Towing electrics.

[california kid]

Hi all into our second week owning a Cali, Dealer fitted a detachable tow bar with 13 pin electrics, has been programmed to vehicle, but when connected to caravan every thing works except for the display on dash, and the rear fog light on the Cali stays on, the display on the dash does show the trailer connected but it flashes on and off. Have had it back to fitter today, he replaced the relay in engine bay and reprogrammed the Cali but it did not fix the problem, we have noticed that when everything is plugged in and when the rear fog light is on it flashes slightly, any help with possible fix , dealer is going to have vehicle back in a week or so. please.

 

[WelshGas]

Have you tried the vehicle with another caravan/trailer/trailer board?
The trailer electrics and ECU programming is very sophisticated and their could be problem on the caravan, which might not have affected your previous vehicle.

 

[california kid]

Hi WelshGas,thanks for your reply, we have tried different electrics when I took it back to the dealers today , he had the tow bar fitter to try various light boards, that did not work. The fitter did suggest that previous cali's did only draw 1.5 volts but the newer models draw 1.7 volts , do not no if this makes any difference ,

 

[WelshGas]

Sorry California kid, when you say you tried other light boards that did not work what do you mean. The light boards did not work at all? Or they did not produced the fault?
Does your caravan have LED external lights ( stop/tail, reversing, fog, side lights )?

 

[teeboy]

Does it have genuine westfalia wiring? The reason is ask is because the relay under the bonnet is just for the permanent live connection. The actual smart box thingy is under the passenger seat.

Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk

 

[Stu]

Are you using a 13 to 9 pin adaptor? These can cause problems.

 

[california kid]

Hi everyone thank-you for all your replies , our caravan has LEDs on the front side lights, the caravan has the thirteen pin connector, the chap who fitted the tow bar is a company used by the dealership , he tried two other light boards, everything works ok lights, indicators, stop lights, reverse lights and fog lights, the problem we have the fog light on the Cali stays on and the display on the radio flashes with the picture of trailer connected then goes out. I am not aware what electrics he has used, but it is a westfalia tow bar, he did reprogramme the Cali again yesterday, and informed me it is not showing any faults , I was thinking could there be a fault with the head unit, the dealership has said they will get there tech guys to look at it , I will look under the front seat later to see if spot if genuine parts have been used. Many thanks again for all your replies.

 

[Stu]

You're looking for something like this -

 

[Stu]

Is the Cali fog light always on it does it not switch off when the trailer is plugged in?

 

[california kid]

Hi Stu, Have looked under seat can not see anything like your picture, but under bonnet is fitted with trailer module, the problems I have are when all connected and go through light sequence the reversing sensors on Cali stay on, also when rear fog light switched on the fog light on the Cali stays on, also the picture on the radio face flashes with image of trailer, then go back onto reverse camera mode although I can switch the sensors of from the dash, I feel this is not correct

 

[Stu]

Doesn't sound right.

The Westfalia kit has a small switch in the socket to disable the fog light when a towing plug is in place, one of the reasons you shouldn't be tempted to leave an adaptor in place.

I have a horrible feeling they've not used the proper electronics. There are several 3rd party kits, one that springs to mind is made by a company called Right Connections, rubbish.

Where are you located?

Does the towing socket have the westfalia logo on the lid??

 

[california kid]

Hi Stu, I will check all tomorrow , at the moment weather not so good, will also give the dealer and tow bar fitter a call, and ask him that very question, based just outside Salisbury. Once again thanks for your help.

 

[Stu]

If you fancy a little ride out up to J5 M27 I can plug VCDS in and tell you straight away.

 

[california kid]

Hi Stu, many thanks for your offer, the tow bar fitter has already done this twice yesterday, he is speaking to the dealership tomorrow , hopefully will get more answers then, when he plugged his vcds into our Cali it reported no faults, he has suggested the Cali has a fault . Will report back tomorrow . Once again thankyou.

 

[Stu]

Ok. If you want an impartial check then by all means let me know.

I fail to see that there is a fault with your van if there was nothing wrong to begin with unless something happened during the install.

