Where would one wire in a plug for trailer lights?

1997 850 AWD

Putting on a trailer receiver for a small utility trailer with lights. I understand there is an Aux outlet up at the dash but don't think that will support lights will it? Is there a "pigtail" somewhere at the rear of the vehicle to hook up to?

Thanks for any insight......

 

Easiest way of which I'm aware, and that I did, is to get the hitch wiring harness for your year and model, and use quick splice connectors to tap into your car's harness in the trunk on the driver side tail light assy. Tucks behind the trunk panel.
http://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-...FU2Y4Aodi2sAmA

 

Thanks for the info, I was hoping there was some sort of "pigtail" type plugin somewhere in the rear harness..... Not a big fan of "splicing" into wiring....

 

I think the dealer does the same thing. I ran a hot wire from the front of the car and tapped into the rear light for the rest.

 

So I started digging around looking for a suitable spot to hook into the rear lights wiring harness and thought I had lucked out, found these two plugs......nothing to do with the lights though, does anybody know what these are for???

They are located under the rear cover for the spare tire on the driver's side......

 

The round one is for the CD changer. Not sure about the other one. Maybe a sub? That would be nice.

 

Thanks for that, the CD connection makes sense, have to see where the other plug leads to......only problem, there is an after-market deck now so I wonder if the CD plug was connected back up to the replacement deck? Guess I will just have to try it out......

 

The round mini DIN connector is for the Volvo CD Changer, it will work only with the Volvo headunits from the SC series.. The second one is weird, never saw it before...

For the wiring:
the taillights are "prepared" for this, if you look on the back of them you will see that there are the metal connectors for this exact purpose. Only for the wiring of the rear fog light (not sure if in US applicable) a wire must be cut.

 

I'm pretty sure the round connector is the speaker and control connection.
The other connection is a pretty standard power connector, likely the power source for the Multi CD changer.

Since the connections are inside the car and not exposed to moisture the scotch lock connectors would be the way to go. I like the splice, solder and shrink wrap way of making a connection but sometimes it's a bit overkill.

The other thing to consider when doing a trailer light install for a smaller trailer is if your trailer is a standard 4 wire or a 5 wire.

Standard 4 wire
1. ground
2. tail & marker
3. Left turn and stop
4. Right turn and stop

Volvo 5 wire
1. ground
2. tail & marker
3. left turn signal (separate yellow signal)
4. right turn signal (separate yellow signal)
5. stop lights (red signal)

If it's a standard four wire you need an adapter that takes the five wires (signals) and converts it to four without shorting out the car

Any auto parts store sells them. Wallmart, fleetfarm, ....

 

VERY good point about the 4/5 adapter....

I will be running the wiring from the back of the light housings, as per Scutyde, and into a 4/5 adapter and then mounting the plug receptacle in the bumper, rubber marine plug with the cap, water proof as hell..

Thanks for the input boys.....

 

Could you provide pics of those hook-up points scutyde mentioned? I still need to swap mine over from the 855 N/A to the 855T.. Didn't know there were hook-ups there..

 

When I pull the covers and see what is there I will snap a couple of photos.......

 

You could also just make sure it's long enough to reach the trailer and leave it coiled up neatly inside the vehicle when not in use.
I do that on my wagon and my PU.

 

Here is a picture, not the best but you get the idea, of one of rear light clusters. You can see the two flat plug connectors in the square recesses just above the main wire plug. This will make a clean, reliable and hidden hook up of the trailer light wiring very easy, thanks again for the info Scutyde...........

 

thanks guys! Will have to ck that out..

 

If you want to do this properly, use the factory trailer harness kit. Contrary to popular misconception, it does not involve cutting or splicing any wires. It installs into the rear wiring loom at one of the taillights by rearranging the wires going into the plastic connectors by using a pin removal tool.

I don't believe Volvo offered this harness in the "4-flat" style commonly used in the USA. It's available in a 13-pin EU standard (which I would recommend) or a 7-pin UK/old EU version. You would need to buy an aftermarket adapter to connect to your 4-flat trailer.

 

Both of those are for the CD changer. The Volvo changers are made by Alpine. The gray plug is the power source for the changer.

 

If you have to splice in the 5 wire to 4 wire adapter why in the world wouldn't you just do that in the first place as most trailers being towed by an 850 here in the US is likely light duty and wired for 4 Buying the factory harness kit and then splicing in the 4 flat adapter just seems backwards.

 

When I think of an "adapter", I think of something that plugs into two different things that could not normally be plugged together. When I use a power adapter for my laptop in the EU, I do not cut and splice wires. Why would you get the idea that a trailer hitch adapter would be any different?

Also, what is this mysterious "5-wire" thingy you are talking about? Volvo has only a 13-pin and a 7-pin trailer harness. If you want to tow a 4-flat trailer, you need the adapter to convert from 13 to 7 and another adapter to go from 7 to 4. Or you can buy an aftermarket adapter to go directly from 13 to 4.

Volvo part numbers:
13-pin wiring harness 9124950-8
7-pin wiring harness 9124951-6
13-to-7 adapter 6820677-0
7-to-4 adapter 8633880-3

Why go through all this trouble instead of cutting the wires in your rear wiring loom and splicing a cheapo 4-wire trailer harness directly in? If you even ask this question, I'm afraid we'll never see eye-to-eye on how to do things to a vehicle. But why wouldn't you want to future-proof your car by allowing for the possibility of towing a more complex trailer requiring a 7- or 13-pin harness? You can always convert from more to fewer pins, but you can never upconvert a 4-flat connector without hacking into your car's wiring again.

 

Fittavagn, where are you located You have no info in your profile.