tclinton

Okay, I hesitate to even open this can of worms, nea, can of thermonuclear agony... BUT...

I've been amongst the idiots who bought a Cayenne thinking I could tow a trailer. HA, HA, HA... let's all have a laugh at me. What could I possibly have been thinking?

For the last several months, I've been reading all the info here about the car's inability to "sense" and service an LED-equipped trailer (wattage is too low, resistence is wrong, trailer is too shiny, wheels are too round...). And I've been fiddling around with adding a resistor inline with the trailer wiring. But let's face it, that's a crappy solution.

Well, my local dealer has heard an earful from me (things like "why did I spend $XX to install a hitch that doesn't work?" and "seriously, does Porsche sell a Porsche trailer?"). He's had enough... and maybe gave me an answer.

Evidently U-Haul (yes, U-Haul) is selling an adaptor that plugs inline with the trailer's 4-way plug. It's probably nothing more than a resistor that loads the circuit properly for the Cayenne to recognize the trailer. Here's the link:

http://store.uhaul.com/product_detail.aspx?id=4089

From their website:

For use with Volkswagen, Porsche or Audi vehicles with manufacter installed wiring and equipped with automatic trailer lamp monitoring systems when towing trailers equipped with LED lights.

* Allows VW's, Porsche's and Audi's to pull a trailer with LED Light System.
* Use only with trailers equipped with LED lights.


So, I've ordered one -- will post you all on the results next weekend. Either we'll finally have a way to run LED trailers behind a Cayenne, or I'll have a great story about how my truck burned down. Either way, it should be fun.

TC

356driver

Well this could really spoil all the fun on this forum. We'll be waiting for your report. Do you think Koolaid would buy the rights to this device in order to protect their revenue?

ltc

I've double checked.....I know I didn't say "trailer lights".

OK, so here's a question:

1. The Cayenne has a 7pin Pollack connector (trailer lights and electric brakes).

2. The UHaul (originally posted a while back by our resident recluse 'wingless') is a 4 pin adapter.
http://store.uhaul.com/product_detail.aspx?id=4089
(yup, definitely 4 pins, definitely 4 pins....KMart sucks, 30 minutes to Wapner)

So, assuming you have a trailer/car hauler that is electric brake (dual axle) equipped with a 7pin cable/connector, how do you connect the 4pin UHaul adapter in between 2 7 pin connectors....and keep the electric brakes working?

ltc

1. You're not an idiot.
2. No one is laughing at you.
3. I have no idea what you were thinking......I know I tried to 'spread the word' about the 'alleged compatibility issues' regarding a Cayenne/Touareg and trailer lighting.
4. You're amongst friends here (well, most of the people here, we've got some odd ducks in this pond), pour yourself a Purplesaurus Rex and relax.....

LVDell

How do you connect it??? Easy:

Connect a 7 to 4 adapter to the Pollack plug on the hitch and then plug in this uhaul gizmo, then connect the other end of the gizmo to a 4 to 7 adapter and then to your trailer. Simple as that!

ltc

Fair enough....I'll let you test it.....I'll be following BEHIND you.

LVDell

Don't forget to stop when the red lights illuminate! .......if they do

ltc

(techncially, it's the bride's daily driver.....)
https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...chmentid=97134

Not a "!" to be found.

LVDell

Now that's a truck!

ltc

05 Eddie Bauer edition, 4x4, 6.0l Powerstroke diesel, 5speed transmission with tow mode, 44 gallon tank, 12000# tow capacity (it could pull a Cayenne, an oen trailer AND a track car), full leather/front and rear captain's chairs, DVD, dual zone A/C.......pretty much a modern day 'Cowboy Cadillac'.

almost forgot.....

tclinton

Yeah, forgot to mention that this (alleged) solution would only work for those of us trying to pull trailers not equipped with brakes.

If you have brakes, I suppose you could just wire the U-Haul adaptor directly into the MOST system, and use your PCM to operate the brakes. I'm sure Dension has a control unit "on the way."

