New Towbar electric problem
Ive just had new towbar fitted by a Peugeot dealership and we went to,pick up our new caravan this morning only to find the indicators don't work and the OS side light flashes caravan dealership hitched onto a different hook up and all worked well so not the caravan ( it's a new caravan) any advice before I return the car to the Peugeot dealership on Monday morning
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Sadly not from me, the wiring and electronics are so complicated that it may be difficult to see where the problem is. You could try spraying the sockets with WD40? There are some posts on here about cars with LED lights.
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This happened to me new car and van...caravan dealers said it was the car and car dealers said it was the van...long story after 3 visits to the garage found the electrics had been done wrong..why I never found out..I was not happy...3 trips unnecessary..good luck
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We had this problem with our new to us Challenger, the dealer put his very sophisticated tester on the van and said no problem there; you need to take your car back to the Ford dealer who fitted the tow bar as the faults with your car system. Long story short it wasn’t the car it was a fault with the caravan wiring plug.
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The problem seems to be as on numerous posts on this subject,that car dealers do not seem to understand how to install tow bar electrics, our Kia dealer admits that, and they always contract out the work to a specialist tow bar fitting company
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I always go to a tow bar specialist after several experiences of trouble! Worst I think was a horse trailer I had rewired at the dealership and I pulled into a layby after turning right - an irate motorist came screaming up to me and said did I realise the Landrover was indicating right and the trailer left! After making the dealer come out and fix it - they assured me they had sharpened up their process for checking! I don't think you should be taking the car back - make them come to you and deal with it!
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Yes the caravan has LED lights. I bought a standard tow board non LED today as a last resort but when I plugged that in the indicators still don't work and the lights go on without the ignition switched on . Brake lights worked as well. Hoping this is just wiring issue and easily fixed.
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My Ford dealer basically said the same and encouraged me to go elsewhere as they install so few of them due to what Ford charges are set at. I have now used the same independent specialist twice and had an excellent service, including fixing a fault when it was nearly two years old which he said he had never seen develop before. Apparently they fitted a lot of towbars outsourced from official dealerships
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The trouble with towbar fitters is that some of them think they know better than the manufacturer ie they wire them the way they want to wire them rather than the way the manufacture intended as it's easier for them. Also, they use generic boxes of electrickery instead of the specific diagnostic/coding equipment. I know my local smart 4rse towbar fitter wouldn't have fitted the 'relay' that extended my previous car's brake light check to include the trailer like Vauxhall intended.
I've just removed a towbar from my Dad's 'new' car (no idea who fitted it) though all connections were soldered, both trailer side lights wired to one side of the car & the fridge/charging wire connected to the thinnest of wires going to a rear ciggy lighter.
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If you buy a new car and ask the dealer to fit and a tow bar and electrics and they either do it themselves or get the local company in. Now is the tow bar and electrics covered by the car's warranty? Which could be 3, 5, or 7 years?
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I think a big problem within the motor industry now is the lack of training and understanding at the workshop level, I know this as fact as I spent all my working life in the vehicle repair industry, the last 12 years as the company engineering training manager and responsible (among many other things) for the company apprentices and ensuring they received an appropriate level of education over the 3 years of their apprenticeship.
An example is, My Freelander 2 is a used approved LR car and to maintain the warranty It has to be serviced by a LR dealer. I recently had it serviced and because I have changed my Caravan I had the 12n & 12s sockets changed to a 13 pin euro plug. I was tempted to do it myself as it's plug and play but they only wanted an extra 0.8 hour labour to do it.
Whilst the car was in I had a call saying which socket did I want taking off, the black or the white one . I said you cant do that and was told the they could leave the white one on and working. To cut along story short. I educated the technician ? over the phone as to how it works and pointed out that it was a dedicated loom with one plug.
When I picked the car up I insisted on checking the work with my towing socket tester before I paid the bill.
This was a LR main dealer who are supposed to have factory trained staff
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On the Land Rover Discovery the tow wiring kit is a two part plug-and play. Two bits because it has to pass through a couple of very small spaces. The second bit, which goes to the sockets, has two versions - 12S/N with two sockets and the 13 pin version with one.
Changing the socket type is just a case of swapping the last harness section for the other kind. I hope that was what they did on your Freelander. 0.8 hours seems about right.
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Peugeot dealers problem the towbar fitted that you have paid for is not fit for purpose so its up to them to sort it out.
Aside from the above problem I`ve come to the conclusion that regardless of extra cost a brand new car is best delivered with a manufacturers towbar as a factory fit if available. When ordering a car ensure the order i.e. contract has a specific reference to the"wiring being suitable for a UK Caravan including Fridge, UK Road Lighting and ATC System". Its also wise to scrutinise the technical jargon prior to the purchase of a car/towbar to see if you can confirm in writing that this will be the case Mercedes on my own car specifically do.
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Freelander 2 has two types, EPB or mechanical hand brake lever. EPB is plug and play, older type needs car reprogramming. My car is EPB.
The old parts that were removed and the new harness and socket are one piece fitted with clips and a large grommet for where it comes up through the boot floor on the N/S. Only other parts in the kit are the pre drilled and threaded socket bracket and set screws. Kit is £100 + Vat
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