Towing - Supplementary Wiring Harness

[harry_cat]

Hello - my apologies if this is in the wrong area as posting is new to me despite being a member for a while now.

My question / problem:

 

I've just successfully installed a self-fit towbar on to my Mk11 (2003) Galaxy along with the dedicated 13 pin wiring harness and all seems to work fine. However also supplied was a supplementary harness kit intended to supply permanent power and fridge supply to the 13 pin socket by connecting direct to the battery. However despite several attempts I am struggling to find a safe way of either running the cable underneath the floor (externally) or finding a suitable bulkhead penetration to get the wire in to the passenger compartment. I therefore wondered if anyone had overcome a similar issue and could provide detail advice on how to route the supplementary wiring harness safely from the battery to the rear of the vehicle?

 

Many thanks in anticipation.

[RADIOTWO]

Hello - my apologies if this is in the wrong area as posting is new to me despite being a member for a while now.

My question / problem:

 

I've just successfully installed a self-fit towbar on to my Mk11 (2003) Galaxy along with the dedicated 13 pin wiring harness and all seems to work fine. However also supplied was a supplementary harness kit intended to supply permanent power and fridge supply to the 13 pin socket by connecting direct to the battery. However despite several attempts I am struggling to find a safe way of either running the cable underneath the floor (externally) or finding a suitable bulkhead penetration to get the wire in to the passenger compartment. I therefore wondered if anyone had overcome a similar issue and could provide detail advice on how to route the supplementary wiring harness safely from the battery to the rear of the vehicle?

 

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

Hi Harry

 

As you have poss gathered I don't have a galaxy, but have wired tow-bars etc on many cars, and I always run the cable down from the battery down the chassis leg to the rear of the car and bring it up in the boot area, and attach the cable along the route with cable ties to brake lines/fuel pipes or any thing I can, but keep away from any heat, like the exhaust, and away from sharp edges.

 

But one big tip is to use as thick cable as you can, at least 10mm2 !

 

The reason is as you are running the cable a long way,there is a chance of a volt drop, and by the time it gets to the caravan and you measure the voltage it will be too low to run the fridge and charge the battery.

 

One other thing, you don't say what the "supplementary harness kit" is, but make sure it has some type of split relay device, as you need to isolate the caravan when the engine is not running, and only supplies power when it is running,so as to stop running the car battery down when hooked up to the caravan

 

Radiotwo

[harry_cat]

Many thanks for the swift response. I thought the easiest route was going to be down the nearside under the floor rather than trying to get across the engine bay but my problem has been that the Mk11 galaxy has an auxiliary heater fitted and there are water pipes running down the passenger side to the diesel powered heater unit which has it's own separate exhaust. I've been trying to avoid these pipes as they'll probably reach 90C. The main exhaust also moves from a central position to the nearside mid way down the car and I'm not certain what temperature the other side of the exhaust heat shields will reach? Just when I thought I'd found a solution I struggled to find a route around the fuel tank so abandoned my efforts. Thinking I was missing something I posted to see if there was a prefered route or anyone with photos to help. I think I'm going to have to regather my thoughts and allocate more time with the vehicle in the air to find a suitable routing beneath the vehicle.

 

For reference the supplementary harness includes a voltage control module and was supplied by Right Connections, their pt no. 22400512RC.

 

Thanks once again.