13 PIN PLUG ON THE CAR

[DavidWebster1]

WE HAVE A 1997 AWARD CARAVAN AND WE USED TO TOW WITH A VOLVO 2002 S60 (WITH A VOLVO 13 PIN TOWBAR) AND THE FRIDGE WORKED OK. WE NOW HAVE A 2008 XC70 WITH A VOLVO TOWBAR AND THE FRIDGE WILL NOT WORK WITH THIS COMBINATION. ANY IDEAS?

 

[Lutz]

Have you checked whether appropriate leads are actually connected to pins 9,10,11 and 13? Chances are, they are not, in which case these will need to be added.

 

[DavidWebster1]

Have you checked whether appropriate leads are actually connected to pins 9,10,11 and 13? Chances are, they are not, in which case these will need to be added.

I have been looking at the 13 pin plug and that seems ok . Looked in the boot and found that the no 12 pin is not connected.

 

[Chris_374413356]

Hi David

Pin 10, Grey, should be fridge +ve

Pin 11, White/Black should be fridge -ve

Put a multimeter across these pins with the engine running, if you get 12v+ then the fault is elsewhere on the van/fridge

 

[BillD.]

A common problem, if you search posts you will find many from me on this subject, in brief car dealers/manufacturers don't understand caravans (which should not be relevent really, if the pins are there they should just connect them)

Bill D.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Guys I agree here with Bill.D

Heres a confidence boost for you we have just bought a brand new van and couldnt work out why the fridge wouldnt work tow vehicle BMW X5 check wiring to 13 pin socket 10 and 11 wires not there .

Its a manufacture thing but easy to rectify yourselfe.

Good Luck

Sir Roger

 

[BillD.]

I'm not so sure its an easy thing to sort out yourself Sir Roger.

It took Audi a lot of phone calls to sort mine out, a new relay was required.

Bill D.

 

[Jennifer_374461363]

There was a small change in caravan wiring in 1998, so if the S60 towbar was wired to be compatible with your van and the XC70 towbar wiring is standard, that could explain it.

You should find some good info on the Volvo Owners Club website.

 

[cava55]

Tow bar fitted with 13 pin socket got all connections ok 12 volts were it should be, how ever when conected up to van relay was tripping in and out along with charger,so frige was not working so took the car to bits to find out why and the feed for the relay had been taken from the power socket in boot, not strong enough to power relay may be worth a look. Have now feed a feed from the battery and all is well. The moral of this tail is make sure you tow bar fiter knows what he is doing! wont be takeing it there in future.

 

[DavidWebster1]

Tow bar fitted with 13 pin socket got all connections ok 12 volts were it should be, how ever when conected up to van relay was tripping in and out along with charger,so frige was not working so took the car to bits to find out why and the feed for the relay had been taken from the power socket in boot, not strong enough to power relay may be worth a look. Have now feed a feed from the battery and all is well. The moral of this tail is make sure you tow bar fiter knows what he is doing! wont be takeing it there in future.

I have a caravaning friend and I was telling him my problem. He lent me a towsure adaptor to try. This one is sending a supply for the fridge according to my volt tester. But no battery charge supply. In the boot, number 12 has not been connected which looking in various books this is the battery charge. I will try the adaptor at the weekend and see if i can work it out.

Many thanks.

David.

 

[Jennifer_374461363]

If the adaptor you have is a Volvo supplied one then it may be the problem. On ours the battery charging wire had not been connected, just cut off, so check the adaptor. They are easy to open up and rewire.

I don't think pin 12 is used for anything.

 

[Jennifer_374461363]

Just checked, pin 12 is for sensing a trailer connection, not normally used. You need to check what Lutz said, and the adaptor you have.

It would be a good plan to convert the van to 13 pin and do away with the adaptor.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Bill.D

Sorry Bill I forgot to add that we did put a relay in, that wasnt there on the Beemer either but all is well now

Quite simple to do and used a spot lamp relay to do the job.

I hope this helps

Sir Roger

 

[DavidWebster1]

If the adaptor you have is a Volvo supplied one then it may be the problem. On ours the battery charging wire had not been connected, just cut off, so check the adaptor. They are easy to open up and rewire.

I don't think pin 12 is used for anything.

Hi! The 13 pin adaptor that I was given, I stripped down and wrote down all the connections. Been up to the caravan today and removed the two 7 pin plugsb and connected everything into

one 13 pin plug. When I had done this I checked all the road lights and the refridgerator and also the supply to the battery to see if it would charge while being towed. Everything is now working so the problem was in my old adaptor lead. We now have no adaptors, just a 13 pin plug on the end of the two wires.

Thanks very much.

David.