Will anyone take on the job of removing my towbar?!

[mikebravo]

If as per this you tube video you will need the original 'crash bar' replacing, reverse procedure.

Easiest option is simply grinder cut off the protruding part, making sure no sparks can damage the paintwork.

Great video - show how it all fits together under the bumper trim, so that’s giving me a better idea of what I’m dealing with. Thanks for posting.

 

[TripleBee]

It’s just 3 seconds and then it stops, which I believe is indicating a fault with the Parking sensor system. But I always assumed that the sensors were faulting because of the tow bar. Do you think the fault is totally unrelated to the tow bar? Maybe I should get the OPS system looked at. I’ve read about lots of people using a tow bar in conjunction with parking sensors without any issues. A few do have issues though.

As a matter of fact, I am quite sure you have parking sensor problems because of the towbar.
An original (Westfalia) towbar, has holes in it to let the very long sensors through.

"old" parking sensor


original towbar (note the hole above the hook)


non original towbar lacks holes for the long sensors.

My guess is that at least 1 of the 2 middle will be damaged because of the non original towbar.
That is why I opted to spend €50 more on an original towbar instead of a non original towbar.
A parking sensor will be around €100 per piece.

So, the best thing would be to get rid of that rusty piece of metal, and replace with either an original towbar, but as you are mentioning you don't want it, get it taken out, but don't forget to mount an original metal bumper behind the plastic bumper.


part 7, and of course a couple of 29 (8? bolts I guess)



take 7E0807305D and 8x N 0195308.

I hope you are a bit wiser now?
Without the metal bumper, I wouldn't risk to drive around.
And of course, 1 or 2 new parking sensors and wire repair.

 

[mikebravo]

The description on the PF Jones website for your towbar suggests that the parking sensors should still work ok.

Hopefully someone with a similar towbar can comment if their sensors still function correctly?

Sounds promising. Any chance you could share a link to that webpage? Thanks

 

[mikebravo]

As a matter of fact, I am quite sure you have parking sensor problems because of the towbar.
An original (Westfalia) towbar, has holes in it to let the very long sensors through.
View attachment 54721
"old" parking sensor

View attachment 54722
original towbar (note the hole above the hook)

View attachment 54723
non original towbar lacks holes for the long sensors.

My guess is that at least 1 of the 2 middle will be damaged because of the non original towbar.
That is why I opted to spend €50 more on an original towbar instead of a non original towbar.
A parking sensor will be around €100 per piece.

So, the best thing would be to get rid of that rusty piece of metal, and replace with either an original towbar, but as you are mentioning you don't want it, get it taken out, but don't forget to mount an original metal bumper behind the plastic bumper.

View attachment 54724
part 7, and of course a couple of 29 (8? bolts I guess)

View attachment 54725
View attachment 54726
take 7E0807305D and 8x N 0195308.

I hope you are a bit wiser now?
Without the metal bumper, I wouldn't risk to drive around.
And of course, 1 or 2 new parking sensors and wire repair.

Facepalm! If this is what’s happened then I’ll be pretty pissed off. It’s hard to believe the previous owner would have willingly sacrificed their parking sensors just to save a few quid on the new tow bar. The plot thickens. Sounds like I really need to see underneath the bumper trim then. Thanks for posting. All this extra info is really helpful.

 

[TripleBee]

If you look under the rear bumper, you will probably see the sensor(s) and connectors crushed against the towbar.
Newer T5.1 and T6(.1) have smaller and neater parking sensors, so the closed towbar is less of an issue.
Unfortunately we still have the "fisheye" sensors at the rear.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Sounds promising. Any chance you could share a link to that webpage? Thanks

PCT Towbar:

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/PCT/VW4472A.pdf

PF Jones are very helpful, just give them a call.

(On our previous towbars (bmw 5 touring & freelander 2) the sensors worked as normal but would disable when you connected bike rack / trailer etc to the towbar.)

Sounds like you have squashed / damaged wire somewhere.

 

[mikebravo]

PCT Towbar:

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/PCT/VW4472A.pdf

PF Jones are very helpful, just give them a call.

(On our previous towbars (bmw 5 touring & freelander 2) the sensors worked as normal but would disable when you connected bike rack / trailer etc to the towbar.)

Sounds like you have squashed / damaged wire somewhere.

Yup, I think you’re right. The installation instructions allow for parking sensors.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ting Tong]

Some people need a flange towbar for whatever reason so it may not have been down to cost. I can see why you want to get rid of it. I’m sure someone on one of the T5 or T6 forums will want a free flange towbar for the effort of swapping the parts over. I did that on a T4 that had bullbars.

 

[B J G]

Seem to recall that fixed towbar has a higher towing capacity than detachable type. Doesn't appear to be an option on brief search on 6.1, fixed that is.
plate on bar will show it.

