Towbar wiring help - T6 Right Connections 13-pin kit

[SamN]

I've just fitted a Westfalia towbar and have run the vehicle-specific wiring (I have no towbar prep) from the rear to the engine bay on my T6 Kombi.

I bought it second hand with no instructions and I'm unsure quite what to do with the wires now.

I've got these wires by the battery compartment. Would I be correct in thinking the colourful ones on the left go to the positive terminal and the white+red and white go to the negative terminal?



Then these on the driver side ready to go into the BCM. I believe it's just the orange ones I need but no idea what to do with them.



I've taken the lower trim off the dashboard under the steering wheel but again, I'm stuck here.



Could anyone advise please? Any help appreciated!

Thanks
Sam

 

[gbates]

I have been fitting mine the last few days and yes colourful ones to positive (the ones that go to the fuse carrier) the others I beleive should go to the car body work and not to the N of battery (as I have read on here) There is an earth bolt behind the scuttle cover above the battery ( need to do mine this morning)
Then the others go to the BCM, theough a gromet which is down by the steering colum. You will need crimps on the emd of those wires to fit them to the bcm though. Mine were already crimped.
Il attach the PF jones instructions for you and VW printed me their installation guide. Il attach that in an hour or so when I have it to hand
Thanks

 

[gbates]

VW instalation guide.

 

[SamN]

Thanks @gbates, that's great info! That clears up the battery side.

I'm still confused on the BCM side. The VW instructions suggest I should have a fuse box under the passenger seat which I don't believe I have (and the wiring harness I have suggests I don't need that either).

They also suggest I should have 4 wires to the BCM. The previous owner of this kit believes he only had the two orange wires (orange/brown + orange/green) connected into the BCM and the blue was not connected to anything. He also mentioned that his weren't crimped in, they used some sort of in-line wire connectors.

 

[Pauly]

VW instructions dont apply to aftermarket towbar wiring

 

[SamN]

Ok so the PF Jones instructions may apply (though I'm sure there may be different wiring kits). On page 9, sections 16-17 it looks like those "might" be the wires I have.

I'll try and work out how to remove the BCM and see if it's any clearer looking at the back of it.

The PF Jones instructions still aren't crystal clear to me and I'm not sure about the crimp vs inline connector even once I do work out where they go.

 

[gbates]

@SamN
My kit was supplied with the BCM wire ends pre crimped, the kit did have inline connectors too but I didn't use these.
If you want to call me im happy to run through what I did in simple english. The BCM part was tight and fiddly. Doable though with patience.
Thanks George

 

[SamN]

Huge thanks for @gbates for your time on the phone, that definitely helped me to understand how things are put together in my head.

There was a little unknown around our kits as they differed slightly however I've done some more digging and have the answer!

For anyone else in the same boat as me, I've found the following which should help:
The two orange wires are "high" and "low" canbus connectors and the blue one is to do with the break light. Multiple sources have told me that I don't need the blue one and the canbus connectors will sort the brake lights, so I've just taped that up.

Some kits have pins on the end and a connector, whereas mine just had two wires with no ends. Both do exactly the same but the kits with the pins on the end require you to remove the existing wires from the BCM connector, replace them with the wires from the towbar wiring loom, then connect the existing wires into the connector in the towbar wiring loom. In my case, with no pin on the end, I'll just be using inline connectors, such as these below, which will do the same job.



I got my hands on the "Right Connections" instructions (attached) which are clearer around the BCM part and may provide some additional clarity to others.

I've not actually got round to doing this yet but now it all makes sense so it should be pretty straight forward from here!

Then I just need to find someone local to code it for me. From my understanding it'll work fine without being coded, but will throw some errors on the dash.

 

[gbates]

So pleased I could help! Let me know when all done

 

[SamN]

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I've not connected them up yet sadly.

I'm keen to finish it though so I'll do it soon, once I've got someone lined up to code it. I'll report back!