rear lights and tow socket

[fraz]

hi guys

got my rear lights all rewired and working now

intend to fit my tow socket to bumper as in the picture posted previously

i will be wiring in my lights inside car and wonder if anyone knows the colours for a ,mistral and what colours go together

i am an amatuer electric ian lol

any help please as towbar want £50 plus vat just to connect the cable inside car

im sure scotchlocs are a tad cheaper

fraz m.reg mistral

 

[lacroupade]

hi guys

got my rear lights all rewired and working now

intend to fit my tow socket to bumper as in the picture posted previously

i will be wiring in my lights inside car and wonder if anyone knows the colours for a ,mistral and what colours go together

i am an amatuer electric ian lol

any help please as towbar want £50 plus vat just to connect the cable inside car

im sure scotchlocs are a tad cheaper

fraz m.reg mistral

Probably needs someone with a Mistral already wired to advise as I don't know if the diags in the manual cover your truck.....and scotchlocs worked fine for me

 

[Terranosaurus]

Tow bar place would only use scotch loks anyway - almost guarenteed.

Colour coding is most likely the same as on the UK models but in case its not all you need to do is pop the rear lights out to see what colour wires go to each ight and then find a suitable point to tap into the loom. NS rear corner behind the trim seems to be a good place as everything passes through there on its way forward.

 

[fraz]

lights

i cant do that because i had to rewire all my back lights colors dont match anymore so i may have a bit of a challenge

 

[zippy656]

well who said it was ment to be easy! :doh:doh:doh

bu tyou joind the wires up. so you know what when where at some point... or do your light not work properly now? :clap:clap

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

have you not got a meter or a test light? could you get a cheap one and start testing one by one?

 

[fraz]

think replacement wiring came from a maverick and it has got different coloured wires from mistral
i can though probably get a loan of tester and work through them 1 by one
determined not t pay fifty quid toconnect a couple of wires for me
fraz

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

you could probably pick up somethign to test with for under a £5 and use it again and again, or rig up a light bulb and a couple of bits of wire, connect one end to earth, cut a tiny piece of insulation away on each wire and touch it with the other end you then have a spot bare to connect the tow bar wires to!

 

[fraz]

indicators should be easy but how do i know if i have left or right side light as they are powered up together

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

you could test individualy on each side?

i have never undestood why on trailer lighting the brake lights have a joint power feed but the rear lights one for each side? is it about current and potential overloads? i have no idea!

 

[jims-terrano]

Plank, doubt if it would be an overload. If you remember a long time ago before the days of 12S they used to use the fog lamp pin on the tow bar as a 12v feed. I think they simply ran out of pins on the plug.

Jim T

 

[Deleted account DD]

Fraz, as Plank says test each side seperately , if nothing except the connection you're poking at with you're £5 meter from maplins shows a voltage you've cracked it :thumb2 its just a matter of patience and logic.

Beyond that one which other wires are you stuck with?

 

[Deleted account DD]

i have never undestood why on trailer lighting the brake lights have a joint power feed but the rear lights one for each side? is it about current and potential overloads? i have no idea!

Does it come back to a lot of cars have a split circuit? ie if you lose part of your lighting during darkness and dont realise it you've only lost half and following cars can see at least one red light? I don't know for sure.

But its kicked into touch anyway because most have common earths that rust and fail :lol

 

[fraz]

i have an idea if i unplug the rear chassis harness and pull it up into car i may be able to identify wires better i just bought a £4.99 tester from maplins and am ready to have a go this afternoon

i take it i can pick up brake lights from wire going up and in to them

figers crossed will keep you posted
(will be back when im stuck lol )

fraz

 

[lacroupade]

indicators should be easy but how do i know if i have left or right side light as they are powered up together

Fraz I don't think it matters mate.....long as you have a supply from one of them thats all you need....the bulbs are only weedy so the cabling should be up to it. Mine hasn't melted yet?!

 

[lacroupade]

Of course theres one other slightly tedious but guaranteed method.

Cut the wiring loom completely where it sits behind the boot lining and stick the whole lot into an appropriately-sized choc block (one wire at a time is good if you have similarly coloured wires!)....then turn things on and disconnect one wire (careful not to short it as you do so) at a time to see what goes out....that tells you what wire powers what and then you can wire your hitch socket into the relevant bits of the choc block....then tape the whole thing up.

easy peasy.

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

Plank, doubt if it would be an overload. If you remember a long time ago before the days of 12S they used to use the fog lamp pin on the tow bar as a 12v feed. I think they simply ran out of pins on the plug.

Jim T

I was thinking of some of the big travellers/showmans trailers i have owned, with 4 bulbs in each rear side light and several marker lights down the sides, front side lights etc, If they were all running from a curcit on the car designed for 2 side light bulbs one, front one back, might be a bit much!

daved has a point, a safety system, split circuit lights like split curcuit brakes, but if so why just the side lights not the brake lights head lights etc?

would it really matter for most applications of you just wired up both trailer side lights to one side of the towing vehicle? I dont think it would, would it?

 

[fraz]

hi guys

bolted socket to bumper ran cable up inside panel in car
took away insulation from loom took a lighter and burned a little of each cable to bare it
stripped the ends of the cable and worked through them 1 by 1
it was so simple i amazed myself.

once again i have saved the yearly fee

cheers

fraz

 

[Deleted account DD]

and youve got a nice little tester handy for next time

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

I think its a nice confidence booster too when things go right, and bit of sympathy and advice from a few friends when they dont, well done :thumbs