Towbar Wiring

[Tightmechanic]

Hello all.

 

1st post, so be gentle.

 

I have an 04 Galaxy and will be fitting a towbar in due course.

 

Is there a specific point on the car where the towbar electrics passes from outside to in?

A few years ago, I fitted a towbar to my old Galaxy but passed it through the air vent on the rh/side behind the bumper.

 

Thanks in anticipation.

 

TM

[Willie Krashitt]

Hi, Its easy!

 

VW kindly provided a nice big hole / grommet in the middle of the boot floor for the very purpose of passing the wires through! It is used on most cars for the parking sensor wires.

My first Galaxy had a factory fitted towbar, and both parking sensor and towbar wires went through this grommet.

 

When I changed to my current car, I took the towbar from the old one and added it to the new. I bought the expensive purpose made wiring kit from Ford, and bizarrely the instructions tell you to drill a big hole in the floor next to the one that is already there for the purpose!. Even worse is that the new wiring loom comes fitted with a grommet to allow 2 seperate looms to pass through. I simply cut the grommet from the parking sensor wires, made a slit in the side of the new "2 hole" grommet on the towbar wires and all went through the pre existing hole. A smear of silicon once in place over the cut and all is sealed.

 

Enjoy taking all the rear bodyside mouldings off so that you can access all the plugs and wires to connect up the electrics.

 

Good Luck,

 

George.

[Tightmechanic]

Hi, Its easy!

 

ETC

 

George.

 

Thanks for the reply George. I was ok until you mentioned all the side panels coming out :angry2:

 

Are there any nasty secrets regarding the panels that I should know of please? :angry:

[Willie Krashitt]

Hi TM

Rear inner trim panels - Not really anything nasty. There is a good description in the Tech section FAQ's of how to do it. It is just tedious removing so many bits just so that you can plug in one or two connectors that you can't quite undo via the access panels. You will need a special 12? point star bit to undo the seatbelt upper mounts. Can't remember exactly what size it is. Worst thing I encountered was the clips for the D-pillar covers aren't that robust. Also you will need to remove the stainless boot trim so that you can lift the carpet. Be careful as the edges can be sharp. Use several flat levers and you slould be ok with it.

 

FAQ's also have good description on how to remove the rear bumper so that you can fit the towbar.

 

George.

[JRWR]

... 04 Galaxy and will be fitting a towbar in due course.

 

Is there a specific point on the car where the towbar electrics passes from outside to in?

I had my tow bar 'professionally' fitted and the cables run to the right hand side of the car and then up into the area in which the jack is stored through a huge vent.

[Tightmechanic]

I had my tow bar 'professionally' fitted and the cables run to the right hand side of the car and then up into the area in which the jack is stored through a huge vent.

 

Thanks for the replies gents.

I fitted the bar yesterday and encountered no issues.

I have a single electric on the towbar and am content with just the one.

I have copied you JR WR and ran the cable through the vent on the rh side of the bumper.

I was going to fit a dedicated wiring kit but it had a 28 day wait on it. After discussing with Towequipe support guy, he said fit the 7-way-bypass and it will do exactly the same job. So I did.

 

***A WORD OF WARNING TO ALL***

 

I have had the rear sensors intermittently beeping since the flange type towbar was fitted. I can live with it. If you think that the rear sensors never react to the fitting of a flange-type towbar then let me tell you that I'm the exception to this rule. No complaints from me, just letting you know what I've experienced so you can make a balanced decision on what type of towball to fit.

 

I'll post a photo of my towbar in due course. You'll see that there's less to it than the one featured on the other thread.

Thanks to all for your valuable input.

TM

[JRWR]

***A WORD OF WARNING TO ALL***

 

I have had the rear sensors intermittently beeping since the flange type towbar was fitted.

I too have a flange type towbar and the parking sensors do sound DEPENDING on the type and position of the tow ball cover! If the parking sensors don't sound when there's no towbar cover then you may find that adjusting the cover when fitted (or changing type) will solve the problem.

[Tightmechanic]

***A WORD OF WARNING TO ALL***

 

I have had the rear sensors intermittently beeping since the flange type towbar was fitted.

I too have a flange type towbar and the parking sensors do sound DEPENDING on the type and position of the tow ball cover! If the parking sensors don't sound when there's no towbar cover then you may find that adjusting the cover when fitted (or changing type) will solve the problem.

 

 

Cheers for the tip, I'll give it a whirl.

[Tightmechanic]

:blink:

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

I fitted a towequipe 7 way bypass relay today on the right hand rear loom.

 

Thought it was ok until my airbag light no longer goes out.

I am gutted. I disconnected the bypass relay and still the light stays on.

 

I know I disturbed wiring on both left and right rear sides of the car, but I never thought I'd pulled anything too hard.

 

I don't know what to do now. I have a faulty airbag somewhere AND no wired-up towbar.

 

Does the Ford diagnostic fo airbags specify where a fault is in the car (ie; right rear airbag etc)? Has anyone any suggestions on my course of action? I will be getting a towbar fitter to redo the relay. I have done them 3 times before with no snags until now.

 

Anyways, any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

TM

[Willie Krashitt]

Does your car have the curtain airbags? I think you will be lucky and find that it isn't an airbag fault, just an error picked up by the diagnostic system because you disconnected some wires. Get yourself a diagnostic lead - they're not expensive, and download a copy of VAG-Com. You will be able to reset the fault code. There is loads of info scattered around this site on how to configure your PC and how to use it. If, of course the fault code / airbag light reappears, then you might well have caused a problem with the wiring.

 

Is there a moral here about why the dedicated wiring kits are so much better? As to the wait for one, I got a mortgage (It cost

[Tightmechanic]

Does your car have the curtain airbags? I think you will be lucky and find that it isn't an airbag fault, just an error picked up by the diagnostic system because you disconnected some wires. Get yourself a diagnostic lead - they're not expensive, and download a copy of VAG-Com. You will be able to reset the fault code. There is loads of info scattered around this site on how to configure your PC and how to use it. If, of course the fault code / airbag light reappears, then you might well have caused a problem with the wiring.

 

Is there a moral here about why the dedicated wiring kits are so much better? As to the wait for one, I got a mortgage (It cost