One of the many things I like about my Rover 600s is the spur connection off the eletrical loom in the boot for tow bar electrics. Very useful. Some years ago, when scrap metal had almost zero value, you could pick up a complete Rover 600 tow bar assembly for a whole ten quid ~ remove it yourself in my local car breaker yard. Probably be three times that now. Good value and provided the attachments and bolts were not too corroded, I could remove one within half an hour. I struck lucky some years ago as the 600 I had earmarked to remove the complete tow bar assembly from when I opened the boot I was delighted to discover it had the Original Equipment sub-loom connected to that spur for tow bar electrics in the boot. Carefully removed the lot. The beauty of that sub-loom is that you can switch it from car to car in the 600 range as all have that spur on the loom behind the side trim near the electric Aerial in the boot. Plug in and go. No need to have permanent electrics wired in. I bought a female connector and fitted it to the end of the detachable sub loom. That way the several metres of cable from the trailer board is a simple quickly detachable fit.

It has worked well over the years but, occasionally, trailer board lights would flicker and sometimes not illuminate without a gentle tap and fiddle with the various connectors. I assumed, wrongly, that my wiring handiwork was somehow faulty. Having checked all my wiring work and found it spot on, I turned my attention the the spur connector and using my multimeter on the 0-20 volts DC setting, that checked all the connections on the spur were working as they should. So, only thing I have not checked is the electrics in the trailer board itself. All the various bulbs in the board checked out but, again using the multimeter the current to some of them was not getting through. Surely, the plug on the long length of the trailer board cable is not at fault. It was! There were two loose wires in their brass locations. A few turns of their securing screws and voila: perfect electrics ~ Sod's Law ~ it was the last thing I checked having suspected my work was faulty ~ it was the trailer board electrics at fault all along from day one when it was new... :rolleyes:

Makes a big difference when you're confident the folks following you can see some clear signals and lights. Here it is on a recent local recovery trip.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/Rover%20620ti%20S377%20MFL%20Part%202/Rover620tiCollection15thOctober2011002.jpg
..

Informative post as always John. I had similar years back on the female socket on car when towing caravan. Water/Moisture ingress had 'corroded' (white powder) on one contact. Those little brass screws do tend to come loose also. (or the copper wire I assume shrinks/compresses over many years, even though there should be no movement within plug). Again some of the later plugs are so so poor standard. My old metal one on trailer has given no problem at all.
All the best Gordon/Devon

X-Posted from a question over on Rovertech.net :~

===========================================

I don't suppose you have a photo of this OE connector, John? It might be useful for anyone wanting to fit a towbar.

Yes, here it is:~

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/Trailer%20Pictures/Rover600OriginalTowBarConnector2.jpg

The sub-loom is just over 2 metres long overall.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/Trailer%20Pictures/Rover600OriginalTowBarConnector3.jpg

Closer view showing the Weatherproof Female Connector I fitted at the other end of the cable. The trailer board male connector, caravan or other trailer electrics plugs straight into the Female Connector. I run the cable out through the shut boot lid. The boot rubber seal holding it securely. Thus, no need for permanent electrics fitted to the Tow Ball spliced into the loom as is usually the case.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/Trailer%20Pictures/Rover600OriginalTowBarConnector1.jpg

Some years ago, Rimmers were showing these around £50 IIRC.

Prior to getting this useful piece of kit, I discovered there's an identical female connector in the 600's loom above the driver's knee behind and above the drop down drawer to the right of the steering column. This can be adapted to fit a length of trailer electrics cable with the aid of a block connector. Get one from a scrap 600 in your local yard. This is also quickly detachable. Here's my first attempt which works well:~

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/ODDMENTS/Various-3rdAugust2006008.jpg

All unseen hidden behind boot lining trim. Here's a close up of the two Connectors I used:~

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/ODDMENTS/TowBarElectrics-27thJuly2006001.jpg

The male connector on the lower left is the one in the car's boot and a spur off the main loom.

My only reservation using this connector and a few CMs of the car's loom is that the wire carrying the Stop Light current is thinner than I'd like. Never had any problem using these though. I have since been advised by my son ( MetroMartin ) that he can partly dismantle that female connector and reassemble it directly to the proper tow electrics cable so no need to use the block connector and the copper wires in the cable will be more substantial. Bonus, so should not be any possible ( remote ) overheating problems with long periods of the foot on the brake pedal. Thus, a good and identical sub-loom could be made up by simply snipping off one of these female connectors near the steering column for the cost only of a couple of metres of trailer electrics cable and a female weather proof connector as in my pictures.

Sorted... ;)