towbar wireing

[millerman]

Hello everyone in Skoda land, i know this topic is well covered, but i still have questions,

I have fitted a westfalia towbar to my octavia vrs (2010) using a smart relay system, i have a small snag, i am unable to locate a fog light canle, it would appear that the tail light simply gets brighter, there are 5 wires

earth

tail lights

indicater

reverse

stop lights

where do i connect the blue fog cable from the relay to ??

any ideas

Thanks

[FriendlyFire]

Hi,

I think you will find that you don't! The car is smart, and if you have the right CAN-BUS compliant "Smart" Relay, the relay will work it out for itself. Neither the brake, nor Fog wires need to be connected. When the car brightens the bulb for either brakes or fog, the relay senses this and supplies power to the wire on the plug.

I am including an image here for instructions for the relay I used. The TEB7AS is a popular relay and the instruction state you should just tape up the fog wire.

NB. There are several versions of "Smart Relay", make sure you have one that can sense the signals in CAN-BUS cars and can do this.

HTH

[millerman]

Thanks mate, thats brill, its so difficult finding such info on the net,

Thanks again

[kenmc]

Hello everyone in Skoda land, i know this topic is well covered, but i still have questions,

I have fitted a westfalia towbar to my octavia vrs (2010) using a smart relay system, i have a small snag, i am unable to locate a fog light canle, it would appear that the tail light simply gets brighter, there are 5 wires

earth

tail lights

indicater

reverse

stop lights

where do i connect the blue fog cable from the relay to ??

any ideas

Thanks

Hi Millerman, Friendlyfire

I'm looking to put on a towbar onto my 07 Octy (hatchback, dual zone 1.4, no reversing sensors or anything fancy) but the one thing that's putting me off is the wirings. How much work is involved in inserting this relay? Does it need to be routed right to the fusepanel? Does it need to be recoded by the dealers or anything? Can you provide me a purchase link to that one you used please FriendlyFire ?

Thanks

Ken

Edited 8 February, 2012 by kenmc

[sparky2]

Have a look here at towsure, they also do everything for towbars -

http://www.towsure.com/product/Smart_7_Way_CanBus_Relay

also dedicated wiring -

http://www.towsure.com/product/Wiring_Kit_Skoda_Octavia_2_HatchEstate_0604

Edited 8 February, 2012 by sparky2

[GroundHog]

On a similar vein... anyone know how to change my single electrics to double electrics? Its a standard factory fit Skoda towbar, but only has the single electrics, so no good for towing a caravan.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

[FriendlyFire]

Hi Millerman, Friendlyfire

I'm looking to put on a towbar onto my 07 Octy (hatchback, dual zone 1.4, no reversing sensors or anything fancy) but the one thing that's putting me off is the wirings. How much work is involved in inserting this relay? Does it need to be routed right to the fusepanel? Does it need to be recoded by the dealers or anything? Can you provide me a purchase link to that one you used please FriendlyFire ?

Thanks

Ken

Hi Ken.

The wiring is easy. The relay I used is available here for 25 quid.. It's been fitted over a year and not a bother. It is clever enough to manage and protect the OEM wiring and requires ABSOLUTELY NO CODING. Of course other members with newer cars with sensors and ESP may decide to go "vehicle specific" with dealer coding, but it is not necessary.

I wrote some instructions for the 12v supply in a PM to Karltimber which I wil repeat below.

Otherwise it is simply a matter of connecting the wires from the trailer plug to the relay and then cliping four wires to the car's loom in the boot. The 12v supply is more of a chore but doesn't require messing with the dash or inboard fuse box.

HTH

Hi Karl,

No doubt you could take a supply from the fuse box but there is a simpler method which is easier to do and safe.

Look to the engine compartment and take off the fusebox cover. At the front of the fuse box are several red wires that supply power direct off the battery. The positive lead from the battery connects to a bar fixed to the fusebox with several studs. Each stud has a flat fuse bolted to the power bar and then the red line to the fuse leading from there into the car systems.

