What type of connector used for tail lights

[DutchTM3]

Hi,

I am looking at installing a trailer harness. Rather than splicing or piercing the little wires that end up in the connector of the tail lights, I would like to get my hands on a set of similar male and female connectors (well, two sets actually, one for the driver side taillight and one for the passenger side taillight) so I can create two decent Y cables. These could then be removed at any time in order to restore the car into its original state.

Any tips / hints which they are and where to ge them from?

Many thanks!

 

[dennisvab]

How you heard of the no splice harnesses?

2018 Tesla Model 3 Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring - Tekonsha

I installed this harness on my X5, as a lot of people said you’ll get electrical gremlins if you soldered to the existing wiring of the vehicle. So far it has worked great for me.

 

[wycolo]

Gremlins if you connect to the test wires (that check for 'dead bulb') instead of the actual bulb wiring. This Tekonsha kit solves that situation entirely by proximity sensing the car's conductors rather than directly connecting to them. Neat. They have a kit for the MS as well.
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[DutchTM3]

How you heard of the no splice harnesses?

2018 Tesla Model 3 Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring - Tekonsha

I installed this harness on my X5, as a lot of people said you’ll get electrical gremlins if you soldered to the existing wiring of the vehicle. So far it has worked great for me.

Yeah, I believe this is what you get with the Torquelift hitches, right? Thought it was a bit expensive, but more important I am worried it may only work with US cars with a US lighting schema. It provides only 4 wires to the trailer, if I understand correctly. I need separate blinker left, blinker right, running light, brake lite, fog light and maybe even reversing light.

 

[DutchTM3]

Gremlins if you connect to the test wires (that check for 'dead bulb') instead of the actual bulb wiring. This Tekonsha kit solves that situation entirely by proximity sensing the car's conductors rather than directly connecting to them. Neat. They have a kit for the MS as well.
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Wasn't aware there were separate test wires running to the tail lights? Didn't see them in any of the video's I saw. But how does this resolve that issue? You can still clamp on to the wrong wires?

 

[wycolo]

So how many tail light wires and their color in your M3? My project (posted here) was for the MS way back when.
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[DutchTM3]

So how many tail light wires and their color in your M3? My project (posted here) was for the MS way back when.
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My M3 is still on a boat halfway the Atlantic. So, hard to tell

 

[android04]

Yeah, I believe this is what you get with the Torquelift hitches, right? Thought it was a bit expensive, but more important I am worried it may only work with US cars with a US lighting schema. It provides only 4 wires to the trailer, if I understand correctly. I need separate blinker left, blinker right, running light, brake lite, fog light and maybe even reversing light.

The Torklift Central hitch does not come with any wiring. The Stealthhitches one had options for a towing kit with wiring and seems like it is designed to conform to European standards Tesla Model 3 (2017-Present)

And FYI, someone either on this forum or M3OC (xpitbullx?) wired his trailer harness directly to the Model 3 taillight wiring and had no issues even with incandescent bulbs in his trailer lights. I plan on also direct wiring to my Model 3, but my trailer has LED lights. LED lights should draw less current and less likely to cause issues.

 

[DutchTM3]

The Torklift Central hitch does not come with any wiring. The Stealthhitches one had options for a towing kit with wiring and seems like it is designed to conform to European standards Tesla Model 3 (2017-Present)

And FYI, someone either on this forum or M3OC (xpitbullx?) wired his trailer harness directly to the Model 3 taillight wiring and had no issues even with incandescent bulbs in his trailer lights. I plan on also direct wiring to my Model 3, but my trailer has LED lights. LED lights should draw less current and less likely to cause issues.

Torque Lift offers a harness like this, which eliminates the need for splicing:

Tekonsha Wiring Harness: Tesla and BMW i3 - 119250

Both both this and the EcoHitches harness come with a 4-way connector which suggests it will not work in Europe. Not 100% sure about the car side but 100% sure about the trailer side. We need at least ground, light, brake, signal left and signal right. My bike carrier also has fog an reversing lights on them.

Saw the post by xpitbullx. It inspired confidence, but it does not deal with the issue of splicing.

 

[android04]

The Tekonsha inductive harness is nice, but I didn't want to buy another expensive item and have to run separate power to it from the battery (more work). I have a 4-way wiring harness and converter from Hopkins (part # 311-0041-130) that I've had unused for more than 4 years that will finally find some use for my Model 3. Here in the US we need a converter because the Model 3 has separate brake and turn signal wires (which is good for you and everyone in EU) but our trailers have combined brake/turn signal lamps. So the converter combines the brake and turn signal for each side into a single wire.

Not sure if the Model 3 has fog lights in the rear, but all the other signals that you need you should be able to get directly from the wiring going to the tail lamps by splicing into them without any converters needed. I'm pretty sure the Model 3 just monitors current going through each wire, so if you overload it the computer will just shut down power to it until you restart the car (there are no fuses).

 

[DutchTM3]

I have a 4-way wiring harness and converter from Hopkins (part # 311-0041-130) that I've had unused for more than 4 years that will finally find some use for my Model 3. Here in the US we need a converter because the Model 3 has separate brake and turn signal wires (which is good for you and everyone in EU) but our trailers have combined brake/turn signal lamps. So the converter combines the brake and turn signal for each side into a single wire.

Thanks for that intel. I thought I had gotten that from the videos and docs I had seen, but I kinda dismissed it as seems so un-American

 

[djj13]

It's been many months since the question was asked, but I ran across this thread when trying to find the same info for the same reason and now that I found the answer I thought I'd post. The connector on the harness side for the tail lights has the TE (Tyco) part number on it. 1-1670921-1. They're available from Mauser, along with its mating connector 1-2141520-1. I'm also ordering the terminals and seals and some plugs since only four of the five cavities have wires in them. Here are those part numbers: 7-1452668-1 1718760-1 967067-1 967056-1 Those should work with 20 AWG wire. I'm just putting my order in now so there's some chance I'm not ordering exactly the right parts but I'm pretty sure on the connector bodies themselves at least.

 

[djj13]

An parts update: Those parts I listed above worked fine. I only needed to connect there wires through on each side, the fourth wire is maybe only used for European taillights. There are only three pins in my American taillights.

 

[Steele Cary]

An parts update: Those parts I listed above worked fine. I only needed to connect there wires through on each side, the fourth wire is maybe only used for European taillights. There are only three pins in my American taillights.

Do you have a link to the parts you ordered and pictures of how you set it up. I think this is exactly what I am looking to do to add the rear diffuser brake light. I also don't want to tap into the factory harness.