finger into the terminal itself. There should be a click or thud and then you can try pulling the wire/terminal from the connector. If there's any resistance, remove the tool, reposition it and try again -
When the de-pinning tool is correctly positioned inside the connector, both tangs will be fully depressed. Only then will wire/terminal will come out easily from the connector -
Note the lower terminal has a tang bent over on itself. If you pull the wire/terminal out without the tang fully depressed, this is the result -
Be sure the fingers are not twisted and misaligned or it will only depress one tang and miss the other -
Seems to be a legit VAG part number, but the lack of any VAG logo makes it suspect.
Now comes the fun part - swapping the OEM connector for the new one.
With the tail light assembly out of the way, I placed a towel into the metal work in case I dropped anything so it didn't disappear into the abyss. Using the de-pinning tool makes it quite easy to remove each wire/terminal from the OEM connector. First, I removed the pink locking clip. Then I removed one of wire/terminals and immediately inserted it into the correct location in the new connector. Do this one-by-one and you are less likely to mix them up. Once all the wire/terminals were seated, I connect the tail light assembly and checked that all the bulbs worked; driving lights, indicators and reverse. Perfect! Not a difficult job at all TBO and I think this took me about 30-minutes.
What was really remarkable was how badly burnt the ground terminal really was inside the connector. As you can see in the close ups, it burnt away the top half of the connector slot. Thankfully the right tail light connector is perfect, so I only had to do this for the left side.
So I think we can call this chapter closed on the Non-OEM rear tail light wiring fix. I didn't expect it to go to this extreme but, whatever. At least it's all working.
Having learned how to de-pin the replacement connector last night, de-pinning the OEM connector was straight forward. Remember to remove the pink locking clip before you attempt to do this.
![Image]()
Wire/terminals were removed one at a time and simply inserted into their same position in the new connector.
![Image]()
I cut the ground terminal off and cut the ground wire back enough that it would stay in the connector with the seal in place, but not make contact with the ground pin in the tail light assembly. This was only done to ensure the connector was sealed since it can get a bit wet and mucky back there.
![Image]()
All the wire/terminals are now properly seated with the ground wire put back just to keep the seal in place and keep the connector sealed. The ground wire seal was pushed in as far as it would go so it has a tight fit around the ground wire. As the non-OEM primary and secondary ground wires make OEM ground wire redundant, there's no point having it in the circuit.
![Image]()
Close up inspection of the damage to the connector and ground terminal is impressive. Looking back at the picture of this same connector when I first did the non-OEM repair, has obviously continued to get worse over time. This makes it quite clear why the Non-OEM primary and secondary ground-wire project may be required if your tail light isn't working like it should.
![Image]()
![Image]()
With the tail light assembly out of the way, I placed a towel into the metal work in case I dropped anything so it didn't disappear into the abyss. Using the de-pinning tool makes it quite easy to remove each wire/terminal from the OEM connector. First, I removed the pink locking clip. Then I removed one of wire/terminals and immediately inserted it into the correct location in the new connector. Do this one-by-one and you are less likely to mix them up. Once all the wire/terminals were seated, I connect the tail light assembly and checked that all the bulbs worked; driving lights, indicators and reverse. Perfect! Not a difficult job at all TBO and I think this took me about 30-minutes.
What was really remarkable was how badly burnt the ground terminal really was inside the connector. As you can see in the close ups, it burnt away the top half of the connector slot. Thankfully the right tail light connector is perfect, so I only had to do this for the left side.
So I think we can call this chapter closed on the Non-OEM rear tail light wiring fix. I didn't expect it to go to this extreme but, whatever. At least it's all working.
Having learned how to de-pin the replacement connector last night, de-pinning the OEM connector was straight forward. Remember to remove the pink locking clip before you attempt to do this.
Wire/terminals were removed one at a time and simply inserted into their same position in the new connector.
I cut the ground terminal off and cut the ground wire back enough that it would stay in the connector with the seal in place, but not make contact with the ground pin in the tail light assembly. This was only done to ensure the connector was sealed since it can get a bit wet and mucky back there.
All the wire/terminals are now properly seated with the ground wire put back just to keep the seal in place and keep the connector sealed. The ground wire seal was pushed in as far as it would go so it has a tight fit around the ground wire. As the non-OEM primary and secondary ground wires make OEM ground wire redundant, there's no point having it in the circuit.
Close up inspection of the damage to the connector and ground terminal is impressive. Looking back at the picture of this same connector when I first did the non-OEM repair, has obviously continued to get worse over time. This makes it quite clear why the Non-OEM primary and secondary ground-wire project may be required if your tail light isn't working like it should.
@ eccles291 - With mine, it was a bad connection where the upper ground plane (in blue) and lower ground plane (in red) are staked together, one on top of the other, within the rear tail light assembly socket.
Over time corrosion between the surfaces of both ground planes cause problems despite the additional non-OEM ground wire resulting in a bad ground for the entire assembly.
I simply added another ground wire inside the light assembly across both ground planes, and because the connector was so badly damaged, replaced the burned connector and that sorted it. More here -
Left tail light is dimmer than the right one -
![Image]()
Upper ground plane (blue) and lower ground plane (red) are staked together at the connector socket of the tail light assembly -
![Image]()
An internal ground jumper connects the upper ground plane to the lower ground plane. On the outside of the housing, the lower ground plane connector on the left is also the external non-OEM ground wire terminal point as shown below -
![Image]()
From the outside, this is where the non-OEM ground wire is connected and runs into the vehicle to the chassis ground point inside the trunk
![Image]()
Over time corrosion between the surfaces of both ground planes cause problems despite the additional non-OEM ground wire resulting in a bad ground for the entire assembly.
I simply added another ground wire inside the light assembly across both ground planes, and because the connector was so badly damaged, replaced the burned connector and that sorted it. More here -
Left tail light is dimmer than the right one -
Upper ground plane (blue) and lower ground plane (red) are staked together at the connector socket of the tail light assembly -
An internal ground jumper connects the upper ground plane to the lower ground plane. On the outside of the housing, the lower ground plane connector on the left is also the external non-OEM ground wire terminal point as shown below -
From the outside, this is where the non-OEM ground wire is connected and runs into the vehicle to the chassis ground point inside the trunk
Connecting the two internal ground planes is pretty straight forward. Same with re-pinning the connector if it's badly burnt.
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