Scroll down this page to see what I mean. http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/a5/battery-replacement-Jetta-Golf-TDI.htm

I simply used a spare stud and bolted a wire to it. You will need an inline fuse (15amp) right next to the fuse box to protect your wire.

Next question is how to get the wire into the car?

Use the last link and this one to remove the air box and the battery box. http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/a5/air-filter-box-replacement-jetta.htm

In the right hand corner of the engine compartment, at the firewall close to the wing and bonnet hinges you will see cables into the car. There is a grommet there with spare "nipples" ready for you wire to pass.

Snip off one of these nipples and pass a piece of thick wire (I used a plastic garden strimmer wire) from the engine compartment into the car. Tape your wire to the end of this thick wire.

Go into the car and feel under the glovebox to the left and you will catch the wire pulling your live wire with it into the car.

You are home free at this point. Just pass the wire down from under the glove box under the plastic covers of the sills.

If you feel confident you can pull up the sill trims, otherwise just push the wire out of sight.

The wire passes along the sills to the back seats and then over the wheel arch to the towbar wiring!!

edit: Fix broken links.

Edited 8 February, 2012 by FriendlyFire

[FriendlyFire]

On a similar vein... anyone know how to change my single electrics to double electrics? Its a standard factory fit Skoda towbar, but only has the single electrics, so no good for towing a caravan.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

Hi GroundHog

Double electrics is simply another plug with 12v supply and ground for the refridgerator and caravan electrics.

Follow the instructions I just posted for Ken above and you will see the 12v can be got stright off the engine fuse box next to the battery. The next issue is to protect your car's battery with a simple relay that only allows 12v to go to the caravan when your car's battery is fit and full.

Essentially, the extra relay takes 12v input and supplies two 12v switched outputs for the new plug. The new plug includes two wire to ground to match each of the 12v from the relay.

You can get this relay here for 35 quid. That includes both the relays and the new plugs.

If you want the latest 13pin electrics, they do one of those which is prewired and you just wire the collection of wires from the single plug to the same relays in the same way.

HTH

By the way I have no connection with the company I just linked to. I did buy my towbar there and the after sales was spot on.

They have an advice page I used myself that explains the wiring. http://www.pfjones.co.uk/tow-bar-electrics.html

[kenmc]

<snip>

Thanks a million FF, much obliged.

To be honest it doesn't sound much different either way to get the 12v, either from the battery or the fusebox. Will have a look at both options at the weekend and see which looks easier. I might take a switched live to my radio from the fuse panel anyway, so can do both at the same time.

Thanks again

Ken

[GroundHog]

Great stuff - thanks FF.

[kenmc]

My towbar and relay arrived yesterday, ordered on Friday. The relay was loose inside the big cardboard box, and was damaged presumably as a result of being thrown around a bit and landed on by the towbar. Took some pictures of the damaged relay and sent an email with the pictures back to PFJones last night, asking for a replacement. Had an email sitting in my inbox this morning when I got to work telling me a replacement was on the way. It's fine, as I am not planning to install it for a couple of weeks anyway till I get back from holidays.

So +1 on the customer service from PFJones..

[kenmc]

Installed the towbar on Sunday, straightforward enough. Went for this one from PFJones:

http://www.pfjones.c...ble-towbar.html

Comes with a nice pivoting power plate which rotates down from under the bumper, so the install is totally invisible when the towbar is detached.

Took about 2.5 hours or so, the most part of that was figuring out how to detach the bumper without breaking it; once that was done it was a doddle. Reckon if I was doing another one it would be under an hour.

Haven't done the electrics yet, maybe next weekend.

K

Edited 20 March, 2012 by kenmc

[kenmc]

Electrics done, no smoke or bangs, all good. I went through the dashboard to the fuse panel rather than going to the battery box; it looked much simpler!

Otherwise it was just a question of finding the best way to route the 12v cable from the boot to the front of the car, I didn't really want to pull all the trim off if I could avoid it, and luckily I managed OK.

Happy days. Now to build the bike carrier!