skideeppow

did anyone see this.

This is so clean, i could live with this

allroaddave

That's my car, I posted the pic today so you all can see how the factory hitch does it...........my understanding is the box just has relays in it so that you don't put extra load on the bulb circuits in the car, seems like it would not be that hard to fab one up.

Todd Beaulieu

It figures you'd be one of the lucky ones with the factory harness, Dave!

This is what drives me nuts. Audi provides no help in understanding our cars. We're left guessing.

Yesterday someone suggested that we do NOT use powered converters.

We dfinitely DO NEED 3-2 way converters, though.

Your harness is a 3-2 way converter. I have no idea if it's self powered, though, tapping into the continous feed and pwoering the trailer lights via "relays". I need to resolve this question to order a converter.

Todd Beaulieu

I just popped the back off the 13-pin connector box. Very interesting, indeed!

I believe I found a valuable clue in the debate about whether the car senses it's towing so it can make adjustments to parktronic, shifting, level control and to monitor the light bulbs on the trailer itself.

Check out these pictures showing an additional switch hidden away in the connection box. It gets activated when a 13-pin plug slides in.

I've found nothing mentioning the towing wiring in Bentley printed manual. I'll try the application next ... have to enable UAC and reboot for that stupid thing to work.

(please don't use my fingerprints for anything bad)

allroaddave

I posted over in the Curt hitch thread......

Here in Kansas, a small enough trailer used only in daylight hours does not need a lic plate or signal lights, just FYI. If your trailer and your state has similar rules, it may not be needed.....

I don't have it with me today to look, but I wonder who the OEM mfr was of the black box, maybe they still make them?

Also, most European cars have similar lights and elect systems to the Audi, and I know many hitch sellers offer a converter box, seems like one of those should work fine with the Audi too, but would need to be hard wired in.

Todd Beaulieu

OEM was Hopkins. I posted their original part number previously. They have record of it. Dead end.

Todd Beaulieu

The printed Bentley does not include the trailer connector, but the desktop application does.

The switch I found hidden in the socket box is to shut off the car's fog lights when the 13-pin plug is inserted. It also seems to ground a terminal on the "parking aid control module".

I see nothing to indicate that other functions of the car would be altered when towing, so that rumor is still just that.

JustMtnB44

How many wires are running into the box with the 4 pin plug on it?

Do other manufacturers provide help to owners in understanding the electrical systems of their cars that have been out of production for 5 years? Seems unlikely, but I agree it sucks.

I am going to try the unpowered 3-2 way converter first. We'll see if it causes any light warnings.

I still maintain that never have I seen mention of any systems of the car changing when a trailer is connected, short of disabling the rear back up sensors and the rear fog lights as you just found out. The car would have no reason to change it's suspension or shifting patterns for towing. The owners manual says to manually set the car to level 2 if not there already when towing to allow the self-leveling suspension to work properly.

I also wanted to mention that I only use LED tail lights on trailers now. They draw much less power than bulbs, are just as bright and last forever. So with LED lights and a non-powered converter I doubt there will be any issues, but as I said I will find out shortly. I'm still waiting on the Euro plugs I ordered to come in.

Todd Beaulieu

How many wires run into the module? Six, but it's sealed. You need 6wires for a 3-2 conversion.

Five years out of production? But they NEVER published any information about suggested wiring for towing, even when it was in production.

I haven't looked for the modified programming since you asked. I saw it somewhere. Think it was here, actually. Probably wrong.

But it does make sense. Why not have the auto trans stay in a lower gear longer when towing? Why not keep the suspension at the same height, instead of letting it change by up to 6 inches when towing? It was even claimed that the dash would tell you if a trailer light was out.

JustMtnB44

On Saturday I finally received the mating Euro connectors I ordered. I put one together with this converter module. All trailer lights work as expected, and no warning lights are trigged in the car. However, it is not disabling the backup sensors. That must be tied in to a pin I'm not using, so I'll have to do some testing and find out which one it is.