Lights behaving badly after new tow bar fitted

TheTonyD
TheTonyD Forum Participant Posts: 5
edited May 2018 in Towcars & Towing #1

Just changed my 2.0 diesel Passat for a 2.0 4WD diesel Ford Kuga with more BHP and more torque. Went for a detachable Westfalia tow bar with a dedicated wiring kit. All the lights on the fitter's test board worked as expected. So far so good.

First trip away we did the lights check and the reversing lights were not coming on. Spoke to the tow bar fitter (really helpful chap) who came back and re-tested the tow bar electrics with his test board. This again showed all was well. 

I went back to the caravan storage site to check the caravan's 13-pin plug. Seems fine. But the reversing lights are still not coming on. Then I discovered that the caravan sidelights come on when you open any car door (or the boot hatch) when the courtesy lights come on. Close the door; out go the caravan lights. Now I'm really confused.

All advice gratefully received. Thanks for your time.

Comments

  • JohnM20
    JohnM20 Forum Participant Posts: 1,416
    1000 Comments
    edited May 2018 #2

    I have a Mondeo which I guess has a similar wiring loom to the Kuga. When I open my doors the side lights come on on both the car and the caravan which is what I would expect. However, why the reversing lights aren't coming on is a bit of a mystery. Mine have worked OK right from the start.

  • Vulcan
    Vulcan Forum Participant Posts: 670
    edited May 2018 #3

    Position lights coming on when you open doors or tailgate is normal on most cars now.

    At the risk of stating the obvious have you checked rev lamp bulb and fuse. The fuse will probably be under a front bunk where the cable enters the van. Have you a continuity tester to test continuity between pins 3 and 8.

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
    1000 Comments
    edited May 2018 #4

    check socket on car number 8 pin/socket pink wire. have you 12v when in reverse, if so check if 12v at the caravan end.

  • Freddy55
    Freddy55 Club Member Posts: 1,810 ✭
    1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited May 2018 #5

    I would speak to a Ford service bloke. As I understand it (not much), the wiring has to be ‘coded’, whatever that means smile This kind of thing is quite common, if the Kuga forum is anything to go by. When I bought my Kuga, it already had a factory fitted towbar, thankfully.

    It might be worth having a browse through the Kuga forum...

     

    http://www.kugaownersclub.co.uk/forum/mk2-towing_forum25.html

     

     

  • TheTonyD
    TheTonyD Forum Participant Posts: 5
    edited May 2018 #6

    Thanks to all contributors up to 9am 13 May. Particularly glad to hear from Vulcan that 'Position lights coming on when you open doors or tailgate is normal on most cars now.' That's part of the mystery solved. However, there has also been some very sensible sounding advice which I am unable to pursue due to lack of electrical skills. I'll get some help with those. Checking my leisure battery with the multi-meter is about the limit for me. That said, I will be checking  the rev lamp bulb and fuse.

    I'll also be talking to Ford along the lines suggested by Freddy. The coding thing rings a bell.

    Thanks again everyone so far for your excellent advice.

  • harrib0
    harrib0 Club Member Posts: 70 ✭✭
    First Comment
    edited May 2018 #7

    Can you give more details on the Kuga and Caravan? Car year and make/model and year of caravan?

    I had a 2.0 4WD (AWD to more precise) MK1 Kuga and still have a Sterling caravan with LED lights on the rear.

    I had a number of "issues" when I had the same towbar as you fitted, lights doing all sorts of strange things. In the end I had to have a Sargent VM4 box fitted and this solved all the problems.

    I will very soon have a VM4 box suitable for a 2012 Kuga for sale on a well known auction site.

    This may be your issue or a maybe a mis-wiring somewhere?

    PS:

    No postion lights on my caravan ever illuminated when opening the doors or tailgate when the lights were off?

    Also if it is a Mk1 that you have it doesn't need to be coded the MK2 has to be coded.

    Hope this helps

     

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