Can a 13-Way European Trailer Connector on a Volkswagen Amarok be Converted to US 4-Way Flat

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Pollak 7 Pole to 4 Way Connector Adapter

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Roadmaster Brite-Lite 3-to-2 Tail Light Converter for Towed Vehicles

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Question:

Good morning, I am looking for a specific part to adapt to a VW Amarok. This vehicle has an original wire harness for towbar that comes from Germany. It has a standard european 13 way socket ISO 11446. Do you have an adapter in order to use a standard american trailer with a 4 way flat plug SAE J1239 ? If I use it, will I have some strange effects on the dashboard ESP or TSP signals ? Thanks for the help!

asked by: Eduardo L

Expert Reply:

The European 13-Way trailer connector does basically the same thing as the US 7-Way does except that the European version has a separate circuit and pin for every function. here in the states the turn signals and brake lights are combined on each side and there is just one running light circuit.

In order to adapt the 13-Way you would need to determine which wires control brake lights, turn signals, and running lights on the 13-Way. Then you would take the left turn signal wire and attach it to the yellow wire in converter # RM-732.

Then find the right turn signal on wire and attach it to the green wire, input side. And finally, find a brake light wire from the 13-Way and attach it to the red input wire. Ground the white wire to the vehicle frame.

A running light wire will bypass this converter. On the output side you will attach green to green, yellow to yellow on # 18172. The running light wire that bypassed the converter will attach to the brown wire. And the white wire on # 18172 will ground to the vehicle frame.

This will all technically work but it hasn't been officially tested so there is no sure way of knowing if it will cause any errors on your VW. It is a proceed at your own risk type of situation. You might want to run it by Volkswagen too to see what they have to say.

expert reply by: Michael H