I originally tried hooking up my '08 FEH with a trailer light wiring T-harness recommended by etrailer.com. That didn't work, so I purchased a modulite (http://www.draw-tite.com/fitguides/d...D=118187&dlr=0) from a local dealer last weekend. Interestingly- etrailer doesn't link to the modulite for the '08 FEH, but when you look at their page for the product, they have a video of installing one in a FEH.

And I failed utterly to get it to work. Ended up hauling (fortunately only in the daytime) Monday and Tuesday with no trailer lights.

Here's what I did- ran a wire from the battery to the modulite mounted at the hitch. Put in an in-line mini fuse under the dash (with many failed crimp splices and much swearing).

The dealer for whatever reason, didn't have the modulite in its package, so no instructions. Finding the PDF on the web was a pain- I can't seem to find it again and it's saved on the home PC.

I cut the T-harness and spliced the wires to the modulite. The stumper, until I found the directions online, was the red wire, which I ended up (as instructed, unless I'm mistaken) splicing to the white ground wire. This wire is then grounded via a screw I put through the body behind the RHS tail light.

This was definitely hurried and not my usual methodical way of doing things. I even had my multimeter out trying to check to see if I was getting voltage at the trailer connector and got nothing (not discounting that meter's fuse may be blown).

So, I'm flustered. Even with the modulite installed, the FEH decided that the LHS tail lights were out yesterday. I unhooked the T-harness this AM to correct that.

With that background (sorry it's so long), can someone give me a list of where to start figuring out where the problem is? (bad 12V wiring, bad modulite, wired incorrectly, etc)

The good news is that the FEH hauled the trailer, loaded down with a 500-or-so pound smoker and a bunch of other stuff (100-lb canopy, 200 lb of sand, etc) like a champ. No problems. Unfortunately, no pictures as I was pretty much rushed from last Saturday through Tuesday getting everything ready for the BBQ competition and then cooking/cleaning/etc once there.

 

They tell you you can cut and splice the wires... I didn't have the guts for that. I just pluged in the T connector and the modulite system together with no splicing.

 

Red wire as a ground wire? If that's right you need to find the person who built the modulite and make them eat sand... Red=Hot=Positive(+) in my world.

Good luck troubleshooting the issue.

BTW, how did you make out at the BBQ competition?

 

I didn't actually splice the OEM wiring- the modulite came without the T-connector. I'd bought that from etrailer.com and had already installed that separately, to I just spliced it to the modulite I bought locally.

I finally found the PDF of the instructions again:
http://www.hiddenhitch.com/fitguides/pdf/N18187.pdf

I grounded the red ("stop") wire because the T-harness didn't include a red wire, and the instructions say to ground it for a 2-wire system. I'm honestly not clear on whether the FEH is 2-wire or 3-wire. I was just assuming that the harness from etrailer.com was at least the right part, and it didn't have a red wire.

The competition is an annual thing my state trade association has started doing. So, nothing like the pro BBQ circuit. But, out of 10 teams, we got 1st for our (jerk) chicken, 2nd for brisket, and 3rd for ribs. At least the trailer was a loaner- I'd originally planned on renting from U-haul, and they wouldn't have let me out of the lot w/o the lights working.

I'm going to go ahead and try to get this straightened out. Then I won't have to worry about it next year, when I'm hauling everything across the state instead of across town.

 

Here's the tricky part.

The trailer is a two wire system I'm sure.
The FEH is a three wire system.

So what to do?

Trailer, wire 1 for dim, for parking lights and running lights.
Trailer wire 2, for bright stop lights, and also to make turn signal go "bright".

The FEH has 3 wires.
Wire 1 for dim parking lights.
Wire 2 for bright stop lights.
Wire 3 for turn signal ( in a separate bulb ).

So what did I do?
I too was in a hurry and didn't put much time into it.
I also didn't buy any "modules" at all.
Just a 4-wire flat plug for $3 at K-mart.

Ground on trailer to ground screw on FEH. Easy.
LH wire on trailer to LH wire on FEH, Easy.
RH wire on trailer to RH wire on FEH, Easy.

Now... what to do with the 4th, and last wire? Hard part.
I have two options for the 4th wire.

A) connect to dim running lamps, ( and have no bright stop lamps on trailer )
B) connect to bright stop lamps, ( and have no dim running lamps )

I did B because I have reflectors pasted all over the trailer that would really substitute for the dim running lamps, and I figure you really want the person behind's attention when stopping. Is this perfect and legal? Probably not. But like you, I will almost always, only tow during the day, so the lack of running lamps will not be noticed.

Those fancy modules are supposed to give you everything, and connect the 2 wire side to the 3 wire side with electronics, but cost about $40 each right?

P.S. My emtpy trailer is 900 pounds, and the toy that goes on it is another 950 pounds.
I did a test drive with just the empty trailer for a short 8 miles, and couldn't tell it was back there. Not enough miles to figure MPG yet.

P.P.S. If you put LED lamps on either the car or trailer, you don't have to worry about too much current draw, and you don't need a "module". I'm still thinking about the proper way to do the last wire.

 

Is your trailer six by eight foot wide? I'm trying to visualize if it is wider than the vehicle and if the aerodynamic drag at highway speeds will make the towing expereince interesting. I actually have a 8 by 10 foot trailer (275-300lbs) plus a 700lb object that I use to pull with the 200HP Sable wagon with no trouble. However, I have not tried with the Escape Hybrid and think it might be better to obtain a narrower trailer.

 

Billyk- the trailer is approx 6' W x 9' L. I didn't have any problems- and I'm pretty much expecting the fuel economy to nosedive when I'm driving w/ the trailer. No big deal since I only do it maybe once a year.

gpsman1- it isn't my trailer, so I don't have the option/interest to put LED lights on it. I did essentially what you describe when I used the Valley T-harness to hook up the trailer connector to the quick connects at either tail light. This didn't work- it must've convinced the computer that there was too much power draw. The LHS tail/stop/turn lights quit working because of this. Unplug the trailer connector and back to normal.

My next attempt will be to make sure I have a good ground on the whole setup. I think that may have been the problem, since I finally came to the conclusion that I wasn't even getting voltage across the two sides of the inline fuse holder I put in.