Being told that because of LED taillights on the car that if you dont get the correct wiring set up you can have all sorts of electrical issues and deefault warnings take place. Has anybody just had their wiring done? and can comment. Some auto sparkies not interested in doing it as they have run into issues with them. Any comments appreciated
rctr,
Mar 13, 1:24am
The harness and ECU are cheap compared to repairs to ETACS ecu CANline repairs and/or tail lights. All electronics on outlander are controlled and monitored by ETACS ECU and if excessive current is detected on a circuit usually results in a fail safe cond
franc123,
Mar 13, 3:07am
Which means in English you take it to a Mitsubishi dealer to get the correct tow harness fitted, and configured as the case may be.
brapbrap8,
Mar 13, 4:21am
You need to get Mitsubishi to do it or the car will not be happy. You can't just get any old towbar and wiring on a new car, dealer should install it to avoid damage to the computer systems.
morrisjvan,
Mar 13, 4:22am
Why can't modern vehicles have the trailer plug wired into them in the factory? it would cost sweet F.A to do it as part of the loom surely? and while they are at it , how about fitting the tow bar as well , and just have the tongue as an extra.
tamarillo,
Mar 13, 4:25am
Because the huge majority don't want it and don't want the added cost. In many parts of the world it's very rare to see trailers being towed.
franc123,
Mar 13, 4:41am
The looms on those vehicles intended for export to markets where there is demand for towbars will have provision for the actual plug and wiring to go in, its simply a large multi plug taped back to the rear end loom, as well as mount points for the towbar itself. There will be also a plug located nearby or even in a totally different location in the vehicle for a towing module to be fitted, and then configured and integrated into the cars communications network. None of this is fitted standard for the same reason as other bits and pieces like monsoons or mudflaps or roof boxes and the like aren't, ie considered to be optional equipment.
morrisjvan,
Mar 13, 4:44am
Yeah, but if it was done from the design stage it would cost almost nothing. years ago radio's, indicators and seatbelts weren't fitted as factory either, but we've moved on a bit since then.
brapbrap8,
Mar 13, 5:28am
Most of the big american utes and SUVs have trailer brake controllers as standard, not sure if they come with all the wiring for that or not though.
ralphdog1,
Mar 13, 5:50am
Define "almost nothing" then consider that there is roughly a 100,000 Outlanders produced a year. (800,000 from 2006-2012) and work out how much extra it is on the bottom line each year. $10 a vehicle is $1M a year, that's an extra diamond ring for the CEO's Wife.
rctr,
Mar 13, 1:05pm
Op what outlander do you have. They went plug and play around 09 my makes the job really easy. However imports are not plug and play and a bit of extra work
yogibearz,
Mar 13, 3:40pm
I would do what this guy says as he has fitted many of them and knows the electronics of Outlander backwards. In short .yes the dealer should do it.
gemini11,
Mar 14, 8:10am
Much said about getting dealer to do it. Problem is Mitsi dealers will not supply a wiring harness as a single item you must purchase a towbar to go with it. Head office policy I have been informed by 3 dealers I approached. I have a geniune Mitsi towbar but because the wiring was not purchased at time of towbar purchase they will not sell a wiring loom. Mitsi have their head stuck in the sand on this one given how many Outlanders there are on the road surely there must be a tidy profit to sell wiring looms to those owners. Other interesting thing I have learned is that a lot of towbar installers I have contacted just use standard wiring set up and when questioned about LED being different told they have done lots of Outlanders with just standard wiring and had no complaints.
lazzo,
Mar 14, 11:31am
No you really do need the correct wiring harness for the vehicle, if you do it the cheap way it is sure not to be too cheerful!
Also worthy to note on Outlander, you must get a tow bar with a detachable tongue, unless you want the tow ball driven right through your bumper when you drop the tailgate onto it, there's a nice wee spot in that tray under the floor in the rear to place the tongue when not in use. :)
rctr,
Mar 14, 2:28pm
What model year is your outlander. Also it's not so much the tail lights that give trouble it's all the other sensitive electronics on the car basically the loom and ecu with loom isolate trailer wiring making its own circuit so no extra load is put on vehicle systems. Out of interest what dealers have you asked?
bwg11,
Mar 14, 4:38pm
Not suggesting you use anything but the genuine Mitsubishi loom, but I have used this product successfully on a late model Toyota. It is basically a bank of electronic relays which isolates the trailer and puts no load on the vehicles wiring system.
if its only one trailer you will mostly be towing eg boat,caravan,personal trailer BNT have a unit you can get wired to the body of the trailer and that will stop any problems or they can also do a flat pin plug adaptor at both ends with a built in resistor
xs1100,
Mar 14, 8:00pm
very similar to what bwg is talking about and with modern electronics its now getting to the stage were its easier and better to wire into the trailer plug rather than trying to wire to the OE wiring loom
gemini11,
Mar 14, 8:31pm
Great posts thanks.
supernova2,
Mar 14, 9:12pm
Off the top of my head I have a feeling that insisting you buy something you don't want in order to buy something you do want is against the law. Are Mitsi saying that if you want a "replacement" harness you will have to buy a 2nd bar as well?. That's a bit like saying you need an oil filter so you have to buy the oil from us too.
xs1100,
Mar 15, 3:12am
its not the wiring its the fact that led draw less current that bulbs so in effect the computer senses that something's been plugged into the wiring but is not drawing enough current so goes into reset mode as I said easy enough to rectify through BNT and a good sparky trick is wether to mount at trailer or vechile
gunhand,
Mar 15, 3:41am
Geez modern motoring huh, Ive got an 06, had no tow bar on it. As part of the deal I asked for one. Got a brand new one. I put it on, less than an hour with bumper removal, trailer plug on today, 11 minutes, cost, nothin. Trouble is (or maybe not) that all new cars become older cars us poor folk can afford one day. God help us all.
rlr29,
Apr 28, 5:14pm
Same as gunhand. Unless you have a 2014 ASX or Sport, then you've got a CW5W ~2007 Outlander, and you'll have no problems.
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