Trailer Wiring – DIY – without tapping wires! (55 pic’s)

Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Location
NEPA
TDI
2012 Jetta Sportwagen TDI/ 2005 GTI 1.8BT
Awesome thanks for the input buddy! Issue is I already have all the stuff to make it myself but like you said not going to get all the stuff the plug and play gives you. So may just call what I got a loss and bight the bullet and buy the eurohitch one.

Thanks again
Justin
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Location
NEPA
TDI
2012 Jetta Sportwagen TDI/ 2005 GTI 1.8BT
Has anyone ever used that pfjones company? Are they reliable? Cause I have heard mixed reviews on eurohitches.
 

redbarron55

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Location
Navarre, FL.
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI Executive
I have not, but I personally have not seen anything agains and several said thay got good service from PF Jones.
you can email them and if you ask for it they can supply the kit for a left hand drive car instead of the Brit right hand drive which has the fuse box on the right and not the left as I understand.
 

vw_leadfoot

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Location
GTA, Ontario
TDI
2010 Golf TDI Wagen
My 2012 JSW has a 5 pin connector going into each tail light, what gives?
What on earth do you mean by what gives...? From POST #1 each pin of the 5 is explained:

Driver’s Side Wiring Harness:
Pin 1: Gray with Black Stripe: Tail Light
Pin 2: Black with Red Stripe: Brake
Pin 3: Brown: Ground
Pin 4: Black with White Stripe: Left Signal
Pin 5: Black with Blue Stripe: Reverse

Passenger Side Wiring Harness:
Pin 1: Gray with Black Stripe: Tail Light
Pin 2: Black with Purple Stripe: Brake
Pin 3: Brown: Ground
Pin 4: Black with Green Stripe: Right Signal
Pin 5: Black with Blue Stripe: Reverse
 

lorge1989

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Location
Buffalo, NY
TDI
2012 JSW TDI 6MT
Dont know how I missed that. I guess I dont see the point of this then. You still cut the factory wiring harness right? You just cut it then put a connector in that spot. Its not like you can completely reverse what you have done unless you do more cutting, right? I was hoping to find a 5 pin male and female connector matching the one on the bulb tray.
 

vw_leadfoot

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Location
GTA, Ontario
TDI
2010 Golf TDI Wagen
...You still cut the factory wiring harness right? You just cut it then put a connector in that spot. Its not like you can completely reverse what you have done unless you do more cutting, right? ...
NO NO NO...it seems the snow has gotten to you...and you obviously haven't read the thread :mad: ...it is a bypass system...there is ZERO cutting :eek: ...factory harness remains fully intact :rolleyes: I just completed this on a local car for a guy who asked for help...worked out very well but still took us about 9 hours just to do the wiring...so worth it in the end though...and his Westfalia towbar was about 3 hours...:)
 
Last edited:

redbarron55

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Location
Navarre, FL.
TDI
2012 Touareg TDI Executive
Is it worth the 9 hours to keep from splicing a few wires for the converter?
It took me just a little while to find the correct wires and splice them into the trailer light converter.
Next I am going to install an electric trailer brake controller and perhaps the Westfalia trailer light module if I am feeling wealthy. The westfalia setup also requires no splicing and automatically senses the trailer connection and turns on the trailer mode for the car.
I think it would be very much worthwhile for the modified cooling and fueling curves and DSG control along with the T-ESP for stability.
It even gives automatic steering cues from the electric power steering system.
 

lorge1989

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Location
Buffalo, NY
TDI
2012 JSW TDI 6MT
NO NO NO...it seems the snow has gotten to you...and you obviously haven't read the thread :mad: ...it is a bypass system...there is ZERO cutting :eek: ...factory harness remains fully intact :rolleyes: I just completed this on a local car for a guy who asked for help...worked out very well but still took us about 9 hours just to do the wiring...so worth it in the end though...and his Westfalia towbar was about 3 hours...:)
Seems like it was getting to me... lol

I didn't realize you de-pinned the connector for the 4 wires you were tapping into. In my mind that wasn't possible so I thought you were just cutting the wire shortly after the tail light connector, inserting connectors and just having on connector with two wires coming out of each pin. I understand now.

I needed to tow last weekend in a pinch so I was forced to use wire taps. I'm planning on getting the 5 pin connectors listed in this thread to make an intermediate harness.
 

vw_leadfoot

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Location
GTA, Ontario
TDI
2010 Golf TDI Wagen
Is it worth the 9 hours to keep from splicing a few wires for the converter?
It took me just a little while to find the correct wires and splice them into the trailer light converter.
Next I am going to install an electric trailer brake controller and perhaps the Westfalia trailer light module if I am feeling wealthy. The westfalia setup also requires no splicing and automatically senses the trailer connection and turns on the trailer mode for the car.
I think it would be very much worthwhile for the modified cooling and fueling curves and DSG control along with the T-ESP for stability.
It even gives automatic steering cues from the electric power steering system.
Yes it was worth it. And he paid me a nominal fee and I liked helping someone out who didn't feel comfortable doing it on his own.

