We're having some problems at the moment with the towbar wiring on our 2007 TDV8 Vogue SE.

When the ignition on the car is switched off, there are two permanent live feeds on the 13 pin socket (one of which is the fridge for the caravan) however when we switch the ignition on or start the car this feed switches off accompanied by clicking noises from the relays in the area of the control box.

Putting a load (even as small as a 10W bulb for testing purposes) across this feed induces a range of error messages on the dashboard including limited gear availability or similar and a load of other messages to scare you ! It also inhibits the ignition lock, which stops you turning the key in the switch and putting the ignition on. As soon as the load is removed from this pin all returns to normal.

We first noticed this fault when we stopped in motorway services after doing 200 odd miles without any issues. When we stopped and turned the Range Rover off, the car went nuts, relays clicking everywhere, the dials on the dashboard waving from side to side and the dash lit up like a christmas tree! When the caravan was unplugged this stopped, plugging it back in triggered everything again. Eventually though, everything settled down and we continued our journey albeit without functioning cruise control. After another stop and the engine switching off and starting again the cruise control started to function again.

Coincidentally we've just changed the caravan this year which instantly led us to believe it was a fault with the caravan. We've had the electrical manufacturer out who has tested it and tried it on his own car and has passed it as OK which leaves us with the fault on the Range Rover. Since we towed the old van last year with the same style electrics the RR has been into the dealer to have a new handbrake ECU fitted. One thing that has been suggested is that the car hasn't been configured properly and that it's now set up for 12N/12S instead of 13 pin electrics.

Has anybody experienced similar issues or is able to shed any light on this? Sorry for the essay!

Thanks in advance!

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior

Hi David,

I cant be specific on the TDV8 as mine has the 12N and 12S sockets.

However, my friend has fitted a 13 pin plus towbar to his 02 TD6 and it didn't need to be configured for the 13 pin. It was straight plug and play. I am led to believe the later cars do need to be configured for the wiring though. Land Rover or a specialist with the correct software should be able to help / advise though.
When he put the van on for the first time there were a few issues which came down to the earth in the boot wasn't quite clean/tight enough.
It was Loosened then retightened and it was fine. Because yours was fine to begin with and the main feeds are switching out under load I am thinking it must be an earthing issue somewhere. May be worth checking the earth in the boot and see if there is one under the bonnet.

Hop that helps in some way  08 model TDV8 Vogue SE Rimini Red/ parchment. 04 TD6 Vogue Oslo Blue / parchment
99 Model 2.5 DSE Rioja Red / lightstone
97 BMW M3 Evo Convertible
plus a few more!

Hello again David

Is this why your dad is after a smaller tractor

TBH for my 2005 TD6 it was all plug and play literally, but if you haven't tried the caravan since the handbrake was replaced maybe contact the dealer and say whats happened and ask if they could give it a quick check on the test book as its only occured since they have done the work (if its true).

If its not then check the main earthing strap for the towing electrics just between the spare wheel and the rear panel as you look down into the boot over the lower tailgate
Then check the connections on the module in the rear drivers side of the boot and make sure the earth strap in there is ok.

Also check your rear lights and make sure that one side isn't dim or anything and not being reported as faulty on the dash.

Just like chevron bearing vehicles that use multiplex, i believe earthing issues cause problems on FFRR's and even dodgey batteries so shortly Scarey will be along to say to check the battery if its still original, and another (Dan IIRC) will be along to say keep your aircon on all the time to keep out corrosion on connectors.

Also while there check the passenger side of the boot behind the panel where the satnav and other bits are and see if its damp as this could then be passing electrical issues around

Sorry to hear you've had some problems with the FFRR, no doubt a Xantia will keep your dad mobile

Will give it a look over and see what's going on.

Instinct tells me it's not something as simple as an earthing fault unfortunately.

Waiting on the dealer who replaced the handbrake model to give us a callback so we can try and get to the bottom of it anyway.

The Range Rover is a toy that lives in the shed and only tends to come out once every few months, does a trip down south and then goes back in. It doesn't do 5000 miles a year. All the lights on the car and every other electrical item on the car works perfectly. Just hope this one doesn't start with electrical issues just yet.... Maintaining 3 P38's is enough to make anyone go grey early!

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior

If you carry on this collection habit you might need a barn or a church

Hopefully it's just a loose or corroded connector for you David but we both know the real Jane of thy is to tiny

It could also be the towing module in the boot, disconnect it and see if you still get the issues as it should still provine power for te caravan fridge I found with mine

We've been having a poke round this today to see what's going on, removed and cleaned all the earths etc.

