Having just changed my caravan, I now have to use an adaptor to change from 2 seven pin, to 1 13 pin socket.
In doing so I no longer get the audible sound when I indicate with the caravan connected to the car. This I use to find so helpful to let me know that my unit was operating correctly.
I would appreciate any advice please, is this now normal or is there something I can do to receive the audible warning once again.
The audible device was the norm with the twin 7 pin towing sockets fitted but the 13 pin socket is dedicated more to modern vehicles with the advanced computerised can-bus technology. The indicator activation is now displayed on the towing vehicle dashboard display which is better because if you had the audible radio or CD player on then the audible device was somewhat difficult to hear. However, when the 13 pin towing socket is fitted there should be software downloaded in respect of this for the dashboard display to work effectively.
If your caravan is a new Swift with LED road lights this can be the trouble as they are only drawing little current. With some towcars towing these caravans the caravan needs an extra electrical box fitting. If the caravan has bulbs take an indicator bulb out and see if your dash indicator lights flash at double speed. If so this will let you know if one is not working.
Thank you so much, your reply is very much appreciated. We tow with a 2008 Ford Mondeo so probably a bit old to have modern technology involved.
At least l know all is working as it should thanks to you. X
I tow with a 2010 Mondeo, When I fitted my towbar I also wired mr car to 13 pin socket. My caravan is 1996 with two plugs, I wired the two cables into a dual entry 13 pin plug. No problems at all after nearly six years and many thousands of miles
It may be that the actual sounder is faulty and therefore it can be replaced with a new one. I curently have the same problem on my car, I've already replaced the sounder but unfortunately it hasn't fixed the problem so the the electronic 'black box' is defective in that section.
Dave
------------- Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day,
Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for a whole weekend.
Quote: Originally posted by Christine Gordon on 05/11/2019
Thank you so much, your reply is very much appreciated. We tow with a 2008 Ford Mondeo so probably a bit old to have modern technology involved.
At least l know all is working as it should thanks to you. X
I tow with a Volvo which is also a 2008 model and that has the can-bus computerised technology so the Ford Mondeo probably has an identical computerised circuit installed as well. However, I had serious problems with the twin towing electrics when I initially had the towbar fitted (a long story which I won't go into) only to find out afterwards that the primitive electrics were not compatible which lead to two breakdowns, the loss of a holiday and several weeks of garage problems trying to detect the fault. I had to have the 13 pin dedicated towing electrics fitted and the downloaded software installed and thankfully not encountered any more problems since it was installed back in 2012.
If you want to know if your Ford Mondeo is fitted with a CAN-BUS electronic system or not, the easiest way to know is if the vehicle dashboard informs you when a specific door, tailgate or boot is open which is relayed in milliseconds known as the BUS technology. The CAN stands for 'Computerised Area Network' and the 'BUS' is the electronic feed around the vehicle which goes from the main computer to the part in function such as the open door then returns back to the computer which relays the message to the driver. To put it in simple terms, it's called 'BUS' merely because it departs from the depot (computer) then travelling to the terminus (door) and back again to the depot (computer). It's a bit more sophisticated than that but it's just a brief explanation as to understand more what the CAN-BUS system means.
Thank you for your reply, so much to know and understand. I always liked to hear the sound when indicating, always felt assured all was working as it should.