4 pin to 7 where is the 12V line?

[adamsdaddy]

Just bought a 2016 XLT 4X4 with the Class IV tow package. I will be adding a 7 pin. I see the wire tagged elec which I know to be the blue I need for the brakes. Before I cut into the loom - does anybody know if the orange 12 volt wire is also in there? Another old thread on the Truck forum said the orange is only run to the drivers rear door. I looked there but I didn't see a split off wire. I don't want to cut into the loom under the door if the 12V has already been run back to the area around the 4 pin. I also don't want to cut into the loom near the 4 pin if I'm going to end up needing to go buy wire to run the 12V from under the drivers side door.
I ordered the Prodigy P3 to Ford adapter which I thought connected to the plug in the picture.

There is 14 inch wide cooler in front of the radiator - is that the extra towing tranny cooler or just standard?

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Just bought a 2016 XLT 4X4 with the Class IV tow package. I will be adding a 7 pin. I see the wire tagged elec which I know to be the blue I need for the brakes. Before I cut into the loom - does anybody know if the orange 12 volt wire is also in there? Another old thread on the Truck forum said the orange is only run to the drivers rear door. I looked there but I didn't see a split off wire. I don't want to cut into the loom under the door if the 12V has already been run back to the area around the 4 pin. I also don't want to cut into the loom near the 4 pin if I'm going to end up needing to go buy wire to run the 12V from under the drivers side door.
I ordered the Prodigy P3 to Ford adapter which I thought connected to the plug in the picture.

There is 14 inch wide cooler in front of the radiator - is that the extra towing tranny cooler or just standard?

Welcome to the forum.

The picture that you posted is of your OBDII connector under the dash. If you have the towing package you will have the 7 pin connector in the back beside the hitch on the right side under the round cover.

To find out for sure what's in your truck go to the FordEtis website and put in your vin number to download a build sheet. https://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRe...id=2A80300444C39AED0C99E1EE997B098B.eccvas507

 

[adamsdaddy]

Thank you for the link and information about the connection. I have the Trailer Tow Prep Package. A 4 pin is welded to the hitch. I plan on grinding off the welds and placing the mount for the 7 pin in its place.
Now I need to locate the connection under the dash to plug in the brake controller.
I installed a 12 V line, controller and 7 pin on an Odyssey. I just expected this to be easier.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Thank you for the link and information about the connection. I have the Trailer Tow Prep Package. A 4 pin is welded to the hitch. I plan on grinding off the welds and placing the mount for the 7 pin in its place.
Now I need to locate the connection under the dash to plug in the brake controller.
I installed a 12 V line, controller and 7 pin on an Odyssey. I just expected this to be easier.

I'm surprised that the harness isn't tucked up behind the bumper. Most of these trucks come with the towing package already installed. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll crawl under mine and try to get some pictures of the 7-pin connector and the wiring harness. Maybe from there you can identify what you need or see if it is tucked up underneath.

 

[gixer2000]

There was another harness for the electric brake controller under the dash of my 07. It was tucked way up closer to the center console of the dash on mine.

 

[adamsdaddy]

I found which illustrates a much easier path to connecting the controller.

This leaves my question about the location of the 12 V line. I guess I'll cut into the area surrounding the blue wire - (right behind the 4 pin) to see if the 12 V is hiding in there somewhere. If it's not there then I'll cut into the section under the drivers door.

Sent from my iPad

 

[gixer2000]

I found which illustrates a much easier path to connecting the controller.

This leaves my question about the location of the 12 V line. I guess I'll cut into the area surrounding the blue wire - (right behind the 4 pin) to see if the 12 V is hiding in there somewhere. If it's not there then I'll cut into the section under the drivers door.

Sent from my iPad

The video shows the harness I was talking about.

What are you looking to do with the 12v your looking for? Id be willing to bet everything you need it tied up under the truck in the factory harness

Sent from my LG-G6 using Tapatalk

 

[powerboatr]

i would remove spare tire and double check the harness is not already there for a plug and play connection.
very odd bird you have, with only a trailer prep?

 

[adamsdaddy]

I ground off the weld and removed the 4 pin mount. I made it smooth so I could install the 7 pin. I then painted over the area. Although the Hopkins 4 pin connection was smaller than that of the Ford - I jammed them together and circled them with a zip tie. I also attached the blue wire so I should have everything except power to the trailer.

ETrailer talks about the 12V being located under the driver side door. Under the driver side doors I can see the one inch shielding-I just ran out of time today to cut it open to see what's inside.

