2002 Mk3 Reanult Grand Espace Tow bar and electrics

[colin4255]

Hi Guys, I need some help. I want to fit a towbar to my 2002 Grad Espace Mk3. Its a 2.2Dci JE0K G9T.  I am only interested in single electrics for trailer towing, but there is much conflicted information about whether I need vehicle specific wiring, or whether I can simply use standard 12N electrics and patch them into the rear light wiring loom.

Two tow bar suppliers say I do need vehicle specific wiring kit, 3 more say I do not. My own Renault dealer thinks I don't but they are not sure either - their solution is to fit a £158 renault towbar wiring kit which seems very expensive.

There is no socket in the wiring loom on either side at the rear of the car to take any kind of pre-wired trailer electrics that I can see. The car does not have any system on it for advising of bulb failure or anything clever like that.

I don't want to mess anything up. Does anyone know what I actually need? Do you need more ifnromation to help?

Thanks

[renaultbiler]

If i remember correct on my Espace the tow bar is just connected to one of the back lights for driving and brake lights while the side indicators goes through a relay controlled by the rear side indicators.

[roy4matra]

Hi Guys, I need some help. I want to fit a towbar to my 2002 Grad Espace Mk3. Its a 2.2Dci JE0K G9T.  I am only interested in single electrics for trailer towing, but there is much conflicted information about whether I need vehicle specific wiring, or whether I can simply use standard 12N electrics and patch them into the rear light wiring loom.

Two tow bar suppliers say I do need vehicle specific wiring kit, 3 more say I do not. My own Renault dealer thinks I don't but they are not sure either - their solution is to fit a £158 renault towbar wiring kit which seems very expensive.

There is no socket in the wiring loom on either side at the rear of the car to take any kind of pre-wired trailer electrics that I can see. The car does not have any system on it for advising of bulb failure or anything clever like that.

I don't want to mess anything up. Does anyone know what I actually need? Do you need more ifnromation to help?

Thanks

The Espace III has a tailgate module that controls the tailgate electrics, including the rear wiper, washer, rear fog lights, and the rear interior light wiring, and this is a Matra CAN bus which has a different speed to the Renault CAN bus.

To fit the towing electrics correctly, you need the correct wiring kit, but if you are not bothered about wiring it up to the correct standard then you may be able to get away without it.

One of the problems with the rear fog lamps when towing is that they are too bright and will reflect off the caravan and dazzle you through your interior mirror.  Consequently, the correct socket for a modern vehicle has a 'disconnect' wired in to the rear fog lamps. i.e. when you plug the towing socket in, it disconnects the rear fog lamps on the towing vehicle and transfers the feed to the trailer fog lamps only.  Since the Espace III fog lamps are controlled by the Matra tailgate module, you must wire them up correctly and with the correct kit.

Also they don't have flasher units anymore - the flash rate is controlled by a timer in the BII, so if you fit a trailer the current load alters and you will upset the electronics, so again the kit has the parts to do the job correctly.  It is quite an involved job overall.  I know as I fitted one some years ago when at the Renault dealer.

Since yours is the last of the Espace and fitted with the late BII you may not be able to wire a trailer socket 'normally' by linking in to the rear lamps without causing problems.  An earlier Espace would probably be O.K.

That is probably why you are getting conflicting information.  It's a while since I worked on these vehicles but I thought they had a rear bulb failure warning via the BII.  If they do, then wiring a trailer socket direct to the lamp will cause problems again.  If not then you should be O.K.

Roy

[colin4255]

Thanks for the useful info.  All I know for sure is my espace does not have a bulb failure warning system on it. Had bulbs fail, nothing came up. I am not sure if I want to splice wires into the rear lighting wires though if its not safe to do so.  Am not planning to tow a caravan, only a small trailer with camping gear in it, but nevertheless, I want to do the wiring properly to avoid issues in the future

[renaultbiler]

Only the indikators are feed directly from BII, hence the indicator relay i mentioned. Rest of lights in main rear lamps are conventionally controlled by relays and fuses and this applys to all JE's regardless of BII vehicle or not.
None of the main rear lights have anything to do with the tailgate module, only whats on the rear door and the rear interiour light.

So you should be fine with tow bar el. connected from rear lamps, thats how it is done - but when buying a kit you get all cables and relays pre made.

[colin4255]

Thanks for that Renaultbiller, I see what you mean now. I know the electrician at my local renault dealer, when he's back from vacation am going to have a word with him and see if he'll wire up the electrics for me without the dealer price tag if you know what I mean