Does the Tow Ready Trailer Wiring Harness # 118454 Disable the Park Assist on a 2012 Volvo S80
Question:
The owners manual, page 184, states Rear park assist is deactivated automatically when towing a trailer if Volvo genuine trailer wiring is used. Will your wiring kit deactivate the rear park assist?
asked by: David D
Expert Reply:
The Tow Ready trailer wiring harness, # 118454, connects in line with the tail light wiring on the vehicle. This means that the trailer wiring is getting the signal from the tail lights and power from the battery. It does not use a factory port to plug into on the vehicle meaning that it will not deactivate the park assist feature on the vehicle.
If you put the vehicle in reverse with a trailer attached, the vehicle will sense the trailer behind you and sound an alert. This will only happen when the vehicle is in reverse and the trailer is connected, so it will not alert you all the time.
The way the Volvo park assist system works is that it uses sensors in the rear bumper (and front if so equipped) that check for obstructions when the vehicle is in reverse. Once it senses something, it will turn down the radio and a pulse tone will sound through the rear loud speakers. The tone will pulse more rapidly the closer you are to an object and eventually, if close enough, it will be a constant tone. The range at which the system pulses and the frequency of the pulses I am not sure of.
But, to determine if it is something that is tolerable for you, you can measure the distance between the back of the vehicle and an object when the tone is constant and compare that to the distance your trailer will be once connected.
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