burtonwisher Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Hi all I intend to buy a light board for hanging on the back of the bike rack on my 2010 Autotrail Apache 700, as when all the bikes are loaded the van indicator lights are obscured, especially when we have the cover over the bikes. Has anybody got experience of installing a 7 pin electrical socket to this vehicle? I'm comfortable doing it DIY so I'm looking for any input anybody can give to help me out. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelwd Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Hi, No direct experience, but have some advice. Firstly what is the base of your vehicle, e.g. Fiat Ducato. In essence this is the important part, as the make of vehicle will depend how easy it is. Most modern vehicles have all their electrics computer controlled and unfortunately many of them will 'panic' if you just splice into the existing cables and add a trailer socket. Some will just need the computer updating and telling that there is a trailer socket, others will need an extra box of tricks adding in as well. Based on installing a couple of tow bars and electrics on modern cars (2012 golf and 2010 Vivaro van) it works out cheeper and easier in the long run to go to an auto electric place and ask them to do it for you. Others might have more specific advice. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burtonwisher Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 Hi Thanks for the reply and tip. It is indeed a Fiat Ducato base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Will is 100% correct. In order to cut costs and the miles of wiring used they now use a single wire to carry high and low pulses to allow one wire to activate more than one bulb. Clever stuff. A decent auto electrician is required and definitely not joe blogs at the local little garage. Recently my main dipped bulb went. Easy job. Replace bulb. It took the AA a few mins to find the problem. The ECU noted a fault and only sent a low volt pulse and not enough to make the bulb work. AA man deleted the fault and headlights worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Or buy a dedicated wiring harness which comes complete with detailed fitting instructions... https://www.pfjones.co.uk/towbar-wiring-kits/fiat-towbar-wiring-kits/fiat-ducato-towbar-wiring-kits/fiat-ducato-chassis-cab-towbar-wiring-kits/fiat-ducato-chassis-cab-2006-2015-towbar-wiring-kits.html Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 https://tinyurl.com/ssdtbkd This is a kit similar to what I've used easy to follow instructions came with mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsticks Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 The Bypass relays included in the kit mentioned above work very well and are quite straighforward to fit. There are various makes available though I have only used the Ryder model. I have fitted one on a Ducato for a friend and on our Transit Mk7 as well as my last two cars, an Audi and a Honda. Every one worked faultlessly and reliably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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