My Bad, I think i should have checked here first.

Installed my own towbar, which isn't really that hard. But having trouble with the electrics.

I have the indicators and the side lights working fine. It even beeps when i turn left and right!

Problem is, the brake lights, i've wired it as per the supplied instructions but when i hit the pedal the brake light on the trailer is really really dim, if the trailer has the side lights on and then i press the pedal - the side lights go off on the trailer.

I've read something about needing a 7 way bypass relay?? Any help would be cool!

Annoyingly i got the towbar from a reputable dealer who i would have thought would have known about wiring?

Thanks in advance!

I'd be careful doing this myself. It should not be attached from the rear light clusters. Power should come directly from the fusebox beside the steering wheel. There is a dedicated box that fits the Stilo for the electrical matter. Not even independent garages do the Stilo's trailer hook over here - Fiat job only.

M.

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by a dedicated electrical box? I'm not sure what that is.

Are you saying i should remove what i have done then? I'm annoyed with the company i bought the towbar off cos' they said to do it this way!

Cheers.

Hello roboticgimp,
What did you do to the indicators? Did you simply connect the trailer lights to the indicator bulb connections at the rear clusters?
The dedicated unit is a Bosch "black box" that connects in to the standard car wiring and rects with the body computer to get everything working correctly. No prize for guessing that will cost a lot - LOL.
If you are handy with car electrics it is easy enough to use the feeds to the rear clusters to drive relays and then power the trailer lights from the output of the relay. That is what I did with my MW. The MW has a live power feed below the rear left cluster so easy enough to connect up power to the relays.
You can use the relay units (breakout relay) that towbar suppliers tend to use. That is basically doing the relay job with all the relays in one package. The breakout units also provide an audible warning that is a legal requirement!!

I guess that I should say that the correct way to do this is to use the Bosch unit and to wear eye-protection when working on cars.

I've no problem doing electrics as long as i know which cable is going where. If i bought one of these

http://www.towsure.com/product/13145-Smart_7_Way_Can-Bus_Relay

would it do the job? If not, can anybody recommend a relay i can get?!

Also, i have connected the lights directly to the cluster, big mistake perhaps?

I don't think i have a live feed under the cluster in my Active though i'm sure i can find another elsewhere.

Cheers

I recently wired up a towbar to my Stilo.

1.You need a 7 way bypass relay. - get one.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7-way-Smart-b...ryZ33653QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
2. You need a +12V supply. (I used the one from the boot cigarette lighter socket.
3. Wire the bypass relay to the passengers side rear light wiring, with one wire going across to the other side for the indicator. Colour coding is all standard trailer wiring colours.

You say it beeps when you put the indicators on? Are you sure you are not already using a bypass relay as they beep when the indicators are on, or do you mean you get a beep from the dashboard indicating a fault.

The beeping comes from a flashmaster audible relay which came with the towbar when i ordered it. I'll get one of those relays and fit that, hopefully that'll fix it.

Cheers

roboticgimp said:

The beeping comes from a flashmaster audible relay which came with the towbar when i ordered it. I'll get one of those relays and fit that, hopefully that'll fix it.

Cheers

Click to expand...

OK, so you do have a bypass relay. You do not need to buy another one. Just wire it up correctly and it should work.

I've just spoken to the towbar company and got put through to one of their installers and he reckons that i need the relay, and the thing i have got is just a beeper unit.

Tried to make them send me a new one on the grounds that i called the company and asked for a complete system and its not my fault if they made the mistale on their end. No surprise they said no.

The unit is wired correctly, the installer chap said the relay requires a 12v live to make everything work properly.

So think twice before ordering from HEDLEYS ALARM AND TOWING CENTRE

http://www.hedley-towbars.co.uk/

I'd get the 12V+ live from the fusebox instead of the cigarette lighter, in case the current flow gets too high for the cigarette lighter feed. It's an easy pull. Still sceptic, but it seems to work, as more of you have done it yourselves. But beware that the Stilo's electric is delicate, and not very happy for overload or voltage drops.

Morten.

Morty Mort said:

I'd get the 12V+ live from the fusebox instead of the cigarette lighter, in case the current flow gets too high for the cigarette lighter feed. It's an easy pull. Still sceptic, but it seems to work, as more of you have done it yourselves. But beware that the Stilo's electric is delicate, and not very happy for overload or voltage drops.

Morten.

Click to expand...

I like the rear lighter as a supply as it exactly where you need it and is switched with the ignition. There is no problem with overloading it as it has a big fuse and anyway if it does blow for some reason, you know there is a problem because the beeping when indicating stops.

Yeah the rear "lighter socket" will be fine. In fact the rear socket is intended for powering things like a chiller box so even if you have a fridge in the trailer it will be OK. Unless of course the trailer has some special requirement.

As I said above, the MW has a nice "beefy" permanent live that can be used also.

Getting to the point that i will need a towbar on my Mw soon and am worried about the electrics and wonder if this is the best thing to buy and i presume its plug and play.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7-Pin-Car-Specific-towbar-wiring-Fiat-Stilo-Est-03-ON_W0QQitemZ380038717361QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

The towbar its self aint a problem and the electrics wont be it this is what i need.

Any advice would be great as i want the min of fuss and will pay whatever i need to make it easy.

Thanks

Muppet1 said:

Getting to the point that i will need a towbar on my Mw soon and am worried about the electrics and wonder if this is the best thing to buy and i presume its plug and play.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7-Pin-Car-Specific-towbar-wiring-Fiat-Stilo-Est-03-ON_W0QQitemZ380038717361QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

The towbar its self aint a problem and the electrics wont be it this is what i need.

Any advice would be great as i want the min of fuss and will pay whatever i need to make it easy.

Thanks

Click to expand...

That will make it incredibly easy! But me, being a skinflint would rather pay £25 - £30 for the 7 way bypass relay (which i wired up this weeken) and have to wire it myself.

But what you have there should work perfectly. I'd perhaps contact the seller and ask them if it is compatible for your particular model and then keep all of the correspondence, at least then if it doesn't work you should be able to send it back.....

Good luck.

when i done my towbar I got a relay box from the scrap yard cost fiver and had 3 relays and 3 fuses, took the supply from the rear cigarette/power socket this drove the lights and brakes the indicaters came off a bleeping relay unit again supplied from the above power socket through the third relay, although the wiring took longer than fitting the towbar I think it was worth it. quote from the dealer just for the electrics was in excess of £200

roboticgimp said:

My Bad, I think i should have checked here first.

Installed my own towbar, which isn't really that hard. But having trouble with the electrics.

I have the indicators and the side lights working fine. It even beeps when i turn left and right!

Problem is, the brake lights, i've wired it as per the supplied instructions but when i hit the pedal the brake light on the trailer is really really dim, if the trailer has the side lights on and then i press the pedal - the side lights go off on the trailer.

I've read something about needing a 7 way bypass relay?? Any help would be cool!

Annoyingly i got the towbar from a reputable dealer who i would have thought would have known about wiring?

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Hi hopefully you are still active on this site since I think your info is from back in 2008? But just about to buy and fit tow bar myself -- Any advice tips will be grateful. Did you have to remove rear bumper if so any guides please? and any thing else you can offer will be much appreciated.
Regards
Alan Ireland