Towbar costs again

[Sanqhar]

In all honesty, I don't know. I went to a Skoda dealer as I did not want a 'botch job' and decent come back if there were any issues going forward. I know they used a combination of there own technicians and a subcontractor fr the work.

The price did include 13 pin electrics for a caravan.

Sorry to be vague but again hope this helps.

Tony

Hope you are still following this thread.

Do the reversing sensors disable when you tow?

Although with this weather I doubt that anyone has been out with a caravan, but have you tried it with a trailer or a trailer light bar?

thanks

tom

[Tonyp5a]

Tony

Hope you are still following this thread.

Do the reversing sensors disable when you tow?

Although with this weather I doubt that anyone has been out with a caravan, but have you tried it with a trailer or a trailer light bar?

thanks

tom

Hi Tom,

Interesting timing. You are correct in that we have not been away with the caravan yet, however given the long weekend coming up I intend to take the Yeti for a run around with the caravan attached, just to make sure everything is working as it should be (first time owning a caravan), before we start on hauling around the County proper.

I will check all the connections and reversing sensors over the weekend and let you know.

Cheers,

Tony

[geordiebroon]

Hi Tom,

Interesting timing. You are correct in that we have not been away with the caravan yet, however given the long weekend coming up I intend to take the Yeti for a run around with the caravan attached, just to make sure everything is working as it should be (first time owning a caravan), before we start on hauling around the County proper.

I will check all the connections and reversing sensors over the weekend and let you know.

Cheers,

Tony

Good strategy Tony. Will do the same myself. Better than spoiling a "proper" trip

[Sanqhar]

Now we have two possible towbar testers any chance of seeing whether the system reports faults as in Agerbundsen's "Clever little Monster" thread"? Maybe take out a bulb!

Agerbundsen said:

"The clever part was that as soon as the trailer was hitched up and the engine started, the MFD said: Check the left trailer light!! Sure enough, the right trailer light was out - my buddy had switched the connectors, and the right light was out."

Or does this only apply to factory fit electrics?

tom

[Agerbundsen]

Now we have two possible towbar testers any chance of seeing whether the system reports faults as in Agerbundsen's "Clever little Monster" thread"? Maybe take out a bulb!

Agerbundsen said:

"The clever part was that as soon as the trailer was hitched up and the engine started, the MFD said: Check the left trailer light!! Sure enough, the right trailer light was out - my buddy had switched the connectors, and the right light was out."

Or does this only apply to factory fit electrics?

tom

My tow bar was dealer fitted, not with factory towing prep, but is the same Westfalia unit as the factory would have supplied. Dunno what they did electrically - but it seems to work. I do not have parking sensors or other kit to worry about.

[a65rocket]

I have a Westfalia detachable towbar fitted last week by my dealer (who uses a local 3rd party).

The cost was £400, and they said that they had to use the Skoda towing wiring harness as well.

I havn't tried towing yet (next week), to see if it affects the parking sensors.

What I'm NOT HAPPY ABOUT, is that the dealer said that they would have to remove a small amount of trim to fit the towbar, this I agreed to, when I collected the Yeti, they had cut a rectangle 18" x 5" in the rear grey skirt area !

The official Skoda towbar handbook I was supplied with, shows a nice removable panel which you remove to attach the towbar and to lower the 13 pin electrical socket, talking to the Skoda help line, I was told that this was only availabe to the mainland Europe, not the UK.

I am chasing up my dealer to replace the rear skirt with a better solution.

How has your dealer fitted your towbar ?

[aerofurb]

I have a Westfalia detachable towbar fitted last week by my dealer (who uses a local 3rd party).

The cost was £400, and they said that they had to use the Skoda towing wiring harness as well.

I havn't tried towing yet (next week), to see if it affects the parking sensors.

What I'm NOT HAPPY ABOUT, is that the dealer said that they would have to remove a small amount of trim to fit the towbar, this I agreed to, when I collected the Yeti, they had cut a rectangle 18" x 5" in the rear grey skirt area !

The official Skoda towbar handbook I was supplied with, shows a nice removable panel which you remove to attach the towbar and to lower the 13 pin electrical socket, talking to the Skoda help line, I was told that this was only availabe to the mainland Europe, not the UK.

I am chasing up my dealer to replace the rear skirt with a better solution.

How has your dealer fitted your towbar ?

My supplying dealer, Allams, has just fitted my YETI with its towbar (detachable Westfalia, Skoda supplied). Mine had the factory towbar prep so came with the cut out and removable panel already fitted. Pictures of it here:

http://briskoda.net/...d/page__st__140

On the Westfalia website there are full fitting instructions as a pdf file here:

http://www.westfalia...ex.php?id=6&L=1

Sounds like your dealer is being a tad economical with the truth.... as when you dial up the info for the YETI it also states:

For the cutout in the bumper a special tool is necessary. We would therefore recommend to let the cutout be made at Skoda dealers. Please order cover and frame for bumper cutout at Skoda dealers.