 

[bsevans5]

Ok, here's more information about my story than you care to know, but it will give context to how I got to the point that I may be able to help. I have a 2010 ford expedition el xlt. It came with the 4 flat and hitch. I searched for quite some time to find out what the difference was between my version and the heavy duty tow package. I called numerous dealers who supposedly looked up my VIN and all that, but couldn't answer my question. Finally I learned that the only difference was a 7 pin, heavy duty radiator, and heavy duty transmission cooler. Adding these things would up my tow capacity by almost 3k pounds. My axle ratio was the same, just those three differences. I found the blue electric brake wire for a 7 pin capped just behind my 4 pin connector. Unfortunately on my vehicle it wasn't just plug and play because I couldn't find a 12v lead (which brings me to this post--and hopefully some help). I searched all over the web trying to figure out where it could be. I read that people just run one from the battery, but wanted to make this as clean and factory as possible. I stumbled across some posts and after some poking around with the information I had, I found that there is a 12v wire that goes into a wiring harness under the hood near the back driver side part of the engine compartment, but it doesn't come out the other side of the wiring harness...so basically it was run into a wiring harness, but not run out of it on the other end. I went down to the dealer, got the proper size pin and brought the wire out the other end, ran it in under the vehicle and wired it into a 7 pin. Maybe your year is stopped at a different spot, but that is where I found mine. If you decide you want to see a picture of the harness I'm talking about, let me know and I can take one and figure out a way to get it to you.

Any chance I can get in saving someone the headache I went through to figure something out, I'm happy to help.

 

[adamsdaddy]

I would greatly appreciate a picture of the wiring harness and part number for the "pin" (?). Does the harness tie the 12 volt line to a 40 amp fuse?

Yesterday we had the Expy at the dealership because of a brake error message and the service writer couldn't tell me where the 12 volt trailer wire was located. He said he'd look it up and get back to me today but readily admitted they had never needed to tap into a 12 volt line for a 7 pin before.

At least I can crawl under the Expy without having to use a jack and stands. I just hadn't expected to need to run a line like I did on our Honda Odyssey.

I too was surprised to learn that the only differences between HD and standard are the size of the radiator/auxiliary tyranny cooler and the tow/haul mode. Oh and that the bleeping 12 V line was run to the 7 pin.

 

[Triplet Dad]

I would be interested in the information. I have a 2007 EL without the tow package and I also went from the 4 pin to 7 pin harness for towing my travel trailer. I found the 5th wire for the brake controller but never wired up the reverse lights or the 12V power. From what I was able to find for the 12V power you have to add a relay into the fuse box and run a wire all the way to the rear of the vehicle. This seemed like a little too much effort for me for something that wasn't really that necessary.

 

[adamsdaddy]

The steps in the video to grab the tow plug from behind the dash look easy but my 2016 Expy has a vertical piece of metal which prevents me from simply reaching around to access the plug. I put it back together and I'll try it again when I have more time.

@bsevans5: how did you get to the plug behind the dash? Did you pull the radio and that whole mess or go under the steering wheel?

@Triplet Dad: having the trailer battery get charged while traveling and provide tow vehicle power to run the powered trailer jack (raising or lowering the front of the trailer) are a couple reasons why I want the 12 V. If we are running the trailer's refrigerator while towing then instead of arriving with cold food but a drained battery-everything is fully charged. We camp without hookups or a generator.

 

[adamsdaddy]

I can't get past that metal bar. My 10 yrs arm couldn't squeeze past the bar to reach the plug.

Guess I'm going to have to take out the radio and pop apart sections of the dash.

What a pain!

 

[Big Brian]

if its anything like my 2008 you can have the radio out in 10 minutes. And there is a TON of room once its removed. I am doing a Android radio conversion right now is how I know

 

[Triplet Dad]

@adamsdaddy - When I tow my TT my propane tanks keep the fridge cold. The only thing the power wire would help me is if the battery was dead when I am trying to raise/lower it or open/close the slide.

 

[Bigpappa]

I ground off the weld and removed the 4 pin mount. I made it smooth so I could install the 7 pin. I then painted over the area. Although the Hopkins 4 pin connection was smaller than that of the Ford - I jammed them together and circled them with a zip tie. I also attached the blue wire so I should have everything except power to the trailer


So what was the resolution for this? I cut back my harness looking for this mythical orange wire to no avail. Did you find it or did you run a separate wire?

 

[adamsdaddy]

It looks like I'll end up running a wire. At the moment the running light signal isn't being passed on my trailer so I have other problems. Brakes work, brake lights work, turn signals work but no running lights so I can't pull the trailer at night.

Instead of getting 9 or 12 volts I only get 2 or 4.

 

[Triplet Dad]

If all of the other lights work your running lights should also.

 

[wyldnative]

I can't get past that metal bar. My 10 yrs arm couldn't squeeze past the bar to reach the plug.

Guess I'm going to have to take out the radio and pop apart sections of the dash.

What a pain!View attachment 20345View attachment 20346View attachment 20347

Hopefully you have this figured out. I had to pull the cover from around the gauge cluster and then the side bar that holds the vent hole and a small compartment . the wire is plugged into the back of that on my '09 150.