Re: Towing Harness / Wiring for FWD RTL-T

I bought the harness for my FWD and had it installed for $107.98. I was planning on installing it myself until I read the install instructions. You have to remove the back seat to install one of the modules. The part that connects to the plug under the rear bumper is straight-forward and simple. The 3rd part is a connector for a trailer brake controller, which I am currently not using.

 

Re: Towing Harness / Wiring for FWD RTL-T

I bought the harness for my FWD and had it installed for $107.98. I was planning on installing it myself until I read the install instructions. You have to remove the back seat to install one of the modules. The part that connects to the plug under the rear bumper is straight-forward and simple. The 3rd part is a connector for a trailer brake controller, which I am currently not using.

That's what I needed to know. Thanks!

 

Re: Towing Harness / Wiring for FWD RTL-T

It was the Honda harness.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

Trailer Hitch Wiring

From what I can tell the RTL-T 2WD comes with the trailer wiring hidden somewhere in the back of the vehicle (where?), but no trailer plug, the AWD does come with a trailer plug installed and ready to go. I guess my question is, do I need to buy the Honda Accessory electrical plug, which is a 7 pin plug, then I would have to buy the adaptor plug to reduce the 7 wire plug to a standard 4 wire plug. Dose anyone sell a 4 pin connector that will plug into the factory wiring harness where you can bypass the seven pin connector, I'm sure I could just wire one in, but I want the wiring to look factory.

trainman

 

From what I can tell the RTL-T 2WD comes with the trailer wiring hidden somewhere in the back of the vehicle (where?), but no trailer plug, the AWD does come with a trailer plug installed and ready to go. I guess my question is, do I need to buy the Honda Accessory electrical plug, which is a 7 pin plug, then I would have to buy the adaptor plug to reduce the 7 wire plug to a standard 4 wire plug. Dose anyone sell a 4 pin connector that will plug into the factory wiring harness where you can bypass the seven pin connector, I'm sure I could just wire one in, but I want the wiring to look factory.

trainman

I had the same question posted early on, and looked into it... The T comes with a dead-ended wiring harness to the left of the receiver, under the bumper. You have to buy the harness that plugs into it, with the socket, as well as the adapter that plugs into the socket. Doesn't seem like much, however, you also need to install the brake wiring harness which goes (I believe) behind the rear seat -- a bit more involved.

This is what you need. You'll see the installation instructions available on this page as well.

08L91-T6Z-100 | Honda Trailer Hitch Harness (Ridgeline) - Bernardi Parts

 

Pulling the rear seat can be done in under 10 minutes. The trim panels pop off easily and then its just bolts to remove. Then lift the seat straight up. You may be able to find the harness for the module without pulling the C pillar panels to unhook the insulation. You could just reach up from the bottom. Theres quite a bit of room behind the seat. I have an E and I was still able to mount a small sub amp back there.

 

So is the wiring harness that is on the inside of the bumper attached to anything? If I just want to convert what is there to a 4pin connector ( no trailer brakes), is there a wiring harness that makes that work? I looked at the linked product and instructions and that has you taking alot of the truck apart. I think the complicated part was dealing with the brakes? I was hoping for a $10 wiring harness that coverts what is there to a 4 pin. is that possible?

 

Even without the trailer brake harness, you need the socket that the 4-pin adapter will plug into... Once the socket and it's harness is plugged into that dead-ended stub under the bumper, you'll be able to plug any adapter you want into the socket... 7-pin, 4-pin, etc...

 

If you can find a schematic for the factory harness, or if someone can take a pic, if wire colors are available ...

Pretty standard color combinations for trailer wiring...green=right turn, yellow=left turn, brown=running lights, white=ground....for seven-pin, the other three wire colors may vary depending on intended application (commercial vs consumer vs agriculture, etc.), but the green, yellow, brown and white stay the same, which is all you are interested in. If Honda's wire colors match up with typical functions, you are good to go. A test light and a helper come in very handy here.

 

I dont seem to be able to add pictures to this thread, but to describe it, there is two Bigger wires, then 8 smaller underneath. So the adapter looks like

O O
oooo
oooo



of those
The two Bigger plugs are a small green wire and a thicker Black wire
the second row only has a blue wire
thelast row has smaller wires that are Black, White, Red then brown.

I dont see anything that it resembles to plug into that.

 

I'm game for that testing. I can test the wires, What Amazon parts would connect to this silliness? I mean, I can get the 4pin wire side, but is there something that can plug into the honda side?

 

Here's the plug.

 

Since I started this post on trailer wiring I have decided to go with the RTL-T AWD, the AWD's come with the trailer hitch plug and already wired. I plan to used the 7 pin connector that converts the 7 pin to 4. Here is the plug I will use, Pollak 7 Pole to 4 Way Connector Adapter Pollak Wiring PK12716

trainman

 

That looks a lot like the connector on the G1, which also has relays. And looking at the manual posted by College Hills Honda Here, it has 2 relays. There was never anything developed aftermarket for the G1, that I know of that both properly isolated the vehicle electronics, and worked well. Many members used some of them worked for short term, but were ultimately determined to cause other issues.

