A3 8PA CJ4 retro fit Westfalia towbar

[adrian41uk]

So, I've finally gotten round to fitting the towbar on my A3. I choose the Westfalia detactable towbar system and found, on a 'popular Auction site' the genuine Audi 13 pin electrics kit (8P0 055 204G).

Fitting was quite straight forward (Thanks to others on here for the 'How to ' guides which helped me remove the light clusters, boot trim & rear bumper). I bought the lower bumper spoiler (with the towbar 'pocket') from Audi (£95) and had my local friendly garage spray it in Ibis white (£60 inc paint).

I had the mechanical side done and the bumper back on in an afternoon. The electrics took another day! Not because its difficult, but because it involves removing a fair bit of the interior trim & routing cables from the boot area to the fusebox. The kit, although badged Audi is actually Westfalia. Its obviously been translated from another language but its still quite clear on what to do. It does involve opening up a few existing connectors in the cars' wiring harness & exchanging some terminals across but its not too challenging.

The only disappointing thing is that the kit doesn't include a permanent 12V connection to the 13 pin socket, yet, strangely, does include the switched 12V connection. The permanent 12V terminals ( pins 9 & 11) are brought back into the boot and terminate on a 3 pin connector.... I'm now trying to find the mating half to this. The Audi part number on the connector is 4B0 971 993. Does anybody know the part number for the mating half of this???

[Guest 2]

Could you post a pic of 4B0971993?

Have you had the trailer function enabled with VCDS?

I done the exact same as you but fitted a 7pin dedicated kit which was very very easy to fit compared to the Audi/Westfalia kit.

[adrian41uk]

connector 1.jpgconnector 2.jpg

This is the connector in question. I tried asking Westfalia directly but it would seem that the Audi badged harness is not quite the same as the one they sell under their own name.

Yes, it uses the Audi trailer module & I have programmed the car using VCDS. All quite straight forward really, all functions working OK... parking assist cancelled, fog light cut off working.

Just the perm 12V left to sort. I guess I could just cut the connector off & use something else.... but I'd like to use the correct beastie if I can :-)

PS. why can't I format my post (add carriage returns..... what am I missing?) (edit: Yes, I'm using IE10 under Win7 Pro 32 bit. Its working fine in compatibility mode. Strange)

[Guest 2]

I'll have a look and see what I can find, could you post up the part number on the control module too?

As for your return button - VW AUDI Forum - Return Key / Enter Key / Carriage Return not working

[adrian41uk]

Many Thanks Chris.

Here is the trailer ECU in the lower right hand corner of the boot space.

Trailer ECU.jpg

[adrian41uk]

Ok, I've managed to answer my own question!

The part number of the mating half, for anyone else who comes along is 893 971 633. I've yet to find a UK source (I can buy it in the US for $4 ..... and pay $40 shipping!) but I'm sure that's just a matter of googling......

Also, I think the original part number may well be 480 971 993 not 4B0 971 993 as originally stated.