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 Topic: Towbar Wiring - A warning
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24/6/2014 at 4:52pm
Location: Teesside
Outfit: Mitsubishi ASX4
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Our new Mitsubishi ASX has arrived. I had asked the dealer to supply a Mitsubishi wiring loom as I intended to fit my own towbar as always.
However, they had had the wiring for the towbar fitted prior to me collecting the car. All well and good, a job saved.....so I thought.
However, on closer examination the wiring kit was not the standard Mitsubishi system which plugs into the wiring loom on the car, but a very cleap alternate kit which almost certainly would not meet Mitsubishi warranty.
Far worse though, the standard of wiring is very poor and almost certainly dangerous. The proper Mitsubishi wiring kit comes with 3 fuses to power the rear lights, the fridge and the battery. The fuses are easily accessible in the wiring bay. In total 50amps. This wiring came with just one 16amp fuse for all 3, with the fuse hidden behind the dashboard. (It took some finding!)
Not only just a 16amp fuse, but the feed for this taken from the back of the fuse panel, which in itself is fed from a number of quite small fuses. The wiring leading to the back of the car will only carry 16 amps so a higher fuse rating is not the answer.
The end result was that with all the lights on, including the side repeater lights, and the fridge, it is likely the fuse will blow and leave the caravan without any lights.
Even more dangerous, is the fact that the fitted ATC to the caravan would blow the fuse the first time it activated.
My garage is very concerned about the quality and has ordered the proper kit for me. They have asked if I would do a written report, as I suspect they might have a long conversation with the towbar fitter they use. Mine would not have been the only car wired this way.
The moral, penny wise pound foolish. Pay more and have the manufacturer's wiring kit fitted.
Do you know where the fuses for your towbar wiring and know what rating they are? Especially if you have ATC, do check.
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26/6/2014 at 7:10pm
Location: Teesside
Outfit: Mitsubishi ASX4
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Quote: Originally posted by GeeBee R3 on 26/6/2014
I find this thread misguided and almost insulting.
As a mechanic of many years, I would not take any car to a dealership that wasn't requiring it due to warranty issues.
I have to agree that an OEM wiring kit is preferable, but with modern CANBUS systems it should be a plug 'n' play loom with firmware upgrade in the body control. Please don't fall into the trap of "pay more, get more" as it simply doesn't work that way.
If nothing else it proves that when you pay your dealer £100+ per hour you often do not get what you paid for. In this instance the dealer has had a thrid party come in and do a bodge job and taken a nice big cut off the top from you for the privilege. I have seen way too many horrors from cars that have supposedly been serviced and repaired at dealerships to ever trust one.
I do my own repairs most of the time (obviously), but when it's a job I don't want to do at home- a clutch for example- I use a trusted independent. An independent does not have the dealership status to hide behind and is only as good as his last job. Whilst I appreciate you have been stung this time, in my experience you will get better service, more talented mechanics and also save yourself a lot of money using an independent. Please do not use banner statements that tar everyone with the same brush- it's almost as bad as the "Speed Kills" nonsense.
Frankly, I find your response misguided and certainly insulting. Clearly you did not read my OP properly before launching into your response.
I asked for the dealer to supply the factory wiring loom kit as I always fit them myself after the last bodge. They went off and had the towbar wiring fitted.
I haven't been "stung", so forget all the dealer independent claptrap. Indeed it was an independent that fitted the dreadful bodge job.
Almost all dealer-fit towbars these days are contracted out to independent fitters. I am well aware that there are some very good fitters out there. Indeed when I went to one to collect the actual towbar itself, he pointed out that the bodge wiring job I had had done was very common.
The point of my post was to get caravanners to at least think and have a quick check of their towbar wiring. I could have been out in the evening and find that all the caravan lights go dead, or end up in a mess at the side of the motorway because the ATC on the caravan failed due to the bodged wiring.
Even if it saves one caravanner having a problem it was worth posting.
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26/6/2014 at 8:40pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Bailey Olympus & Tiguan 4-Motion
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FWIW, we recently had a fixed flange towbar (our particular choice) and a dedicated 13 pin 'Jaeger' wiring kit fitted to our 2014 Tiguan, with additional wiring for the fridge, charger and ATC, by PTC in Sheffield for £340 all in, done & dusted - including recoding, done using their Autologic system.
Very cheap (perhaps their mistake, but they said nothing, and that's all I paid them)
The Jaeger kit is my first experience with 'specific' and it's much better than the 'bypass' kits I've always had in the past.
The Tiguan knows when a trailer is connected (displays a graphic when reversing) and monitors the lights for bulb failure, in addition to cutting out the reverse sensors, car fog lights, etc.
It's also supposed to alter the vehicle ESC - but I can't say whether it does or not.
Re. your ATC - surely that has its own dedicated permanently live wiring with it's own 20 amp fuse?
Post last edited on 26/06/2014 20:46:18
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I glanced in the mirror, and it was love at first sight...
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