I personally wouldn't risk my $30-43k new truck for a $40 harness, this vehicle has more electronics, and high tech gear then the G1. College Hills Honda 2017 Ridgeline Hitch Harness at $162 + $20 shipping, what is this 0.6% at most vs the lowest priced G2 Ridgeline posted on here? Other members have already started other electronic upgrades, and their comments are, they wouldn't do anything without relays for isolation, one even has SRS safe probe for automotive electronics and have had issues. http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/138-second-generation-2017/145026-use-relay-quenching-diode-all-accessories.html YMMV

You can go to eTrailer.com 2016 Honda Pilot parts. something there may work, and then you can contact one of the parts suppliers such as Curt and see what they say, but they would prefer to just take your $, so take their answers with a grain of salt.

 

I tested that connector and it is dead. I tried to find cheaper ways to wire up the connector but I finally broke down and bought the Honda kit. I found it on e-bay for $145 shipped from a Honda dealer:

New Honda Trailer Hitch Harness P N 08L91 T6Z 100 Fits Honda Ridgeline 2017 | eBay

I e-mailed the seller after I paid and told him I really needed this ASAP as I have to tow a trailer this weekend. He sent the kit next day air for no additional charge! The local Honda people (North Texas) wanted $189-209 plus tax for the kit.

It will be here tomorrow and I will install it and my Access tonneau cover.

 

Since there are relays in the harness, best bet would be to go with the OEM harness. You'd have to really know what you were doing to duplicate the relay setup.

 

So, would it make sense to just find a Honda T connector and tap off the rear lights?

I have no need for trailer brakes and I have no desire to do everything in that installation manual to get that going. If we pretend that wire is not there would we be out there door with a few plugs with this kind of setup?

http://www.etrailer.com/static/images/catg/fitguide/t1_125.jpg

 

Does that have some kind of external power source? Our tail lights are LED so they don't draw much current at all. If you try and tap into their power for the trailer lights I bet you would have issues. Also, I have popped a few fuses on trailer lights towing a trailer before due to old or faulty wiring or bulb issues. I would hate to knock out the trailer lights and tail lights.

Just my two cents.

 

I just finished installing my trailer wire kit. It took 30 minutes total. I discovered that you don't have to remove the rear seat at all to do the install! Put the rear seat in the "up" position and remove the lower plastic trim piece on the drivers side. It is the longest trim piece on the bottom out of the five pieces. Once that is removed if you shine a flashlight in the middle you will see the plug taped to the relay harness. Give it a gentle tug and you can pull the whole thing out and cut the plug off. Mine already had the relays installed so I just kept the ones it came with for extras. Snap the relay harness in place and then I used a few zip ties to secure the control box that came with the kit. I am going to replace the sub at some point so when I have the seat out for that I will bolt down the control box.

Now that I have done it I can do that part in about 90 seconds. Install the mount on the back of the truck, plug in the harness, and then pop in the fuses. Good to go.

Total time for me was 30 minutes but now that I know what I am doing it would probably take 10 minutes total.

 

Just remember this, if you alter your wiring harness anywhere in the system and you have a failure and the vehicle is under warranty, good luck with Honda paying for it if they trace it back to your wiring. Computers can sense many things on the vehicle today and if the computer senses this add on wiring it could send error codes to your system. Just buy the Honda wiring harness and be done with it, or go AWD, it's included.

tainman

 

I have a 2019 Ridgeline and have a question about light harness for a trailer. What is this plug for?

 

That connects to the 10-pin connector on the 7-pin socket that comes as part of the Honda hitch harness accessory along with a control unit and two relays that must be installed behind the rear seat and a couple of fuses that go in the fuse box under the dash.

The connector in your photo isn't useful without the other components to make it "live".

 

My 2017 Ridgeline Touring AWD has the the 7 pin trailer plug. Without the vehicle running and no park or headlights on, there is dc power on one terminal only of the truck connector. When the vehicle is running, my utility trailer (factory made) lighting works fine except for park lights. Re, the trailer.... brake lights, turn signals all work fine in conjunction with what the Vehicle is doing except: the park lights as well as license plate light do not energize when the vehicle's park or head lights are on. What I have done temporarily (until I figure it out) is connect that one dc supply on the factory installed 7 pin trailer connector, to the side marker lights and license plate to make them work. Ergo, the side lights of the trailer energize whenever I start the vehicle and connect the trailer harness, but only because I've connect those trailer side lights wire to that one constant dc power source in that connector. I'm not a newbie to electronics, dc lighting or mechanical. Being doing it for 40 years. Any body else notice this issue?
Thanks

 

Jpi, this is an old thread which doesnt seem directly related to your issue. Suggest starting a new thread for your question/issue.

 

Thanks. My computer skills are outdated. Not my forte.😆