 

[AlanC]

I had the same issue with the sensors. My van had the trailer socket wired directly into the rear lights.

I bought a PF Jones wiring loom and fitted this correctly underneath the van and up to the engine battery. A couple of wires then need to be tacked into the CanBus system behind the dash.

My local independent garage recoded the body control unit. Then the reversing sensors were disabled, as were the rear fogs, when the trailer was plugged in. The sensors were also adjusted so the centre ones did not 'see' the ball at all.

If you take the trim off behind the rear lights, you may well see the trailer wiring attached to the rear light wiring.

Alan

 

[mikebravo]

If you look under the rear bumper, you will probably see the sensor(s) and connectors crushed against the towbar.
Newer T5.1 and T6(.1) have smaller and neater parking sensors, so the closed towbar is less of an issue.
Unfortunately we still have the "fisheye" sensors at the rear.

I had a look. Here are some more photos showing the sensors and tow bar from underside. What do you reckon? I don’t see any obvious damage but the wiring looks kind of crushed in places and one image shows some rust on the tow bar (could be sensor wire corrosion?). Obviously I need to get the garage to test the wiring.

 

[TripleBee]

The 2 middle can be suspicious. The outer will most likely be good.

Way to test: put in reverse, or if you have front sensors too, just push the PDC button (ignition on).
Wet your finger slightly and feel and listen to the sensors with your ear near them (finger slightly rubbing across the sensor). You will hear / feel a clicking sound / feeling on the sensor that is good. If a sensor doesn't feel / hear clicking, you will have your cause. Then you could change sensors (might be not that easy for the middle to get out) left to right and feel / listen if they work then. If the dead sensor changes places, it's the sensor, if the good sensor is now dead and the dead sensor now works, it's the wiring.

 

[mikebravo]

Well I finally got this resolved and it turned out to be much simpler than I feare (facepalm). A recent diagnostic indicated a fault in the rear left sensor. I bought a replacement sensor on eBay for £30 and, when it arrived, I lay under the rear bumper to swap it out. At this point I noticed that the plug was not actually seated properly on the existing sensor. I took it apart and noticed some oval rubber seals (picture included) sitting at the bottom of the plug well and these were preventing the plug from fully connecting. They didn’t look like they belonged so I prised them out, and refitted the sensor org the plug now finding home properly. After a quick test I found that the fault was resolved. So I didn’t even need the new sensor at all.

I’ll add here that I had previously upgraded my stereo head unit to an 'RCD330 Desay 187B', with CarPlay, and I hoped that this would display the parking system radar image while parking. Some simple reprogramming tweaks were required at the garage but this now works too!

…and I have kept the towbar which I now use for my new bike rack.

Thanks all for your advice along the way. I am kicking myself now that this was so easy.

 

[sidepod]

It took 3 years to sort? Wow!

 

[mikebravo]

It took 3 years to sort? Wow!

If you got your “super poster” badge from posting useless remarks like this then I think you should have it revoked.

 

[kurienp]

If you got your “super poster” badge from posting useless remarks like this then I think you should have it revoked.

Mike, Friday evening posts are usually made after a tipple and should be ignored that's what I've learnt in the three years

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[vbk1975]

Well I finally got this resolved and it turned out to be much simpler than I feare (facepalm). A recent diagnostic indicated a fault in the rear left sensor. I bought a replacement sensor on eBay for £30 and, when it arrived, I lay under the rear bumper to swap it out. At this point I noticed that the plug was not actually seated properly on the existing sensor. I took it apart and noticed some oval rubber seals (picture included) sitting at the bottom of the plug well and these were preventing the plug from fully connecting. They didn’t look like they belonged so I prised them out, and refitted the sensor org the plug now finding home properly. After a quick test I found that the fault was resolved. So I didn’t even need the new sensor at all.

I’ll add here that I had previously upgraded my stereo head unit to an 'RCD330 Desay 187B', with CarPlay, and I hoped that this would display the parking system radar image while parking. Some simple reprogramming tweaks were required at the garage but this now works too!

…and I have kept the towbar which I now use for my new bike rack.

Thanks all for your advice along the way. I am kicking myself now that this was so easy.

View attachment 106982

These are part of the connector. The white seal forms part of the waterproofing and the plastic part is a locking feature to stop the connector pins backing out when the connection is made.

The plastic part has clearly been damaged at some point and is likely the cause of not being able to push the connector fully in.

Whilst not ideal you should be ok with the plastic part not fitted as the connector pins have a little sets of metal bars that snap in, the plastic part is a secondary retaining device. But I would recommend fitting the seal back in, the sensor itself is sealed it, but water will find its way into the wiring and connector pins. The seal will have still offered protection even when the connector was not fully on.

Andrew