Operational Problems with Curt 56227 Hitch Wiring Kit

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retrodog

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
103
Location
Houston/Galveston TX
I installed a new Curt hitch 11396 last Friday night. That went pretty smooth, on my 2015 S Leaf. I spent part of Saturday morning installing the wiring kit 956227. Got it all from eTrailer. The wiring kit seems to be flaky. I have a new folding trailer from Harbor Freight with LED lights. I tested the lights pretty exetensively last week with a 12V source. They appear to work very well. Even measured the current for each line (Green, Yellow, and Brown). Each was pretty low drain.

So I finally hooked up the Curt interface to the trailer and initially I got turn signal response, but no running lights. Brakes were ok. Then I disconnected and reconnected. That second time I lost the turn signals and got running lights. So I did the reseating of the connector a third time and had everything but the running lights.

I disconnected everything and loaded the kayak up on the trailer to do a quick test run around the neighborhood and when I connected to the trailer again, I had running lights on all the time (whether the headlights were on or off), no right turn signal, and not sure about the brakes. I tried to cycle and reseat the connector a few times but made no difference. I finally disconnected the trailer and used the volt meter on the Curt connector. Voltages were consistant with what I was seeing on the trailer.

So did I get a defective interface? The connections must be good because all signals work properly on the car's lights, so that feed-thru cables are definitely connected correctly. I guess this is what I get for installing all the cover panels back in place.


ETA: I sent an email to eTrailer about the problem and they said they were going to contact Curt about it. I guess I'm waiting to hear something back, but just wanted to see if anybody else had experienced a similar problem and could shed some light on the whole deal.
 
Well the guys at eTRailer tell me that the unit isn't actually wired correctly for my vehicle and they said they are sending me a more intrusive version to replace it with. The follow-up from another person there stated that the current one had to be "uninstalled and in original condition" for the return. So that's interesting. Doesn't make much sense. Maybe it's just a form letter. I guess I'll have to wait and see how that goes. Or maybe I'll just take it to U-Haul and let them install a cable harness that works.

The guys at Curt said these units are perfect and they've never had a single report of the problem I'm experiencing. They also said that the LED lights on my trailer are not pulling enough current and I might have to add some load resistors in parallel, to keep the running lights from staying on all the time. They also suggested various ideas for debugging, including testing the right turn signal to verify that it was baking it to the box. I did the second last night and the turn signal is indeed making it to the control box. Although I had to use the needle trick to get inside the wire with minimum impact, which might void my warranty, I suppose.

What ever happened to the good old days when something was defective and they just replaced it?
 
Did you get a final solution on this? I'm taking the car apart now so hope the harness is correct for the 2018 leaf as it says on etrailer.
 
koolkev said:
Did you get a final solution on this? I'm taking the car apart now so hope the harness is correct for the 2018 leaf as it says on etrailer.

I am planing on installing the Curt 56227 this weekend on my 2019 Leaf. How did it work out on your Leaf?

Thanks -Jason
 
Hey, I know this is a bit of a "zombie" thread, but I'm going to install the exact hitch and wiring harness mentioned in this thread this weekend, and wanted to see if there was any follow up? One thing I'm interested in is how and where folks have run the power feed from the battery back to the control box. Any info is appreciated!
-Jeff
 
In the end, I only installed the hitch and haven't moved forward with the wiring kit as the thread didn't leave me in a spot where it felt like it would work.
 
Well, I got the hitch installed this morning. I think the instructions said it would take an amateur 90 minutes, but it took me almost three hours, and I don't really consider myself half as competent as an amateur! Really, the things that took time were 1) jacking up the car and getting it stable to work under and 2) drilling and grinding the driver's side holes. All in all, though, I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

Off to try the wiring, will report back if anyone is interested.
 
I installed the same hitch on a 2019, the only issue is that the little flat tabs that get shoved up into the frame as part of getting the bolts to come down out of the frame, part of the cool wire assembly that comes with the hitch, are too wide to fit into the holes in the frame. For me it was MUCH MUCH easier to grind the flat tabs a bit narrower than to drill larger holes up into the frame. I think I took off less than a sixteenth of an inch in width...... I know this will not make sense to anyone who is not lying under their leaf but once you are under there, and trying to get those little tabs up into the frame, remember: no need to enlarge the holes just reduce the size of the tab.
 
Sorry for the much delayed follow-up on doing the wiring on this hitch. I did complete it back in the summer, which is always preferable to working out in the cold. I made one significant change, if I recall correctly. Instead of tapping power off of the battery and trying to find a way to run a wire through the firewall or underneath the car, I bought one of these and tapped into the fuse box on the drivers side dash. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...e-circuit-tap-kit/frs0/2526?q=fuse+tap&pos=0
Then I added the in-line fuse that comes with the kit and completed the install. The trick is to find a circuit that is powered whenever the vehicle is powered but not when it is off, I think. I can go look back and see which one I used, but not right now, because the car is actually in the shop, and the reason I came back to the forum!

Good luck!
 
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