Hi,

I am putting in a 7 way trailer connector and need the detail of the interior harnesses to know where the reverse light power comes from - ideally from what module (and where) through what harnesses and connectors.

The reverse lights on this model are in the tailgate. In our earlier model the reverse lights were in the corner of the body. I simply tapped the wire coming out of the reverse light harness connector just upstream from the pigtail that went in to the corner light assemblies. Since the new one is in the tailgate, I can not do that without running a wire all the way through the tailgate and back through the roof.

So my conundrum is I need to know what interior body harnesses carry the reverse light wire on the drivers side so that I can tap the harnesses there, and not in the tailgate by the light.

I can not do a continuity check as when the lights are not on the wires are grounded. Since many wires in the harnesses are grounds, or grounded, likewise, when not in use - when I do a continuity check I get hits on a bazillion wires. That does nothing to help.

A couple schematics would be greatly appreciated.

For reference, I am not adding any load to the circuit. I just need the voltage as a signal. I trip the light circuit on the outlet/trailer to pull power separately. I just need the signal from the OEM light to trigger it. I had the same set up before on an earlier Outlander and it ran perfectly.

In the harness going to the lights at the tailgate the green wire with yellow stripe is the wire I need to trace through.

See pictures. The red ovals are harnesses that I could use if the wire I need is in them (what I need to find out and hence the post)

The other picture is the connector and the specific wire I need to locate in the other harnesses.

The last bit of info I need is if the "brake signal" in to the OEM 4 way trailer wiring converter box is a straight brake signal, or if that is off the brake lights that flash when you apply the brakes the 1st time. If it is not a straight "brake signal" (non-flashing) then I need to figure something else out on that one.

 

Still no help?

Is there any way to identify the harnesses in a parts database somewhere that may show where the connectors in said harnesses are (minus the pinning/schematic level detail)? Even that would help to see the shape/layout of the harness.

I looked up harnesses on an online parts database but what I am looking for is non-existent there. Is there a parts database that will show the interior harnesses and the tailgate harness?

 

MMC Manuals

 

partsouq.com/

 

All I can figure out on that website that is in English is the section that gets me to the owners manual.

The rest of the site is in another language I can't make sense of.

Is there a way to convert the whole website to English?

 

Thank you. I did not see your message when I was looking at the prior post/link.

I think this is getting me a lot closer. These diagrams give the clues I need on the harness/connector locations to have some more confidence in what connector is to what harness.

At A is where the connector I identified going to the reverse light is (specific wire - green w/yellow stripe). At B is the batch of connectors that SHOULD isolate the whole harness from the rest of the vehicle. In looking at my earlier picture - because all those connectors/cables are batched together at the module - if I pull the pair of connectors apart and disconnect the harnesses from the module then my hope is that the path to ground is disconnected, thereby making it possible to do a continuity check that will show what specific connector pin goes to the reverse lights.

As it sits right now - the reverse light signal wire (green with yellow stripe) is grounded when not in use. That makes it impossible to do a continuity check because a bazillion other wires are grounded the same - whether they are "grounds" or "signals not in use". The only way to identify where on the other end of the harness the wire I need is would be to isolate that entire harness from everything else - which would cut the ground path (I assume that ground path is through the module, wherever it is/which ever it is).

If the path to the module (which ever it is) is cut - either by disconnecting from another harness that leads there, or at the module itself, then there shouldn't be any ground path to hang up the continuity check.

Fingers crossed...

This has been a real PITA.

 

To queue the next bit of info I may need:

Is there a way to get schematics of the following harnesses? And by "schematics" I mean the connector pinning, wiring colors, and wire functions - or where the harnesses go and the pin functions of the controllers that supply the signals/power?

8512J321
8512J322
8512J323
8512J325
8512J326

 

Schematics you can find in MMC manuals, posted link above. Change to English language.

Otherwise three is Oulander service manual CD/ISO image available to purchase or download from internet.

 

I figured out what I needed.

The reverse signal I needed was the gray wire on the wider thinner connector of the pair directly above the module. It took someone else in the drivers seat toggling in and out of reverse to check voltages in those pins. I still don't get why I can't get a continuity check to work through there, but what ever. It is identified and it works the way I wanted.




The other bit of information I was after was the brake signal. I don't have a picture of it, but the module that is part of the 4-way wiring kit (converter module) I believe has the wiring detail listed on the box as to what wire is what. The input wire to that module is what I tapped. It does have a straight voltage signal into it, there is no flickering. With that having been said - that straight voltage is perfect for my application. I don't have it in-use at the moment, but the wiring is in place.

The thick wire from the right is power from the battery. There are 2x runs of those going back to the hitch - one for power (+12v/ground and brakes, 12 gauge) plus 1x 16 gauge for the reverse signal and 1x 16 gauge going to the converter module for the brake signal. Not shown is the relay for the reverse lights (below the image frame) in the same bundle of wire. That trips the 12v battery power to supply the reverse light power (signal to trip the relay is from the gray wire shown above). All these wires are accessible under the square cubby hole at the left rear wheel well - pop the insert up and everything is right there.

This model Outlander makes getting wire to the battery through the firewall pretty easy - there is a large wire pass thru behind the battery under the hood. Pull out the battery and you have a pretty straight shot to fish the wires through the boots. It still took some effort, but compared to finding a place to drill a hole that was a lot easier.