I have seen a few 'dedicated wiring' looms that look like that. What some people call 'dedicated' varies a lot.

 

On some cars there is no factory option, on the Octavia there are factory wiring looms for both Tow Bar Prep and non-TBP cars readily available.

 

Still won't help you if it is d with silicon though 

 

10 hours ago, Cain79 said:

will I be missing out on trailer stability control with a bypass relay

 

Yes

37 minutes ago, flybynite said:

I have seen a few 'dedicated wiring' looms that look like that. What some people call 'dedicated' varies a lot.

 

On some cars there is no factory option, on the Octavia there are factory wiring looms for both Tow Bar Prep and non-TBP cars readily available.

 

Still won't help you if it is d with silicon though 

 

 

Yes

Is there any way to tell if it's a. Dedicated kit or a bypass relay 

The fact that you can see a junction box in the photo suggests that the wires have been spliced in. 

 

Certainly the wiring I fitted just ran along the car and to the can bus behind the glove box. No physical contact with anything in the boot. 

22 minutes ago, Cain79 said:

Is there any way to tell if it's a. Dedicated kit or a bypass relay 

 

Factory wiring or 'proper'dedicated wiring should all plug together. There should be no joins, or scotchloks. The free cables should have the correct pre-crimped fittings to insert into existing plugs

 

From those photographs, that looks nothing like dedicated electrics to me

 

No wonder the car is complaining

 

 

I'd have to agree

1 hour ago, Cain79 said:

Is there any way to tell if it's a. Dedicated kit or a bypass relay 

 

A bypass kit would connect to the rear lights (tail, brake, reverse, fog, left+right indicators) to sense which ones are on and then power the same lights on the trailer. A dedicated kit will connect directly via CAN-bus to find out which lights are on. This means it won't mess up any bulb moitoring circuitary and can also let the car know a trailer is attached to activate various functions for example:

- trailer-ESP

- alarm on trailer unplug

- disable rear fog lamp on the car to avoid glare

 

I've had a quick google and I think they've fitted a Ryder TF2302 or similar. It's not a bypass relay and it could probably be considered as a 'universal' dedicated kit but it's obviously not a factory kit.

 

It appears to use a CAN-bus connection to sense which lights are on and can also report if a trailer is attached or not. It does support a MK3 Octavia (Compatabilty list) although the Ryder VCDS coding instructions are horrifically out of date and don't apply to your car.

 

 

I'd double check it is a Ryder device and if so, contact both the fitted and Ryder to point out the issues. Hopefully Ryder will be able to provide up to date instructions to the fitted and they can get it working properly.

Well done to you Langers you have in one fell swoop answered all the unresolved questions that I had on this subject, about what, if anything had been fitted to peoples vehicles when they had towing electrics retrofitted and believed that they were benefitting from the advanced stability program settings when towing.

 

An well designed piece of kit but as usual only as good as the (in this case) monkeys that fit it, if its a reasonable price I will consider fitting one to replace my by-pass relay.

 

One small correction, or precision to what you wrote above, a bypass relay does not mess up or affect the existing bulb monitoring system although if the monkey above fitted one it probably would It will not however detect failure of any of the trailer lights which is probably just as well given how most make even 1960's Lucas components seem state of the art.

I wonder if there is any way this relay can be activated from a standard 12N socket by using the spare wire?

 

Looks like it can as there is the option to specify a 12N 7 pin socket, or should that be 12S?

 

When I have time I will ask them what the standby power consumption of this module is, with luck it may even be put to sleep by the Canbus.

Edited 5 March, 20206 yr by J.R.

I've had recent experiences of similar problems to the OP, but on a Skoda Yeti.

 

Park Pilot unavailable with reversing sensors deactivated.

Continuous beep when selecting reverse gear.

No power to towing electric socket.

Dashboard light illuminated (looks like a lightbulb)

 

Turned out to be moisture on the towing electrics module, though I don't know how moisture had got there. Replacement module solved the problem.

 

 

On 12/02/2021 at 16:46, Dale_Stevens said:

I've had recent experiences of similar problems to the OP, but on a Skoda Yeti.

