[darrinsmith]

Hi Ozzie treg owners

After swapping my ancient MY03 cayenne turbo for a my15 180 tdi treg I was disappointed to see that the new euro 13 pin trailer connector has no provision for service brake unlike the old 7 pin large connector!!
Of course that also means that the old 4 pin connector under the dash has been deleted, as it's no longer supported as part of the "new" standard. I popped the under dash cover off to confirm it was AWOL.
I paid the big $$$ to get the VW genuine hitch and controller fitted (as I did with my old Cayenne although the VW is $1000 less than the same thing installed by Por$che), it's worth the money as it really does adjust many of the cars parameters, especially shift points and braking, but I digress and won't get into the OEM vs aftermarket argument.
So now I just need to tap into the brake light.
I'm thinking I'll just crack open the 7 pin flat part of the 13 to 7 pin adapter that the dealer has fitted (it's just an off the shelf Narva unit anyhow) and;
1) run the brake wire output from the controller to pin 5 on the 7 pin flat and
2) tap pin 6 on the flat controller to supply the brake signal to my tekonsha prodigy P2.
I'll just tap 12V and earth from the fuse box like I did on the old car.
Just wanted to see what others have done or had done to their cars, and whether tapping the brake signal from the flat connector is a good way to go, as these cars don't appear to have a brake pedal switch like the later model cayenne's.
I personally can't see any problem with it, as I normally remove the controller when I'm not towing, as I assume that the car might think the trailer is attached when it's not if I tap the brake light pin without a trailer attached.
I'll post a DIY when I do it, as it's really a simple job (or it should be) that seems to generate a lot of discussion on this forum. The install on my old car with the 4 pin connector under the dash took about 30 minutes.
But just looking for feedback from people who can advise.
A quick look at back of your car will tell you if you've had this done on an OEM hitch on a late model treg (I believe part way through MY 11 and onward).
Of course the dealer is completely clueless about it and gave my the whole "it's not an authorised VW modification", but I was able to talk to the tech doing the install and inspect the wiring harness before it was fitted, which confirmed my suspicions, ie the set of wires that used to connect to the 4 pin connector harness from the tow computer has been deleted also.
Poor fellow he tried to tell me the car already has a trailer brake controller as part of the tow computer, sigh......
Then they crashed my car in the parking lot... 4 weeks later....I've got it back and I'm ready to sort this out.
Thanks!
DS

 

[Steve104]

I had an auto elec fit my Towpro controller (2015) so I do not know the details. However, I do have a small connector in the rear offside wheel arch (internal) that contains the blue trailer brake feed, plus some earth leads. I think my elec used this to get into the 7 pin connector. Hope this helps.

 

[noobytoogy]

Take some photos as well if you remember, please.

Bummer about the car park crunch at the dealer. It seems to have happened to quite a few people and in various parts of the world.

Memo to all Touareg owners worldwide - check you car carefully BEFORE driving away from the dealer as the staff seem to think it's okay not to tell owners they've bent their car!

 

[darrinsmith]

They were totally upfront about it (the crash), they couldn't really hide it, the whole of the RH front bumber was hanging off the car! Very apologetic, but I discovered all body parts are ex Germany, so a 3 week wait for the new bumper and a week in the panel shop to match paint. Can't believe they don't keep bumpers in Oz!?!?!
Got to drive a bright yellow (wrapped) Amarok manual for 4 weeks, man I was glad to see the back of that thing! Comparing the 2 the Treg is "effortless" to drive, whereas the Rok needed to be pushed REALLY hard to get anywhere..
Fortunately I was doing a renno at the time so having a ute was kind of handy.

Yes I will take pictures, I did a few DIY's on renntech.org for the cayenne if you're a member you can view them, as quite a few of the cayenne ones on there will be suitable for tregs, as they're basically the same car from the firewall back or will give people some ideas. The renntech forums are really full of very knowledgeable people including factory techs who lurk in the shadows.

Anyway any auto sparky's want to chime in before we get off off topic?
Hoping to tackle this over the weekend, and maybe also do my amp/subwoofer upgrade at the same time (another DIY).
Cheers
DS

 

[Griffo56]

My Dealer takes at least 4 photos when the car comes in for service.

 

[rod_newman]

You are on the right track. I fitted a towpro to my 2015 treg, ran power from the the jump starter post to the towpro, then to the rear of the car inside the chasis rail also ran the stop light signal wire at the same time. You will find a round 13 pin socket at the rear of the car, connected to that will be an adapter cable with a round 13 pin plug to flat 7 pin socket, it would appear you also have an adaptor cable (flat 7 pin plug to flat 12 pin socket). I removed the round 13 pin socket and installed the flat 12 pin socket in its place. If you do this you will need to install the isolation diodes from the adaptor cable (round 13 pin plug to flat 7 pin socket) into the left and right hand park light signal wires. For your information - for the towing/trailer module to be enabled (output signals to the trailer socket) a trailer must be connected, also in the round 13 pin socket you will have 12 volts permanent live (pin 9) and 12 volts with ignition on (pin 10).

 

[darrinsmith]

Hi everyone, by way of an update I completed by install yesterday, it all looks good.
I'm just finalising a few more photos, and I'll post it to the DIY section after my test tow today.
Cheers
DS