Peugeot 508 as a tow car

[djidjip]

We recently upgraded our tow car from a 2006/2007 gen 1 Kia Sorento to a 2020 Peugeot 508SW 2.0 bHDI EAT8.
We got the car from a local Peugeout dealer with extended warranty and I specifically insisted on the dealer installing a towbar to avoid potential finger-pointing and void of said warranty if something went wrong.
The latter took three months and proved a huge mistake. It was either their first time installing a towbar or they have huge communication issues.
I somehow found out they included the correct OEM electric kit for my vehicle (Peugeot #1688059780), but when I hooked the car to our Dethleffs van, I got a cryptic error message 'Trailer connection error. Repair needed.
I've pulled the same van with 4 different vehicles last year and none of them reported any errors, so I assumed the dealership did a lousy job and took the car back to them. They did a 'test' with a DIY set of car lights hooked to a 7-pin connector (although my van and the car are equipped with a 13-pin Jaeger) and said nothing is wrong on the vehicle side. They were not willing to share any documentation for the cable kit that could help me trace the fault, so armed with all the knowledge I've acquired while reading caravanchronicles.com, I spent two evenings replacing the caravan's 13-pin connector and testing each wire until I found a short in one of the side lights that was obviously making the car nervous and making it shut down the whole left side of the caravan (pin 5).
It appears that french cars are way too sensitive to short circuits in german caravans.
Also, I don't like the design of this side light. Even after replacing both connectors the risk is to high for a shortage here, and I'll need to re-address it. Times six.
I'm having mixed feelings here, part of me is amazed that my car can now sense the resistance on a pin and shut it down automatically while notifying the driver, and another part is pissed off by the lack of proper documentation and the bad experience at the dealership.

 

[birdman101]

Those strands of bare wire near to the lamp holder are just waiting to short with vibration. Badly need insulation cover.

 

[djidjip]

Exactly what I did, shortened them a bit and put new connectors on. But the design of the whole light is far from perfect, each cable passing right next to the bare connector with a 5w light in a tight space, year after year = trouble.

 

[otherclive]

Modern electrics in cars can be very sensitive to wiring issues in trailers. Good though that you’ve resolved the issue. So the dealership diagnosis wrt to the cars towing fitment was correct? Did the dealership actually install the towbar, as a lot seem to contract out the task to local towbar fitting companies.

 

[djidjip]

I wish they did outsource it as they charged me more than anything else on the market, but warranty and all... They did it in-house, obviously. When I asked for help they said the guy who did it was on a 2-week leave and there was nobody else to ask. Then they tested with the DIY 7-pin tester and demanded why I didn't have a 13-to-7 adapter in my car.... and yet, I should give them credit, they did wire it correctly.

 

[otherclive]

The only car that I used a dealership for was a generation 1 Mondeo estate and after a tow to Scotland it started to develop a clunk as the car moved forward. It transpired that the dealers fitter had failed to install a support tube into a body section. The support tubes purpose was to stop the body section deforming as the towbar flange was torqued up. So the clunk was caused by the deformation of the body section and slackening of the towbar flange. After that it was NTTA fitting companies every time.

 

[RogerL]

The only car that I used a dealership for was a generation 1 Mondeo estate and after a tow to Scotland it started to develop a clunk as the car moved forward. It transpired that the dealers fitter had failed to install a support tube into a body section. The support tubes purpose was to stop the body section deforming as the towbar flange was torqued up. So the clunk was caused by the deformation of the body section and slackening of the towbar flange. After that it was NTTA fitting companies every time.

I seem to recall that Ford and the towbar companies weren't aware of the problem until they received customer complaints - so a revised fitment was developed with the support bars which then had to be retro-fitted to early installations.

I don't think there's any guaranteed way of getting towbars fitted - I used to fit the towbars and electrics to each of my cars - but more recently my Santa Fe was sub-contracted out to a towbar specialist who did a poor job with the electrics which had to be redone by an auto electrician - and my Touareg was a factory-fit option and actually done at the factory, not dealer-fit, with full function but missing the higher-powered cooling fan, which had to be retro-fitted.