One thing we noticed is that the earth wire for the fridge is 1.5mm, given that the fridge has a draw of circa 30Amp it should be at least 2.5mm.

However, we connected a 13pin to 12N/12S adapter and plugged a lighting board into the car. It switched off the rear parking sensors and the dashboard showed that it had detected a trailer plugged in, however at the pin for the power supply to the fridge there was nothing there at all.

When we stopped the car, 12v appeared instantly at the pin for the fridge. Obviously this shouldn't happen because it'll drain the car battery if it's powering the caravan fridge without the engine running.

When we put a 10w bulb onto the fridge feed on the socket without the engine running it flashed on the screen saying there was a handbrake fault.

There's two interesting points to note:

This car has been recovered to Shields in Glasgow by Land Rover assist as it drained the battery when it was plugged into the caravan overnight a year ago and lost the memory for the keys. They tested the battery, tested the alternator etc and told us there was no fault. They also said they couldn't test it was they couldn't simulate a load on the towing socket.

The car has also spent weeks in the dealer having a problem with the electronic parking brake resolved. The light kept flashing on the dashboard but they couldn't understand why. Apparently they spent 15 hours on the phone to Land Rover technical and they replaced the module above the subframe.

I'm now wondering if all the problems have been caused by the tow bar wiring and they've not been able to diagnose it.

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior

Just a thought. Is this car fitted with the dedicated LR towing electrics? Or has some clever sparky cut into the wires and plumbed in a third party harness?

I've fitted towing electrics to my D3 and no config for socket types was needed, realise its not the same but seems improbable that such a simple thing as the pinouts would need ECU changes. Graham

____
Gone: 10MY L320 RR Sport HSE, Ipanema Sand
Gone: 20MY Jaguar iPace HSE, Silicon Silver
Gone: 17MY RR Evoque SE Tech, Loire Blue
Gone: 08MY Discovery 3 XS, Stornoway Grey
Gone: 07MY FFRR TDV8 Vogue, Stornoway Grey

It's the genuine Land Rover wiring harness that was fitted at the factory, was done before the dealer even got hold of the car.

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior

12S Pin 6 is fridge supply. Pin 3 is earth.

I'm slightly surprised to hear that your fridge draws 30A. Sounds a lot

I'd have expected a figure of about 75-100W at 12V, say 6-9A. If your fridge really is drawing that much it may have fried something in the supply in the car.

Dunno. Graham

____
Gone: 10MY L320 RR Sport HSE, Ipanema Sand
Gone: 20MY Jaguar iPace HSE, Silicon Silver
Gone: 17MY RR Evoque SE Tech, Loire Blue
Gone: 08MY Discovery 3 XS, Stornoway Grey
Gone: 07MY FFRR TDV8 Vogue, Stornoway Grey

Sorry, that was a typo...

It is just over 10A. Dunno what I was thinking when I typed that!

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior

Hi David

Ahah, fair enough.

Done a bit of Googling. Not LR but Volvo, but may be relevant, is this. Seems to touch on some of the same points:

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/towbar_electrics.shtml
and
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/new_style_wiring.shtml
and
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/pdf/TowBarWiringOct2006.pdf


Might be worth working through the same diagnostics, and seeing if the same fix applies?

Incidentally, have you really got 3 P38s? Respect.  Graham

____
Gone: 10MY L320 RR Sport HSE, Ipanema Sand
Gone: 20MY Jaguar iPace HSE, Silicon Silver
Gone: 17MY RR Evoque SE Tech, Loire Blue
Gone: 08MY Discovery 3 XS, Stornoway Grey
Gone: 07MY FFRR TDV8 Vogue, Stornoway Grey

Thanks very much. Have just printed that stuff to have a look through it.

We've got our TDV8 which lives in the shed doing very little except towing the caravan and coming out in nice weather. It does less then 5k miles a year.

Here's our TDV8 with the old caravan attached to it:

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

Nice stable. Wish I had the room, or even, the ability to win domestic battle  Graham

____
Gone: 10MY L320 RR Sport HSE, Ipanema Sand
Gone: 20MY Jaguar iPace HSE, Silicon Silver
Gone: 17MY RR Evoque SE Tech, Loire Blue
Gone: 08MY Discovery 3 XS, Stornoway Grey
Gone: 07MY FFRR TDV8 Vogue, Stornoway Grey

*

That's not even his whole stable, that's a new thread in its own right!!!

Did your van come with a 13pin plug? Or has someone added it? OEM 13 pin electrics

Take a look at this and cross reference the wiring to the van.

ps- I don't think there should be two permanent live feeds, one should be ign/relay operated for the fridge.