V Series Towbar Wiring

[gskilling]

have had a towbar and wire plug fitted.was then told that with this model of car the indicators draw too much current when you have a trailer or caravan connected,so would have to replace caravan indicator bulbs with led.have done that and at least the indicators work now,but very faint. ha s anybody overcome this problem? any help/comments most appreciated.

[Chris Rogers]

yep - relays! use one of every circuit and tie the other side to +12 via a 10A fuse. the car runs on a limited supply as the lights are LEDs.

[gskilling]

thanks chris,its all a bit beyond me,do you think an average auto sparky would understand your reply?. have already had the car in to them and all they did was resolder the plug on the car which of course didnt fix the problem! cheers

[Chris Rogers]

probably not. if they did as you said then I would find another one.

where are you?

[gskilling]

sunny auckland!!

[Chris Rogers]

ok - if you were QLD based I was going to tell you to come see me.

I would find a autoelec used to working on BMW/benz as those cars sort of follow your rules.

the idea on what I have said is to switch current off the battery supply rather than the acutal lights. you use the lights to trip the relays.

[Ant]

You need something called a power converter - attached is the Infiniti TSB that talks about it (G35 = USDM version of our V35 Skylines). Basically it is a box that contains the relays which Chris refers to.

Not sure where you can get these in NZ - maybe Supercheap/Repco?

As Chris notes somebody who works with Euro cars can probably help.

Where did you get your towbar fitted and what did it cost? Been meaning to get one fitted to my 250GT for a while now...

If you get this sorted can you post up here again - useful info for the Auckland dwellers...

ITB04_020e.pdf

[Chris Rogers]

that in reality gives MORE than enough info to make one.

go to jaycar and get:

5 transistors (BC337 will do)

5 10k resistors

5 diodes (1N4004 will do)

5 SPST 12v relays (12v coils)

and build 5 separate circuits using the transistor and resistor to drive the relay . the diode is there for spike protection from the relay coil

see here for the concept:

http://www.jaycar.com.au/images_uploaded/relaydrv.pdf

you need the first one

background here

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/trancirc.htm

from there Download the data sheet on the BC337

http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/...ips/BC337_3.pdf

pin it out and away you go.

the OE lights fire the transistor (draw on this is WELL below the spec in the nissan sheet posted above.) that in turn fires the relay and sends 12v to the auxilary lights (IE trailer.)

theres my $1 worth on this topic

[gskilling]

holy crap,thats too much information,im a chippy not a diode soldering type person.!! the tow bar was manufactured and fitted by ackerbilt in penrose,nice tidy job but i obviously cant recommend their wiring!!.it cost $490.00 all up.will post again when this is sorted.thanks people for your help.

[Chris Rogers]

you asked for a solution

[Ant]

Cheers for that Chris, wish I had time to whip up something like that...

I'm guessing you should be able to get something like that from an auto sparky who knows what they are doing. I know a good one in Pt Chev - Ron Wood auto electrical. Not sure if he has these modules, but he knows what he is doing so might be able to help.

Will keep my eye open for one of these modules - shouldn't be too hard to come by these days.

[Chris Rogers]

Ant,

thing is with these cars I have to make things like that. I have found if you upset one of these cars it will stay mad at you for a LONG time. the later cars ('04.5+ ) are straight CAN and really do not like being fiddled with.

background is electronics eng. mixed with autoelectrics.

find someone who has a electronics background they can knock that up in no time. (I'm in the midst of doing one now for a car.)