Converting 7-way European Connector On 2020 Volkswagen Amarok To 7-way US Connector

Question:

Hi, I recently purchased an echo brake controller for a 7 way blade light duty trailer for jetskis. My truck, a 2020 VW amarok came with a 7 pin round european trailer socket so I cut the cables and tried to connect them to a 7 way blade socket but i have failed miserably, I´ve tried everything. The thing is that the cables from the Truck have very weird colors and dont know which goes where and apparently if you hook them up wrong the truck stops sending power or something which makes it hard to try combinations. It also comes with a switch that detects when a trailer is hooked up. That one I have bridged so that it remains on or at least it should. Can you help me figure out which cable goes to which of the 7 blade socket that one has the traditional cable colors Thank you so much!

asked by: Joaquin L

Helpful Expert Reply:

I would be happy to help!

To determine the functions of the wiring on your 2020 Volkswagen Amarok you will need a circuit tester like the # PTW2993 as the color of the wires is different for every manufacturer.

A typical 7-way European connector is essentially a 4-way US connector, but the extra wires are that the European connectors separate the brake lights from the turn signals, where they are combined on the US connector.

Your 7-wires will have the following functions: tail lights, ground, passenger brake light, passenger turn signal, driver brake light, driver turn signal and fog lights ( This is not used in the US connector).

Using a 3-wire to 2-wire converter like the Hopkins Tail Light Converter - LED Compatible # HM48847 you will be able to convert your wiring to combined wiring by making the following connections using heat shrink butt connectors # DW05744-10:

Both tail light wires on vehicle to brown wire of converter
Ground wire on vehicle to white wire on converter
Driver side turn signal wire on vehicle to yellow wire on converter
Passenger side turn signal wire on vehicle to green wire on converter
Brake light wire on vehicle to red wire on converter

Once this is done you will have 4 wires on the other end of the converter to go into your new 7-way connector. The green wire is the passenger turn signal, yellow is the driver turn signal, brown is the tail lights, and white is the ground.

I went ahead and included a diagram of a US 7-way connector to show you where each of these new wires needs to be installed, a link to a helpful article on wiring, and also a video review of the # HM48847 for you to take a look at.