Audi A6 52 plate saloon tow bar electrics

[andythechief]

I've purchased and mechanically fitted a Westfalia removable bar to my 2.5 TDi A6 quattro saloon (with parking sensors). I didn't want to use the by-pass relay kit that came with the bar so I have purchased the genuine Audi wiring loom.

I believe I will have to pull the insides out to run the wires up to the front of the car to the fuse panel- which I think I can live with..... the bit I am not sure about is the ECU- do I need to tell the ECU that towbar electrics have been fitted? If so, can this be done with VAGCOM?

Also- when I fitted the bar itself, I had to take a bit off the parking sensors plastic strip under the back of the car- about 5mm. It looks pretty bad and I have seen another A6 with sensors and a towbar which seems to have a different moulding which allows the bar to be used- is this a separate part number?

Any advice appreciated.

Rgds

Andy

[andythechief]

Continuing to dig around- my wiring loom from Audi has part number 4B0 055 204 GA and is labelled as for the A6 saloon 05/97 onwards. In the kit are instructions which are printed by a company called Erich Jaeger GmbH- which are unfortunately missing pages 3 and 4. I will try Audi tomorrow and see what they can do but if anyone know's who the UK agent is please let me know- their website is entirely in German see ERICH JAEGER - Erich Jaeger (http://www.erich-jaeger.com/de/index2.asp) For anyone who is interested it looks like this company makes the looms for Westfalia who supply VAG. I would say though that the instructions that come from E Jaeger are a lot clearer than the ones from the Wesfalia website- shame they aren't complete!

Also- to anyone who knows what it is- the instructions tell me I need an extra cable set for the car if it has a Check Control System which I can order with the VOTEX number 4B0 055 200. I'm guessing this is the system which checks bulbs to see if they are gone and flashes up on the dash- but I'd welcome any pointers.

How hard can it be to fit a tow bar........

:1zhelp:

[Audi A6 NMD]

Hi, I too have just bought this kit from Audi - 4B0 055 204 GA and like you it doesn't have pages 3 and 4. I also think I may need this other kit, 4B0 055 200 if in fact it is there for bulb checking etc.

I'm just interested to know how you got on with it all in the end. It may be quicker to take it to my local Audi guys and get them to fit the kit for me? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

Nigel

[andythechief]

Hi Nigel- there is light at the end of all this- no pun intended....

I got it all fitted in the end. The extra loom was required as I thought- you know because of what is in your relay panel in the drivers footwell and also by a blown bulb- the latter is easier!

I ended up installing the two part loom and hitch myself- running the power cable all the way to the front up the drivers side- note- English/German translated instruction so they say left side. It took me a while as I've never done this before (approx 1 day) but the missing pages were incredibly helpful and seemed to contain all the bits I needed. So yes, I managed to get the complete document. I tried Audi- no good, I tried TPS where I bought the kit- no good. So I contacted the manufacturer myself as there turned out to be an english section of the site. They just emailed the complete thing to me as a pdf so I sent it on to TPS. Amazing how a little commonsense helps!

I don't think I can upload a pdf file here; email me and I'll send on to you.

I fitted the loom myself because Audi quoted £300 just to fit the wiring- not even the hitch itself!!. I installed it all but needed to take it to a garage to do the final connection for the check control up front- you need a multi block pin removal tool. It cost me £70 for them to do this bit but they checked the rest out too and guess what- now it all works fine :-) I'm really pleased with it.

Note- there are more parts to these kits which extend other functions through the hitch. As you'll know, for a UK 7 pin outlet, you get a 21 pin hitch which you install an adaptor in when it is being used. Being 21 pin, you can extend charging circuits and other things through the hitch (to avoid twin 7 pin sockets) but to do this you need another loom piece. It is all in the instructions but the point being it should be installed at the same time. I wasn't bothered about all that- what I have now works absolutely fine. It automatically cuts the rear fog light when connected, turns off the rear parking sensors to stop you going mad! etc etc.

If you do install yourself, let me know and I have another pointer- one bit in particular was not very obvious re routing the fat loom from inside to the hitch outside.



Andy

[Audi A6 NMD]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for taking the time to reply, it's very much appreciated. If you wouldn't mind emailing the missing pages to me that would be great; my email address is nigel.davies@psu.co.uk

Did you get the additional kit from Audi or from TPS? I haven't made any enquiries yet, my kids have been here all weekend - a bit hectic.

I was going to have a look at doing it myself, depends on how much time I have, I managed to fit the tow bar but that did take a fair amount of time.

I shouldn't need any other bits though, I only want it to plug in a simple lighting board for a motorbike rack, but thanks for the advice re 7 pin adapter. Likewise, any other help regarding this loom you mentioned would be really handy.

Thanks once again and regards.

Nigel