Hello All,

I'm enjoying my new Edition 2.0TSI and pleased to be finally driving my first Skoda after a 7 month wait. An experience delayed by Hortons ordering the wrong specification car - Twice!!

I've used the Kodiaq a few times to tow a garden trailer and I must say it's a better towing tool than my Land Rover Freelander 2. However I've found the Kodiaq 13 pin electrical connection to be a bit flaky.

A couple of times the lights haven't worked, however a wiggle of the plug has usually sorted it.

Yesterday I plugged the trailer in using the supplied 7 pin to 13 pin adapter and not all lights were working on the trailer. I went to open the driver's door and in my haste, managed to simultaneously lock/unlock the Kessy door handle - the alarm went off!

My phone then buzzed with a Skoda Connect message..........

Online Anti-Theft Alarm was triggered due to an action performed by the tow-bar of your vehicle

Seems I have a dispute with a tow hook

Since that time, none of the trailer lights have worked and there are no trailer related messages on the various driver menu pages to give a clue about actions I should take..

I called Hortons and they didn't have a clue (standard response) - the 'technician' couldn't even tell me how to access the fuse box.

Still I was quite pleased to get through to the workshop this time. Previous enquiries have been handled by the showroom receptionist who insists on personally dealing with such matters armed with no technical expertise

I checked the trailer electrics fuse and all is good. Tried the trailer on the Land Rover and all lights working with that vehicle.

During my research I discovered a couple of surprising trailer related matters......

1. The manual says you shouldn't use trailers with LED lights (??) when most modern trailers use them now

2. You're supposed to turn off the car's interior alarm sensors by pressing the little button on the B-pillar on the driver's side before connecting or disconnecting the towing electrics - who knew?. Sadly my car has no such button, however I managed to do this through the vehicle configuration menus. Still no joy

So I called Skoda Customer Services. They didn't have a skooby either and told me to phone Hortons again - apparently SUK have no access to technical resources, which is reassuring.

So caught between muppets and hard place.

I was wondering if anyone else had an idea on how to resolve this. I'm thinking that the CanBus system has had its brains rattled and needs some electronic intervention

Meanwhile I'm looking for ebay for old fashioned replacement trailer side lights with halogen bulbs.

It doesn't feel like progress.

The alarm will go off if the trailer plug is removed when the car is locked and the alarm set. Is the towbar factory fit, dealer fit or have you had it fitted by a 3rd party?

It's a factory fit electrically deployable tow bar

Are you connecting the trailer with the car locked or unlocked? I always make sure it is unlocked, having discovered the hard way what happens if you disconnect it whilst locked - my wife didn’t appreciate the 6am Skoda Connect notification wake up call to tell her the car was being stolen.

 

I’ve twice* had an issue where the lights on the trailer were not properly connected and didn’t come on with the car - fixed both times by unplugging and replugging. The lights on my bike carrier (not actually a trailer) are conventional filament bulbs rather than LED - that might be well be your issue as I think the car measures the resistance of the light circuit to know that a trailer is connected and the bulbs are healthy.

 

I’ve also discovered that if you ignore it when it doesn’t recognise there’s anything connected so the lights don’t come on, the parking sensors get really upset and eventually report faults that cause the entire parking sensor and reverse camera to shut down - fixed by sorting out the trailer electrics and switching the car off and back on again.

 

*Twice doesn’t seem unreasonable given I connect/disconnect the bike carrier on average three times a week.

 

As mentioned, the activation of the alarm is supposed to happen. The idea being that if, when the car is locked, someone tries to steal your trailer, and therefore disconnects the electrics, the car alarm will sound.

 

I imagine most people will unlock the car first, to release the towbar using the button in the boot, therefore attaching the electrics with the car locked is going to involve an unusual set of circumstances, unless you regularly drive around with the towbar unstowed.

 

If you are using the supplied 7-pin to 13-pin adaptor the plug needs to be rotated into the socket, not just pushed in like a regular 7-pin plug and socket.

 

Edited 11 September, 20187 yr by silver1011

Thanks for that - I disconnect and reconnected many times without success. I'll see if new trailer lights fix the issue.

 

Strange that you have to disarm the interior alarm before connecting a trailer though

 

I'll make sure the car is unlocked first going forward

 

Cheers

I never disarm the interior alarm. I just make sure the entire car is unlocked. Presumably you’ve double checked that the 7 pin trailer plug is fully pushed in to the 13 pin adaptor? 7 pin plugs not being fully pushed in is a classic cause of only some of the trailer lights working in my experience - a reason why the 13 pin plug is so much better.

1 minute ago, silver1011 said:

As mentioned, the activation of the alarm is supposed to happen. The idea being that if, when the car is locked, someone tries to steal your trailer, and therefore disconnects the electrics, the car alarm will sound.

 

If you are using the supplied 7-pin to 13-pin adaptor the plug needs to be rotated into the socket, not just pushed in like regular 7-pin plug and socket.

I have a race car transporter with 13 pin electrics so I'm used to the plug & twist action needed.

 

I'm fitting a 13 pin plug to the trailer tomorrow to cut out the adapter which might help

 

Thank you for the feedback

3 minutes ago, AitchT said:

 

Strange that you have to disarm the interior alarm before connecting a trailer though

 

 

This isn't necessary.

 

Unless disabling the interior motion sensors also disables the alarm activation feature when the trailer is connected or disconnected whilst locked?

I have found that when push fitting the 7-pin to 13-pin adaptor into the trailer plug it does require some hefty force to ensure they are properly mated together.

1 minute ago, silver1011 said:

I have found that when push fitting the 7-pin to 13-pin adaptor into the trailer plug it does require some hefty force to ensure they are properly mated together.

 

Me too -  that's why I'm fitting a new13 pin  plug after struggling to part them afterwards