Tow Bar Electrics

Don't need to on ours, the stop start switches off automatically when towing, as does the rear parking sensors.

It may be due to the fact we got the manufacturer's wiring electrics (KIA) fitted before we got the car at the dealers, but we made sure to ask for the extra wiring.

The basic wiring is called a 13 Pin Wiring Harness and the extra to charge batteries, fridge, ATC... is called 13 pin wiring supplemental.

 Find another fitter, one who knows and understands what he is talking about. I have a later Santa Fe and it works fine, there is no reason for it no to work fine. I do not know what part of the system would overheat, if you use correct wiring and control unit then they will work fine.

The smart alternator issue can be explained in simple terms by looking at how they operate. The alternator only charges the battery when the engine is in the sweet spot of torque and revs, this means that you are not dragging the load of the alternator at low revs or high load and thus adding emissions and burning excessive fuel. BUT, the charger circuit for the van is only energized when the alternator is on load. The car turns the alternator off, the van charger does not work. The car turns the alternator on and its own battery sucks the current. The van battery only gets the scraps or in some cases never gets switched on. Whilst this can be an issue it is now better understood and can be overcome in virtually all vehicles. 

Probably.  We bought a pre registered vehicle, so factory fit towbar was not available, asked the dealer to fit one but they declined, so we had to go to a trailer/towbar place to get the job done.  Everything necessary  turns off when the van is attached, other than the stop/start.

The instruction to turn it off manually is in the handbook.

Sorry to cross post and/or intrude, Kjell. Is your 2016 VW equipped with a factory fitted or with an aftermarket towbar, and if the latter, has the canbus been coded to switch the stop/start automatically when the caravan is hitched up? I have a 2016  VW Tiguan and, having paid the VW Dealer for a towbar installation when I bought the car, am being given all sorts of waste product of bovine about it being impossible to code an aftermarket towbar, despite the salesman promising me that it could and would be done! Complaint with VW Customer Care at present so fingers crossed that they will resolve matters.

Steve

Steve, it has nothing to do with the towbar. It is the way its wired. They have two options to wire the electrics.

1. Tap into the vehicle wiring and use the signals through an aftermarket ECU controller. Perfectly acceptable and done a few of my own cars this way. It is a cheaper option.

2. Use the dedicated wiring (available for aftermarket) and add an OE tow module. This gives the same result but gives added functionality to turn some features on or off as required, it also lets the vehicle know when you are towing and the stability electronics tweaks a few thing to make the towing better. A lot more expensive.

The issue is what was specified for your purchase of the towbar, if they stated OE equipment then stick to your guns. Also ask them to check the voltage between pins 10 and 11 to make sure they fully wired it, as per the OP issue.

2. Use the dedicated wiring (available for aftermarket) and add an OE tow module. This gives the same result but gives added functionality to turn some features on or off as required, it also lets the vehicle know when you are towing and the stability electronics tweaks a few thing to make the towing better. A lot more expensive.

I think that too much is expected of some cars to automatically switch various things on & off. The towbar on my ML is factory fitted but the reverse sensors on the car require a prod of a digit to turn them off, there is also a trailer setting for suspension/transmission that alters the shift points etc but I've to select it myself.

Not factory fit as we bought a pre registered Touareg, 4 months old and 14 miles on the clock, but the discount was excellent.

We did ask the dealer to fit a VW approved towbar, but they just were not interested, perhaps they had had a bad experience!

The  vehicle does recognise that there is a trailer attached and rear parking sensors are disabled,  but not the stop start function.  It is not a problem, and the fact the handbook says to turn off the stop start when towing does make me wonder whether that is standard on this model.

 The lack of proper caravan battery charging and fridge operation due to the smart alternator was a much bigger problem, now solved by fitting a battery to battery charger in the caravan.

Sorry, Phishing, my clumsy terminology! I was offered the 'Full functionality of the VW Towbar' and paid for that level of installation. The Trailer Support system works fine, with ABS/ESP et al all doing their uprated functions perfectly, and the fridge charging/permanent live wires being present via the dedicated loom/module.

What's missing is the auto stop/start disabling coding when hitched up. I know from the VW Tiguan Forum that the coding can be changed to carry this out automatically, so I am perplexed that a main VW Dealership cannot do this!

Perhaps they take the view that they outsource the work to Towbar Fitters and can't be bothered to check that all coding changes have been made? Either way, I shall not be doing any further business with the Dealer in question.If VW Customer Care cannot resolve the issue, I shall not be buying a VW when it comes time to replace my Tiguan.

Steve