Stay tuned - will have some humorous results shortly...

ltc

You COULD adapt this to work with trailer brakes....you would simply have to fabricate a 7p female to 4pin AND 7 pin break out cable.......brake voltage/GND stays in the 7 to 7 cable while the 4 pin is wired out to the adapter at one 7pin and then back into the harness into the 7 pin.

You could buy all the parts at etrailer and wire it up in a couple of hours.....or just buy a proper tow vehicle (99% on the planet) that simply doesn't require such nonsensical bandaids.....even though PCNA insists there is nothing wrong with the Cayenne......God, I should get that framed.

TimC.

Sweet rig !! so if you already had the "All American Cowboy Cadillac Tow Truck" the question must be asked.....why did you even attempt to construct a "german tow truck"

ltc

Stupidity, trust, personal ***** and g!ggles.

I had a 1997 F250HD 7.3L Powerstroke 4x4 Crew Cab short bed custom conversion (Pacifica package) done by Centurion....a spectacular looking truck, the wife had an 00 Limited Excursion 7.3L diesel. At the time there was nothing to tow (just move her Saint Bernards around and she was a Girl Scout troop leader, so moving Scouts here and there), no trailer, no Cup car, no kart for my son. So I sold the F250 and bought an Audi S4 sedan.....not really sure why.
Then along came the 996TT, followed by the RSAmerica (why did I sell that??), then the Cup car, the trailer and then a kart for my son.

So, I decided to sell the S4 (great car, but I was never in love with it) and get a Cayenne for several reasons:
1. I like to support my local Porsche dealer (THE best Porsche dealer on the planet) and at the time PCNA/PAG (boy how that has changed)
2. It SEEMED like it would be a tow capable (6000# max) daily driver (wouldn't have to use the Excursion) and leave my wife with the S4 (not exactly Saint Bernard emergency vet visit friendly).....although when we were dating I gave her my 1980 Indianapolis Pace Car Turbo Trans Am....and she would drive around with the T-tops off (T-tops.....there's a blast from the past) with her 180# Saint Bernard sticking his head out the top....but I digress.
3. Since I designed the MOST DSP audio amplifier for it (and all the other Porsches) and it was the first vehicle to have the 3rd speaker in the front to generate surround fill from stereo sources (Centerpoint), my family figured it would be sort of neat to own one, considering what I put into getting it ready for production at Porsche, Audi and Mercedes..... Got a framed painting from Porsche with a cutaway showing the audio/infotainment system.

It was funny, right after I drove home, I just had the feeling this was going to be a nightmare.....the car never felt like it belonged....and then the TSB's started, the entire A/C system grenaded ($5K warranty repair).....
Well, we pretty much know the rest of the story, starting from the first "!" and ending with the vehicle being 'sold'....I'll skip the legal bits in the middle.

Could I have designed an intelligent solution to the "!". Yes, of course. It's about as simple as designing an iPod interface for MOST(hello Mudman2!).

But I didn't feel it was the right thing to do, especially for a bunch of people who insisted there was nothing wrong, so no need to fix anything (hello Legal department), so bye bye Cayenne, hello06 Ford Escape Hybrid daily driver (a REALLY neat little car), hello 'new' tow vehicle (bride's 05 Excursion)....and some jewelery and a 968Cab for her to have fun with in the summer.

Mechanically, the Cayenne/PASM was pretty darned good. Electrically, you shouldn't have to unplug lights (a TBD # of them by trial and error), drive around with a "!", wait for total darkness to set in, arguing with some absolute nit wits at PCNA (that really goes up my *** sideways, having a genius level IQ and having to argue with people who drag their knuckles when they walk; however there are some nice folks at PCNA) over if it's really a design flaw or not (although it was humorous/memorable to have the engineer in Germany responsible for the towbar control unit swearing in German over the phone....she never stood a chance technically against me, but it was fun to watch everyone flounder)....then throw in the legal implications.....ah, F*&k it).

But if you do have a 'happy trailer lighting/Cayenne combination', then you're all set....except for TSB's, cowboy belt buckles, poor qualtiy control, rear window microswitches, etc.

Does that answer your question?

TimC.

Ahhhhhh hmmmm yeah....thanks?? LOL


...just kidding that was a great story though !! The other lesson learned for me here is Don't buy a new model car for thefirst few years!!