Fabia 3 Fitting a towbar to the estate

[gazzcross]

Hello all,

 

ive not posted in a while but ive now swapped the citigo for a new 1.2 tsi 100ps fabia SEL estate.

i wanted a towbar on the car but the dealer said that towbars are not currently available so i would have to wait, instead of waiting i made a few phonecalls to towbar manufacturers such as pct and witter who both have towbars in the testing stages due for release within 6 weeks (Witter have now released theirs). after numerous phonecalls and research i managed to find a company in germany that had them available so i placed an order and the next week it arrived on my doorstep.

 

im going to create a little guide for you all incase you wish to fit your own towbars because it is pretty simple to do and i do fit alot of towbars to different vehicles in my line of work.

 

so i went with a detatchable swan neck towbar with a bypass relay for the lights to prevent bulb warning failures on the dash, you can get a wiring kit designed specifically for the car in which plugs into the bcm and has to be coded to the vehicle but it is quite an expensive option.

 

1. remove the rear lamps by removing the 2 t30 bolts and giving a tug they just pop out and disconnect the harness
2. remove the screws on the inside of the rear arches, 3 on each side
3. remove the 3 screws under the bumper
4. from the leading edge of the bumper sides, pull sideways away from the vehicle to release the bumper sides from the body
5. where the rear lamps were situated you will see the 2 tags for the bumper, in the middle you will see a little which needs to be pushed down before pulling on the bumper to release
6. with help from another person remove the bumper from the vehicle and if applicable disconnect the parking sensors from the harness on the right hand side of the bumper
7. place the bumper on some stands or on a soft cloth to prevent scratches.
8. remove the 2 nuts on either side of the reinforcement bar and remove the bar (this can be discarded)
9. from underneath the car just behind the rear wheels you will see the chassis legs, on the outside of these legs you may just see 2 square patches, remove these patches to reveal the factory mounting holes.
10. offer up the towbar and slot into the chassis legs
11. using the supplied bolts, bolt the towbar to the car through the factory mounts and torque the bolts to the manufacturers specification
12. if fitting a detatchable towbar or similar, bolt the detatchment mechanism to the towbar and wiring mount to the towbar and torque bolts.
13. bolt on the wiring socket to the mount and run the wiring across the towbar to the nearside of the vehicle where you will see a grommet fitted
14. create a hole in this grommet and push through, then secure the wiring to the towbar to prevent chaffing but also to allow the wiring mount to pivot if applicable
15. as per the instructions that come with the towbar cut a slot in the rear bumper to allow space for the towbar and refit in reversal of removal.

i will continue with the wiring next.

along with some pictures

 

 

[gazzcross]

Pictures are through this link

 

https://goo.gl/photos/KbPcHsn5UUbRETL87

 

to fit the electrics you will need to remove some interior panels

1. remove the rear seat bases
2. remove the trim inbetween the rear seat backs on the boot carpet to reveal a screw, remove this screw and the bracket it is holding
3. tilt the seat back forward and on the outer pivot point of the seat you will see the catch, you can unlock this with a flatblade screwdriver and remove the seat
4. remove the boot carpet and boot cover
5. remove the rear trim over the tailgate latching pin by pulling upwards
6. remove the nearside rear pillar trim by simply pulling on it
7. remove all screws and trim plugs holding the panel onto the body including the one under the shopping bag holder and the holder itself
8. tug the trim panel from the rear to gain enough access to remove the plugs for the boot light and power socket then continue to remove the trim panel in one big piece
9. i left the seat belt attatched and just moved the trim to the offside to give enough access
10. you should now see the wire you pushed through the gromet in the nearside rear corner
11. strip the wiring to the plug and connect to the corresponding terminals on the bypass relay except for the white wire( This needs to be earthed)
12. you should now be able to see the wiring loom for the rear lights going over the nearside arch,
13. using a testlight locate and note down which colour wire does which function e.g sidelight, indicator, reverse and brake
14. solder the wires from the relay to the corresponding wires on the harness and insulate with tape
15. run 3 wires from the offside lamp plug to the nearside to connect the o/s indicator, sidelight and foglight and solder to both the o/s lamp harness and the bypass relay with the corresponding functions
16. run a cable to the earth point infront of the arch and connect the white wire from the socket and the black on the relay to earth
17. at this point you can either use the power from the boot power socket or run a cable to the front of the car (which i did because i was also installing a subwoofer at the same time)
18. connect the red power cable from the relay to a power source capable of 10 amps and fuse appropriately (make sure it is a permanent feed)
19. the relay should beep twice to signal it is powered up.
20. test the socket using either a trailer lighting board or test lamp to ensure all functions are correct
21. secure the relay to the car body and secure all wiring using zipties
22. refit all trim in reverse of removal
23. have a cup of tea to celebrate

[pfaff]

- or order your estate including the tow ball option.

[TeflonTom]

Topic moved to tech guides.

[was8v]

Great! Where did you buy the towbar?

[was8v]

gazzcross thanks a lot for this guide!

 

I fitted a towbar to my mothers Fabia 3 estate on Sunday. I went with the westfalia tow bar (£200 on ebay from Germany) as I know westfalia are often OE fit, but went with a bypass relay for the electrics as its much simpler to fit than the factory loom which requires a lot of dismantling to run wires. special tools to assemble plugs, coding with the dealer computer or vcds and costs £150.

 

I used a TEB7AS bypass relay (£12 from ebay) . I located it in the NSR quarter under the trim where the loom comes in from the tow bar.

 

I hooked into the supply to the boot accessory socket for +12v (already protected by a 10a/15a fuse at the fuse box) and the ground ahead of the NS wheel arch.

 

I worked out the wiring colours by just looking at the bulb holders from the cluster. I deduced the following (numbered from the top of the cluster connector):

 

LEFT:

1. Black Purple: Left Indicator
2. Black Grey: Side / Brake multiplex
3. Black Blue: reverse light
4. Brown: Ground
5. No wire: (would be fog light, its there in the cluster, but no wire)
6. Grey Black: Side lights around the edge of cluster

RIGHT:

1. Purple White: Right Indicator
2. Grey green: Side / brake multiplex
3. Black Blue: Reverse light
4. Brown: ground
5. Grey White: Fog light
6. Grey Red: Side lights around the edge of cluster

HOWEVER you don't need to connect all those to the TEB7AS. Since the Fabia 3 uses multiplex wiring for the side / brake lights you just need one connection from the brake light to the TEB7AS and not both sides side lights. See: http://www.towbarsdirect.co.uk/images/M7-WK7.pdf

 

- So from the left cluster feed loom I picked up: 1) left indicator and 2) side / brake multiplex

 

This is easy as you will already have the trim panel off that side for access to :12v and ground point.

 

- From the Right side cluster you need 1) right Indicator and 5) fog light

 

To pick these wires up I removed the right cluster, and poked a long zip tie with the head cut off  horizontally behind the interior trim toward the loom hole. This popped through the hole. I then taped 2 wires together then to the end of the tie and pulled the wire through. Then lever the trim away form the body down to the boot floor and poke the wire behind there, then tape the wire under the boot lock panel back to the NSR quarter where the relay will reside.

 

I soldered all connections and protected with heatshrink and taped back up the looms.

Edited 18 October, 2017 by was8v