 

Park Pilot unavailable with reversing sensors deactivated.

Continuous beep when selecting reverse gear.

No power to towing electric socket.

Dashboard light illuminated (looks like a lightbulb)

 

Turned out to be moisture on the towing electrics module, though I don't know how moisture had got there. Replacement module solved the problem.

 

 

@dale_stevens can you elaborate on what you mean by the "towing electrics module"? is this something in the car, or the socket on / under the rear bumper that connects the trailer board? How did you diagnose / who fixed (yourself / dealer / independent?) - I'm seeing v. similar behaviour on a factory fit Octavia setup - intermittent, getting rapidly worse:

• If light board is left connected with car locked, car alarm goes off intermittently (I assume as connection is lost / car thinks the socket has been disconnected)
• Trailer board not 'recognised' or powered by car, unplugging & re-plugging can help (possibly with re-starting car), but not every time.
• If 'working', trailer board can disconnect whilst driving, resulting in warnings to check left & right trailer board bulbs. Appears not to 'reconnect' by itself.
• fuses etc. all ok, no obvious damage or water ingress to the socket etc, no obvious corrosion.

 

thanks....

 

@Dale_Stevens  might see your question now @AndyO2

8 minutes ago, AndyO2 said:

@dale_stevens can you elaborate on what you mean by the "towing electrics module"? is this something in the car, or the socket on / under the rear bumper that connects the trailer board? How did you diagnose / who fixed (yourself / dealer / independent?) - I'm seeing v. similar behaviour on a factory fit Octavia setup - intermittent, getting rapidly worse:

• If light board is left connected with car locked, car alarm goes off intermittently (I assume as connection is lost / car thinks the socket has been disconnected)
• Trailer board not 'recognised' or powered by car, unplugging & re-plugging can help (possibly with re-starting car), but not every time.
• If 'working', trailer board can disconnect whilst driving, resulting in warnings to check left & right trailer board bulbs. Appears not to 'reconnect' by itself.
• fuses etc. all ok, no obvious damage or water ingress to the socket etc, no obvious corrosion.

 

thanks....

 

 

In the weeks prior to this problem, I'd had a towing bar and electrics fitted. I took the car back to the tow bar centre and they diagnosed a faulty electrics module, this is part of the wiring loom that they had fitted. They said moisture had got to it, but I have no idea how. I had to pay about £70 for it to be replaced. I did wonder if it was just faulty, and they were charging me anyway, but I had no way of knowing so paid for the replacement.

 

This was the module they referred to, they wouldn't give me any part numbers or details, maybe to make me return to them if I had problems? But I snapped a cheeky photo..

 

Well this post has been a roller coaster!

 

I cant stand these generic relay/tow bar kits. They dont work well on new cars at all and the state of the way that was fitted!

Definetely not dedicated wiring at all and not an OEM setup. 

 

On a car with ADAS systems the only way people should be going is with OE retrofits, none of this aftermarket rubbish, it plays haywire with every other system

14 minutes ago, AndyO2 said:

@dale_stevens can you elaborate on what you mean by the "towing electrics module"? is this something in the car, or the socket on / under the rear bumper that connects the trailer board? How did you diagnose / who fixed (yourself / dealer / independent?) - I'm seeing v. similar behaviour on a factory fit Octavia setup - intermittent, getting rapidly worse:

• If light board is left connected with car locked, car alarm goes off intermittently (I assume as connection is lost / car thinks the socket has been disconnected)
• Trailer board not 'recognised' or powered by car, unplugging & re-plugging can help (possibly with re-starting car), but not every time.
• If 'working', trailer board can disconnect whilst driving, resulting in warnings to check left & right trailer board bulbs. Appears not to 'reconnect' by itself.
• fuses etc. all ok, no obvious damage or water ingress to the socket etc, no obvious corrosion.

 

thanks....

 

@Dale_Stevensdoesnt have a genuine setup although it does look a bit more than a basic wire splice and go. Regarding your fault andy, the first thing that needs doing is plugging in to a genuine tool or vcds and checking for faults. Any other tools will struggle to give detailed information on the trailer module.

