451 Towbar Electrics
Once you have the towbar fitted, you need to wire it in.
Mod difficulty:
Mod Credit: evilution
This pages covers the wiring of the towbar that was fitted here.
Below shows you the wire colours for a standard tow bar wiring kit.
The first job is to run the wires into the car. Open the boot and remove all the unnecessary rubbish.
Slide the seats forward and tilt them forward to give you room. Unscrew the plastic bolts circled in white below. The arrow shows where the wiring grommet is that we will be using.
The wire needs to be run from the towbar to the main wiring grommet, you can do this how
ever you like but you MUST stay clear of the exhaust. The following shows the route I took.
Fold the carpet back against the seats. You can now see the rubber grommet.
This is looking into the engine bay at the exhaust and the new towbar.
Thread the wire through the hole in the towbar...
...and up behind the engine insulation.
Remove the engine insulation plastic nut, run the wire behind it and refit the nut.
The wire should now be emerging close to the air box.
Remove the air box lid as if you were changing the filter.
This gives much better access to the wiring grommet.
Pull the rubber grommet out of the hole. You will see a few raised nipples around the outside.
As painful as it sounds, cut the head off one of the nipples and push our new wire through.
The new wire is thicker so the grommet will stretch and seal it from water.
Push the main rubber grommet back into the hole and make sure it is correctly fitted all around.
We now need to tap into the wires that go to the rear lights. The most convenient place
to do this is at the back of the handbrake where all the wires split to go each side.
Trim the ends back from the towbar wiring loom.
As you stand at the back of the car looking into the boot the wires you require will
either branch off to the left or the right depending on what country your car is in.
Right side
Yellow/Red - Fog light
Grey/Green - Tail light
Black/Green - Indicator
Brown - Earth
Left Side
Brown/Grey - Tail light
Black/Red - Brake light
Black/White - Indicator
Right side
Grey/Green - Tail light
Black/Green - Indicator
Brown - Earth
Left Side
Yellow/Red - Fog light
Brown/Grey - Tail light
Black/Red - Brake light
Black/White - Indicator
The only thing that changes between the 2 types is the Yellow/Red wire.
This is because the fog light is on the same side as the driver.
The Yellow/Red wire can be found on both sides but the wrong side
will run to the reverse light which isn't required for the towbar wiring.
Here I have picked out the Red/Yellow (fog), Black/Green (indicator) and Grey/Green (indicator).
The brown for the earth can also be seen at the bottom of the picture.
Cut these wires, bare the ends with a wire stripper (or your teeth)...
...and start crimping your red crimp butt connectors to 1 end of the wires you just cut.
You need to twist the correct towbar wire to the remaining cut wire and crimp it.
What you are doing essentially is reconnecting all the wires you just cut but
introducing a new wire to each that runs to the towbar electrical connection.
Wire colours are listed at the bottom of the page.
Repeat on the other side. Here I have located and cut Brown/Grey (tail light),
Black/Red (brake light) and Black/White (indicator).
The Brown (earth) is only found on the right side as the left side earth wire comes
from the rear light and terminates in the boot along with the boot solenoid earth.
This shows all 7 wires crimped correctly in place.
Tidy the whole lot up with zip ties to stop it all moving around.
Job done, plug in your trailer and test all the lights function correctly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By printing this document I state I have read and understood this disclaimer