I have two of the Westfalia modules...don't really think it is worth the aggravation but to each his own, right? But I now have another vehicle for towing...:D with a much higher capacity...
 

rage144

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Location
eastern pa
TDI
81 caddy 04 tdi 90 rado
Hi Leadfoot, awesome write up. You don't happen to know if the same harness will work on a 2015 golf sportwagen?
 

eahlberg

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Location
Bowmanville, ONT CAN
TDI
2010 Golf Sportwagen TDI
Hi guys...I have had my 2010 Golf Sportwagen for only about 2 months now. Within the first month I installed a CURT trailer hitch and I did a complete noob thing and installed a generic wiring kit which I had previously installed on my Toyota. I have been having a flashing glow plug light coming on randomly and I wanted to know if I have done any damage to any components related to the braking circuit. One time when the flashing glow plug light came on I replaced my brake light bulbs with brand new ones and right away the light went off...but a few days later it returned and the bulbs still looked brand new.

Any thoughts or ideas of what and how to check?
 

rwolff

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2002
Location
Lesser continental mass, Tosev 3
TDI
None yet
Is the generic converter powered (has a line that goes to a +12V source), or unpowered? An unpowered converter will run the trailer lamps off the car's lamp circuit, a load it wasn't designed to handle. These "smart" cars will detect the excess current draw and ***** about it.
 

vw.shortbeach

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2012
Location
Branford, CT, USA
TDI
VW Jetta Sportswagen 2009
Leadfoot, I'm having a devil of a time trying to remove the female terminals from the cars lighting harness using the Schwaben CE-91 tool. I'm afraid of pulling the wire out from the female plug and leaving the plug in the harness. How much force did you have to apply to the wire, to remove it?

thanks.

jr
 

dgoodhue

Veteran Member
Joined
May 3, 2014
Location
Framingham, MA
TDI
'14 6MT JSW
Leadfoot, I'm having a devil of a time trying to remove the female terminals from the cars lighting harness using the Schwaben CE-91 tool. I'm afraid of pulling the wire out from the female plug and leaving the plug in the harness. How much force did you have to apply to the wire, to remove it?

thanks.

jr
I had to use a small screw driver to lift the locking tab on the factory taillight connectors on my '14 JSW in order to remove them with the CE91 tool. It initially stumped me as well.
 

where2

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 1999
Location
North Palm Beach, FL, USA
TDI
One '13 JSW_TDI & One '04 Variant_TDI
Whatcha need Kirmet? I'll help in any way I can. :)

I just built a Plug-N-Play setup for my wife's 2013 JSW this evening using parts, plugs, sockets, and tools I have been acquiring for a year now... I haven't tested it out yet, because it's raining, and I still have to flip a coin on whether I'm dragging a +12V wire all the way to the fuse box, or borrowing power from the 12V socket in the rear (again). However, I built the man-in-the-middle wiring sitting at my dining room table.

When I did the 2006 Jetta (sedan) in my avatar, I used a Plug-N-Play setup but borrowed power from the 12V outlet in the trunk. I always kicked myself that the outlet wasn't powered when the car wasn't running. If you're disabled at night or during the day on the side of the road pulling a trailer, you'd probably like to have some lights on the back of the rig... So, I'm probably dragging a wire to the fuse box on this one.

Key things to know: The JSW uses a 3-wire setup (Brake is separate from amber turn signals). Whatever Powered tail light converter you choose needs to handle 3-wire vehicles. I went with the Tekonsha ZCI 3-wire (119250). I got mine off eBay before prices went through the roof (they're now over $130). I figured if the Amazon reviews said they would work on a Tesla, it would probably work on a VW. My man-in-the-middle harness, just gives me space to connect the current taps without having to strip back the fabric tape wrap on the factory wiring. It also gave me 16AWG insulation, rather than the incredibly slender insulated wires VW used.

The functions in the JSW tail light wiring plugs appeared to be (as numbered on the VW connector, and top to bottom):
1=Tail Lights
2=Brake Lights
3=Ground
4=Turn Signal
5=Reverse Light

If you're wiring up something for your 2002, I can probably help as well as I also have a MkIV wagon I've rigged for trailer lights and to drag as a TOAD behind our RV. (yes, that took some creative custom wiring, but it's still all no-splice, & no scotch-lock).

The issue I see with the TowReady 118572 previously mentioned in this thread) is that the plugs look similar, but there are only 4 conductors in each plug, not 5 like the JSW uses. The red wire in the 118572 appears to be the typical 3rd wire sense wire for the brake signal, but I haven't tested one, and I know VW has been using PWM to drive a variety of functions down minimal wiring since the MkV. I haven't dissected one or tried adding the extra wire and the right connectors. At $75, it would be cheaper to get any 3-wire converter that says it will handle PWM, and just add the man in the middle wiring with the right number of conductors. I'm not even sure the JSW uses PWM.
 
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