Hoping someone can help here. Taking our boys to Sea Cadets last night, Munglie went over a speed bump in our Estate car and the wire for the electrics got caught between the towbar and the floor - almost severing it.
Does anyone know how much this is likely to cost to repair?
If I've read this right, do I assume the cable was loose enough to hangdown and get caught between towbar and ground? I assume too from the description that this is the cable between car wiring and 12N/S sockets.
Difficult to assess to be fair, as cost could vary between repairers and/or depending on exact nature of damage.
It may be there's sufficient slack to pull through and rewire to sockets OR (more likely) would require re-cabling fully, which would be a far more favourable fix IMO.
Go with the latter and ask local auto-electrics of cost of re-wiring sockets.
One final option which might suffice for a decent semi-permanent solution would be to insulate each exposed conductor with insulation tape, then use self-amalgamating tape to seal and insulate the entire damaged section of the cable. Not pretty, but cheap and will last fine as self-amalgamating tape is very 'hardy'. This final consideration will depend on how badly dabaged the internal wiring is.
depending on access inside, my van has the 12N & 12S connectors just under the front bunk, so 2.5M cable, at around £6 a meter, a new 12N&S plug, say £10 for both, it would cost about £40 in materials, plus about 1.5Hrs labour to fit/test.
Have you thought of contacting your local council to see if they will foot the bill ? Speed humps should not be above a certain height, but I'm not sure what that height is, although many are. In any event driving along a public road in a sensible manner should not damage your car, if it does, your council are liable I believe, a bit like the damage to wheels and tyres by pot holes last winter, many motorists claimed from the council.
Hopefully Phil from Bridlington may see your post and comment, he's the guy for the legal stuff.
Hi, Further to some previous advice I would suggest that you strip back the outer cover, the inner wires are all different, splice them together, just twist about half an inch of each end together, tape each wire, if you can stagger the joins so it's not to bulky in the same place that's even better.
Over bind with electrical tape or self amalging and jobs a 'gud un' will last for years. When plugging in if you rotate the plug once or maybe twice it puts tension and a loop in the cable and that helps keep it 'sprung' out of the way.
The post reads as if the Op wasn't towing given they were dropping kids off to a club (who'd tow the van for that sort of journey?) and the cable was slack to be caught between towbar and road surface.
Partly agree with Ellers52, but if my reading of the post is right, the council would argue the cable wasn't sufficiently secured to be loose enough to get damaged.
It was totally our fault - the car is new to us and the previous owner had removed the towbar. When I re-fitted the towbar, I left the black wire hanging a few inches below the bar itself. It is this that has been damaged.
The towbar electric ports sit beneath the car, with only the neck of the towbar sticking out. - I've probably explained it badly here but the gist is that the connectors are almost hidden from view. This image shows the things http://www.discountmotoring.co.uk/shop/images/towing_accessories/towbars/pct_prestige/ford_mondeo_hatch_saloon_2007.jpg
As an aside, I have purchased some Grayston Rubber Coil Spring Assisters to raise the back a little (Sea cadets and shopping are heavy things) so hopefully that will stop this happening again ...but I need to sort the wire out.
Quote: Originally posted by Vonfluff on 21/7/2011
...I have purchased some Grayston Rubber Coil Spring Assisters to raise the back a little ... so hopefully that will stop this happening again.
The assisters won't raise the back at all, but they should stop the suspension 'bottoming out' and restrict the movement somewhat, so you may still find there's potential catching.
The socket is unfortunately located; have you examined to see if it can be repaired or will a fresh install of the electrics be the best action?
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Topic: Towing Electrics - cable split
