Now got towbar fitted with 7 pin electrics, need to get parking sensor re-set. How long does it take & how much does it cost?

Can it only be done at a dealer?

My garage who fitted the kit for me says although he's got the latest diagnostics, he can't do it, has to be a main delaer. Any comments please?

 

How do you mean 'reset'?

 

The tow bar fitter will either code them so they are disabled when something is plugged into the electrical socket, or without coding instead you'll get a constant beep as the sensors detect the trailer / bike rack etc.

 

Either your garage has fitted a proper CANBUS module capable of being coded correctly or they've simply spliced into the cars rear light wiring loom (very much frowned upon these days on modern cars).

 

Not many people fit 7 pin electrics these days, the norm is a 13 pin set-up.

 

Edited 16 August, 20205 yr by silver1011

7-pin electrics means you will not have reverse or fog lights on whatever is plugged in.  Ok for a bike carrier, but if you have a large trailer (over 1.3m wide) or caravan, then you will not be legal, as they require a red rear fog light.

I know little about these things, but I'm having a Skoda rear parking camera fitted tomorrow which will need coding once installed. My garage (an independant) tell me that for  £25 + VAT they can log into the VAG system to do this. Can your garage not do the same ?

I should point out that my garage is a fully accredited Skoda coder with VAG Germany, maybe yours isn't ?

5 hours ago, Stu_Magoo said:

7-pin electrics means you will not have reverse or fog lights on whatever is plugged in.  Ok for a bike carrier, but if you have a large trailer (over 1.3m wide) or caravan, then you will not be legal, as they require a red rear fog light.

For what it’s worth, 7 pin electrics do have a pin for a rear fog light on the trailer, but do not have a pin for reversing lights. 

On 16/08/2020 at 10:01, Jingaloonies65 said:

 

My garage who fitted the kit for me says although he's got the latest diagnostics, he can't do it, has to be a main delaer. Any comments please?

 

 

It depends on what they mean by 'the latest diagnostics'. There are many systems, most are generic diagnostics to work across lots of models, and most of these can't do the specific jobs like this however up to date they are.

 

There are a couple of other ways. There is an independent but VAG specific tool called VCDS. I don't know if this can support doing this on the Kodi, but I used it when fitting the towbar on my 2012 Superb. The other possibility is that some independent garages do have the same diagnostic kit as the main dealers, and pay to get access to the same databases as the dealers so can do exactly the same work. 

 

And yes, fog has been on the 7 pin electrics for over 30 years. The same pin was used years before for a permanent battery feed which gave some problems when things wired to the later standard were plugged into vehicles with the new version.

Quote

The other possibility is that some independent garages do have the same diagnostic kit as the main dealers, and pay to get access to the same databases as the dealers so can do exactly the same work. 

 Yes, having now had my rear view camera fitted, I can attest to this as it's what my garage does. There was a fee of £25 + VAT for this.

The owner of the garage I used had to jump through several hoops to get accreditation for this, so I guess that's why some garages don't have access to the full fat version.