If the tow bar wiring was done correctly using westfalia parts and coded correctly you shouldn't see the issues.

 

[california kid]

Cheers Stu , Many thanks for your offer, I feel with the amount of money spent the dealership and tow bar fitter should put things right I will let you no tomorrow what they have fitted and what they are going to do to sought this problem out. :cool

 

[Stu]

Cheers Stu , Many thanks for your offer, I feel with the amount of money spent the dealership and tow bar fitter should put things right I will let you no tomorrow what they have fitted and what they are going to do to sought this problem out. :cool

I fully agree with you, I wasn't suggesting i'd be able to fix it for you but forewarned is forearmed. I fitted my own so I know exactly what you should have. :mrgreen:

Did you specifically ask for factory style equipment or just a towbar?

 

[california kid]

Hi Stu, When discussed deal with dealer as part of package was detachable tow bar with thirteen pin electrics did not think for one minute they would use a fitter outside there own dealership, must have been done to keep costs down, have been towing a caravan for years have had many tow bars fitted never experienced any like this before, also did not realise how sophisticated the Cali's electronics are. Will get sorted I no but is a pain in the backside at present. Must admit since picking up our California it has not stopped raining. Hopefully happy days ahead will send you info tomorrow thanks for you're comments very much appreciated,

 

[Stu]

As you're local will you be joining us for the New Forest meet at the end of the month? I've not ordered any rain so we should be OK :lol:

Best of luck tomorrow.

There are good reasons why dealers will offload jobs like this to 3rd party installers, one of those is that they know very little about what's involved, don't want to know and don't want to get involved.

 

[california kid]

Hi Stu, Spoke with dealer today has agreed to replace with genuine parts booked in for next week , to be fitted at dealership, will keep you posted, :clap Not to sure about bonfire meet will speak to my son who also has a california, he bought his first, may visit for day and evening only if allowed to do so! Thanks for all your replays

 

[Stu]

That sounds promising then.

If you want to help them along the way tell them there is a newish kit from Wesftalia (not sure if it's available via VW) which is designed for installing under the van and pops up through a grommet under the passenger seat. It was widely understood that previously to fit a tow bar you had to remove a lot of interior trim.

Bonfire meet should be good, I hear there is a heatwave coming

 

[california kid]

Hi Stu. Just a update re towing electrics, collected Cali this morning all previous kit removed, vw electrics fitted, all seams ok , but can you answer me the following question , when electrics connected on selecting reverse gear on the 510 radio screen, I now get the rear camera showing, and on the left side of screen the symbol of van with a frame picture of tow vehicle , fog light now goes off, and parking sensors switch off, dealer did inform me that everything dialled in properly. :clap

 

[Stu]

Can't quite picture what you mean.

Do you not have reversing camera showing at all or is it only showing on the right side of the screen?

 

[california kid]

Hi Stu. Sorry if I did not explain properly, yes I do have reverse camera operating correctly but also shows the van symbol with a frame of tow vehicle when electrics plugged in. To the left of screen. You may also be help with this one bought a set of waterproof cover for our Cali from vw dealership seats fit fine but the front head restraint covers appear to be to small although when googled product part no it states for models from 2010 ours is 2014, do you no if the front head restraints for newer models are bigger than previous year models , have spoke to dealership phoning me back tomorrow .

 

[Stu]

Hi Stu. Sorry if I did not explain properly, yes I do have reverse camera operating correctly but also shows the van symbol with a frame of tow vehicle when electrics plugged in. To the left of screen..

Sorry I'm still missing the point here, is there something you think should be there and isn't?

Perhaps post a picture.

You may also be help with this one bought a set of waterproof cover for our Cali from vw dealership seats fit fine but the front head restraint covers appear to be to small although when googled product part no it states for models from 2010 ours is 2014, do you no if the front head restraints for newer models are bigger than previous year models , have spoke to dealership phoning me back tomorrow .

The seat covers are made by a third party company, Inka. Perhaps they can answer for you.

I'm not aware of any changes to the headrests for later models but it's very possible. 2010 signifies the start of the facelift.