Hi, I've just taken delivery of a 1.2 Dynamic Eco and have also bought a new genuine Fiat towbar kit, complete with wiring, from a main dealer via E-bay for £100! Normally, I wouldn't consider buying the genuine article but at that price, it was too good to miss. I also thought that being the genuine article, the wiring would be simple....(ha!)
It turns out that the bar is made by Brink and the wiring kit by Ellebi, the instructions tell you to run the relay power feed cable through the cabin and plug it in to the wiring harness below the left side of the dashboard - despite my pulling the car to pieces, there's no sign of the socket that's supposed to be there. Thinking that maybe the instructions were for LHD cars, I pulled the right side to pieces - alas, still no socket...then i read Bibendum's very helpful post from February in the 'Newby Central' forum- he had similiar problems with his Panda Cross and eventually discovered that the car's wiring had changed - I suspect that it's not just Cross's but all Pandas that have had their wiring changed. Bibendum, if you read this, please could you elaborate on exactly where and how you connected your feed cable to get over this problem?
Thanks & Regards

Just wire it up in the boot behind rear light units into wiring loom through a 7-way bypass relay

I have a MJ Cross and have fitted a Brink tow bar with bypass relay. Fitting the towbar involved grinding away some of the rear cross bar that sits behind the rear bumper. You might have to do this just to get the TBar into position. This cross bar is additional protection in the event of a rear shunt. Grinding or cutting some away is no problem when you have the Tbar in place, nothing is going to get past that!
Wiring was straight forward, remove the side carpet from the boot (both sides just under the parcel shelf) to expose the wiring. Remove the protective tape to expose the wires (both sides). Remove the rear light clusters and note which colour wire goes to what bulb/filament. You'll be alarmed at the thin wiring to begin with but keep in mind the Bypass Relay provides the power (which I thought was the hardest part). Picking up a supply from the battery to feed the BPR is a nightmare. I eventually found a thick red wire just under the drivers RH knee going into a fuse panel, tracking this back I found it came from the battery positive. You'll have to use your noodle when it comes to connecting the Bypass Relay into the loom i.e. follow the BPR manufacturers instructions. My electrics work very well and the BPR bleeps when my trailer is connected. It's pointless giving you the colour code on my MJ 4x4 Cross as they're all different. Just follow my instructions regarding which wire goes to what filament making sure you don't connect to the earth return (gone are the days when the earth used to be a cluster of wires to a central point). It's computerised now! Probably best to get/borrow a digital voltmeter just to make sure which is the live feed to each bulb/filament.

Pete 4x4 MJ cross

you might find this handy this is for the grande punto but it should give you a better idea and develop on what MEP and 4x4 has said

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-pu...ng-towbar-12-n-socket-7-way-bypass-relay.html


https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/198292-cycle-carrier-light-board-wiring.html?p=2126866

Guys, thanks for your replies - 'though it's now fitted and wired up! I too found it impossible to get the Brink 'bar in position because of the crossbeam but, rather than grind it, I undid the bolts holding it to the rear of the car (easy) then cut through all the mastic sealant (difficult!) so that the cross beam could be temporarily moved in order to get the towbar in position. I used a scalpel to cut through the mastic then applied copious waxoyl to the cut before retightening the bolts. The wiring's easy enough - mine had double-ended connector plugs that simply plugged onto the lamp clusters before the original harness plugs were plugged back into the other side of the double-ended plugs - simplzzz!
My problem, and the reason for my original mail, was that the towbar wiring has a long lead and plug intended to connect to a socket under the nearside dash to provide power for the 7-way relay - only problem being Fiat no longer fit the socket! I ended up cutting off the plug, adding an in-line fuse then running it into the engine compartment and on to the main fuse box connector. Hope this helps anyone else contemplating fitting a towbar.

Tigertone2000 said:

My problem, and the reason for my original mail, was that the towbar wiring has a long lead and plug intended to connect to a socket under the nearside dash to provide power for the 7-way relay - only problem being Fiat no longer fit the socket! I ended up cutting off the plug, adding an in-line fuse then running it into the engine compartment and on to the main fuse box connector. Hope this helps anyone else contemplating fitting a towbar.

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As MEP said above you could have put an inline fuse into the fuse board supply "tail" thats how mine is done and 4x4 have been done

just need to strip a bit (10mm or so) of insulation off it with a scalpel (battery off first for safety)

strip 20mm of insulation off the in-line fuse holder wire

tin the fuse wire tail

wrap the 20 mm off the in-line fuse wire tightly round the "tail" then heat and feed in more solder

then wrap well with insulation (preferably self amalgamating) tape