5 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

@Dale_Stevensdoesnt have a genuine setup although it does look a bit more than a basic wire splice and go. 

 

That's an interesting comment as I chose the tow bar centre based on recommendations from other customers, and the tow bar centres  own advice to always install genuine wiring kit, so I assumed they had done exactly that. Are you saying that they have fitted aftermarket wiring? Only asking as I don't know the difference and would be interested in knowing if I have been ripped off. Or are you just saying that it wasn't a Skoda factory fit?

Edited 26 April, 20224 yr by Dale_Stevens

16 minutes ago, Dale_Stevens said:

 

That's an interesting comment as I chose the tow bar centre based on recommendations from other customers, and the tow bar centres  own advice to always install genuine wiring kit, so I assumed they had done exactly that. Are you saying that they have fitted aftermarket wiring? Only asking as I don't know the difference and would be interested in knowing if I have been ripped off. Or are you just saying that it wasn't a Skoda factory fit?

Sorry to be the barer of bad news.

 

Im not sure what car you have whether a yeti or a octavia 3 so ive first sent a picture of a yeti trailer module that if they fitted genuine, this is what it would of been. Second photo is of a wiring kit for a dedicated genuine towbar wiring setup. The 3rd photo is of a octavia tow/trailer module. Theres a lot of similarities between them and what you have had fitted is none of these sorry.

 

Thanks @ApertureS

Mine is a Yeti

At least I now know that they didn't fit what I asked and paid for.

North West Towbar Centre in Stockport. I made a long journey to get to them especially. Bugger.

Edited 26 April, 20224 yr by Dale_Stevens

34 minutes ago, Dale_Stevens said:

Thanks @ApertureS

Mine is a Yeti

At least I now know that they didn't fit what I asked and paid for.

North West Towbar Centre in Stockport. I made a long journey to get to them especially. Bugger.

Dare we ask how much it was? And what you were invoiced?

2 hours ago, ApertureS said:

I cant stand these generic relay/tow bar kits. They dont work well on new cars at all and the state of the way that was fitted!

Definetely not dedicated wiring at all and not an OEM setup. 

 

On a car with ADAS systems the only way people should be going is with OE retrofits, none of this aftermarket rubbish, it plays haywire with every other system

I don't disagree with you in this instance and the OP appears to have an aftermarket supposedly compatible module with Canbus connections so has the capability of screwing up lots of other systems which it appears to be doing.

 

There is however another way, I respect your belief that an OEM ADAS system is the only way people should be going but there is another way, much cheaper, less complicated without all the bells and whistles and functionality but critically one that does not connect to the canbus network and so cannot screw up anything else.

 

I am talking of course about a modern low impedance trailer relay unit viewed as herecy by many on this forum, only as good as the muppet who installs it but done properly will work faultlessly and load the existing rear light circuits with a tiny triggering current of milli-amps which will not cause any problems with the bulb monitoring circuits, in fact I use mine to confirm that these monitoring circuits are indeed working, when mine is connected and powered up I can see the trailer lights and indicators flash momentarily, the current being sent through those on the car being too small to see any illumination.

 

For me at least, and I know I am in a minority, when it comes to towing I rely on my experience, common sense and seat of the pants reactions, in terms of the wiring for me K.I.S.S. is the order of the day, this thread shows clearly what the downside of the extra complication to achieve these wonderfull sounding dynamic reactions that may only exist in written form.

 

The last thing anyone wants when miles from home or in another country with a loaded trailer or caravan is to suddenly lose the lighting and indicators and to have a system so complicated that nobody can work on it or faultfind.

 

Deleted, I confused the photographs between 2 different contributors.

Edited 26 April, 20224 yr by J.R.

3 hours ago, ApertureS said:

Dare we ask how much it was? And what you were invoiced?

 

Mmm, I'm having to think back now, but about £600 springs to mind for the Westfalia detachable towbar and electrics, fitted.

Then a few weeks later about £70 for the faulty module to be replaced.

 

Though it does behave like the dedicated kit - car alarm sounds when armed and the towing electrics get disconnected, no reverse beeps etc.

Edited 26 April, 20224 yr by Dale_Stevens