Edited 1 April, 2010 by aerofurb

[a65rocket]

Cheers for the pictures,

since my Yeti was already in stock when we brought it, it didn't have the factory towbar preperation kit fitted.

However I wasn't expecting the bodge job that they did.

I am speaking to the dealer again tomorrow, and will for for argue for a replacement factory panel.

I notice that the factory panel is twice as wide as it needs to be, strange.

[Gilesmengland]

Witter name the part numbers:

http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/towbars/vehicle_technical_details.aspx?vtid=204866

[Tonyp5a]

Ok, decided that yesterday was as good a time as any for my first tow with the Yeti (second ever tow). Plugged everything in (detatchable towbar, electrics) accompanied to the sound of whiring and clicking from the caravan. All the lights worked fine, so off we went.

Very pleasently suprised, Yeti towed well and seemed very secure (yesterday was very windy with us), obviously you can tell you've got something hefty attached, but picked up and held speed well.

Points of note, reversing sensors still active (but a quick press of the button deativates them) worth keeping above 1800 revs for any incline and mpg plumets (25mpg ish), not a great suprise and won't keep me from zipping around the Country.

[Sanqhar]

Points of note, reversing sensors still active (but a quick press of the button deativates them) .

What button is that?

Didn't know you can deactivate them!

tom

[Helgestahill]

Ok, decided that yesterday was as good a time as any for my first tow with the Yeti (second ever tow). Plugged everything in (detatchable towbar, electrics) accompanied to the sound of whiring and clicking from the caravan. All the lights worked fine, so off we went.

Very pleasently suprised, Yeti towed well and seemed very secure (yesterday was very windy with us), obviously you can tell you've got something hefty attached, but picked up and held speed well.

Points of note, reversing sensors still active (but a quick press of the button deativates them) worth keeping above 1800 revs for any incline and mpg plumets (25mpg ish), not a great suprise and won't keep me from zipping around the Country.

Any pictures? And how about the hight of the towball?

[Agerbundsen]

Any pictures? And how about the hight of the towball?

The height of the tow ball is a little above "normal" - my utility trailer tips up in front maybe 1 or 2 degrees. Not so much that it is noticeable.

[Thompson2]

I have a Westfalia detachable towbar fitted last week by my dealer (who uses a local 3rd party).

The cost was £400, and they said that they had to use the Skoda towing wiring harness as well.

I havn't tried towing yet (next week), to see if it affects the parking sensors.

What I'm NOT HAPPY ABOUT, is that the dealer said that they would have to remove a small amount of trim to fit the towbar, this I agreed to, when I collected the Yeti, they had cut a rectangle 18" x 5" in the rear grey skirt area !

The official Skoda towbar handbook I was supplied with, shows a nice removable panel which you remove to attach the towbar and to lower the 13 pin electrical socket, talking to the Skoda help line, I was told that this was only availabe to the mainland Europe, not the UK.

I am chasing up my dealer to replace the rear skirt with a better solution.

How has your dealer fitted your towbar ?

I hope you have resolved your dispute with the dealer but just so you know, my monster was ordered from stock without the towbar prep and the Westfalia detatchable towbar fitted at the dealers. I have the pull out panel just like you describe.

Edited 6 April, 2010 by Thompson2

[Thompson2]

What button is that?

Didn't know you can deactivate them!

tom

I got my monster back from the dealer yesterday who was sorting some poor loom routing and reversing sensors active when caravan coupled. The ECU had not been programmed that the car was equipped with a towbar. The sensors should be automatically decoupled when the electrics are connected. Their next hurdle is that the car doesn't confirm that the caravan lights are either working or not. I hope they get it right on my next visit - it's a 55mile round trip and i bought a 170CR monster, not a 1.2L 35k Fabia courtesy car!

[geordiebroon]

My dealer ordered ( third party fitted) detachable towbar had a 7 pin socket fitted rather than the 13 pin requested. The hatch panel was not fitted.

A new harness is now on its way from Germany and a local (to me) fitting company will carry out remedial work along with the fitting of the hatch panel.

Hopefully I am not tempting fate but all seems resolved now. A satisfactory solution.

Shame about this difficulty as everything else has been 100%

Update

New harness now delivered and will be installed on Wednesday by well respected company only five miles from home. If I don't have the panel by then it won't be fitted!!

May be of interest to note that my cut out is 100mm x 380 mm - 4" x 15" rather than the 5" x 18" quoted above but seems the same size as that shown on Westphalia fitting instructions so hopefully the panel will fit when it arrives.

Will try to get some informed background on Yeti towbar fitting so that future purchasers of towbars don't have so many hoops to jump through.

Edited 9 April, 2010 by geordiebroon

[Tonyp5a]

What button is that?

Didn't know you can deactivate them!

tom

Tom

Sorry for the delayed response, I'm currently travelling with work.

The button to deactivate the reversing sensors is central, low down, I can look up the symbol on it when I get home next week.

I didn't measure the tow bar hieght, but with the caravan on, it all looked very level and the Yeti rear hieght had not dropped much (I measured the wieght on the tow bar and it was the recommneded maximium of 70 Kg).

Next time it's all hitched up I will look to take a few measurments and photos.

Tony

[Yeti_Man]

Tom

The button to deactivate the reversing sensors is central, low down, I can look up the symbol on it when I get home next week.

Tony

So is this button reconfigured to disable the rear sensors somehow then the towbar is installed? Normally that just disables/enables the front park sensors doesnt it?

[Terfyn]

I think you will find that the button on the central door pillar has two functions, first it will deactivate the interior security sensors so that the car can be locked with, for example, a dog inside and the alarm will not be activated. Second the vibration sensors will be deactivated to stop the alarm being fired when the Yeti is being towed.

The rear parking sensors are switched off, when a trailer is hitched up, by the use of Pin 12 on the 13 pin socket. This pin is used to inform the system that trailer electrics have been plugged in.

[Sanqhar]

This towbar situation is a real minefield isn't it?

We shouldn't have to rely on this forum and user trial and error to find out whats involved.

tom

[Agerbundsen]

This towbar situation is a real minefield isn't it?

We shouldn't have to rely on this forum and user trial and error to find out whats involved.

tom

Tom, you are absolutely correct.

For tax reasons, several options on my car was dealer installed after the conclusion of the sale. This includes the towing bar, standard Westfalia for the Yeti. No factory prep at all, but the ECU recognizes the towbar electrics and warned of faulty bulbs, etc.. The faults were in the plug from the trailer (never lend your trailer to an amateur mechanic!!) so the onboard electroincs were done corredctly and the Skoda dealers know how.

I do get the impression that some of the UK dealers are a bit behind the 8-ball when it comes to product education and common sense. I know it is also the case with one Danish dealer (Unfortunately also the importer!!) but the knowledge is available to dealers, and probably also in the aftermarket.

The real problem may be that to absolutely minimize costs, you get to play with less educated and less conscientious suppliers?

[Lady Penelope]

I think you will find that the button on the central door pillar has two functions, first it will deactivate the interior security sensors so that the car can be locked with, for example, a dog inside and the alarm will not be activated. Second the vibration sensors will be deactivated to stop the alarm being fired when the Yeti is being towed.

The rear parking sensors are switched off, when a trailer is hitched up, by the use of Pin 12 on the 13 pin socket. This pin is used to inform the system that trailer electrics have been plugged in.

Hi folks,

Went on the hunt for a 3 bike trailer today which attaches to tow bar - tested a Thule 13 pin socket which was fantastic-easy to get on/off , it lowered so you could open boot without having to remove bikes, was lockable, looked cool, had working indicator, brake and reversing lights...

BUT the rear sensors beeped like crazy when put car in reverse to test gggrrrr so pin 12 isn't working or not programmed or faulty or what???!!!

We had no factory towbar prep and complete harness, detachable towbar etc.. installed at dealer before collection.

Didn't remember this thread so didn't look for button or press it :'( whilst testing the bike trailer.

Tony - you sound like you had this problem but it was sorted by pressing this "button" on central door pillar...please could you tell us more about this... thank you.

but Terfyn - you say it only does interior and vibration sensors...

HELP!!!

[Terfyn]

• The parking aid does not operate if you are towing a trailer (applies to models

which feature a factory-fitted towing device*). (p114 Owners Manual)

• Only the front parking aid operates if you are towing a trailer (applies only to

models which feature a factory-fitted towing device*). (p115)

• You can switch the interior monitor and the towing protection monitoring off if

there is a possibility that movements from (e.g. children or animals) inside the vehicle

interior or if the vehicle must be transported (e.g. by train or ship) or towed, might

trigger the alarm. (p47)

So the "factory fitted" towing device will detect if a trailer is plugged into the electrics. The Interior Monitoring and Towing protection monitoring button refers to the vehicle being towed or transported while the doors are locked. It does not refer to towing trailers. Simples tsk tsk!?!

The wiring standards for a 12S or a 13 pin socket includes provision for a "sensing device" intended to allow the towing vehicle to detect that a trailer is present. This is used to switch off vehicle fog lights, reversing sensors etc. The article I read did not make it clear how the sensing was activated. ( for example pin 12 connected to earth through the trailer harness)

[Tonyp5a]

Tony - you sound like you had this problem but it was sorted by pressing this "button" on central door pillar...please could you tell us more about this... thank you.

but Terfyn - you say it only does interior and vibration sensors...

HELP!!!

Hi Lady P,

I think my previous note has caused confusion. The button I am refering to is in the center console, in front of the gear lever. I am still travelling (back in the UK next Wednesday), so I will be able to give you a better description when I get back, but this button deactivated the parking sensors (both front and back I think). What Terfyn is describing might be what you gain from the factory towbar preperation.

Tony

[a65rocket]

Results from a week of towing with a 140 4x4.

1) Pulling the 800kg trailer tent, no problems, got 42mpg, a slight weave only occured once at 70mph.

2) Pulling a 3 motorcycle trailer, no problems, but I couldn't see the trailer through the rear window, mpg was 48 !

The rear sensors went on when placed in reverse, but all I did was to disable them with the centre console push button.