Trailer wiring for 2014 Mercedes GLK350

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Trailer wiring for 2014 Mercedes GLK350

Postby TheBallew » Sun Dec 04, 2016 2:16 pm

Mostly putting this here in hopes it'll help somebody else. When I set out to wire ours up for trailer lights I couldn't find much helpful information on it. Other than that the dealer wanted about $2k to do it. The most help was found here:

http://mbworld.org/forums/glk-class-x204/538247-2013-glk350-trailer-wiring.html

The important part is this: "Setup that works on my 2013 GLK350 4matic. Curt 56200 PWM-ST Power Converter with Circuit Protection. This is the converter that has the combined Stop/Tail wire. Converts with separate Stop/Tail do not work. I mounted the converter in the left side wheel well. There is a ground bolt and a 12v outlet for power. The PINK wire is the Left turn. BLACK/GRAY is the Stop/Tail. In the right wheel well - the BLUE wire is the Right turn."

The 2013 and 2014 appear to be nearly identical. The same setup seems to have worked, according to my test light. Won't have a trailer until next week (see my introduction post in the "newbie" section).

Anyway. Hope this helps somebody. The install wasn't too bad, except I refuse to use those blue crimp-on wire taps. I cut, twisted, soldered, and shrunk-wrapped all the connections. I like that better.
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Re: Trailer wiring for 2014 Mercedes GLK350

Postby TheBallew » Mon Dec 19, 2016 11:55 am

Apparently this isn't entirely right. The brake lights on the trailer operate backwards. Normally bright, then dim when the brakes are applied. Ugh. When it warms up a little I'll dig into it and try to figure out what the problem is.
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Re: Trailer wiring for 2014 Mercedes GLK350

Postby tony.latham » Mon Dec 19, 2016 12:19 pm

TheBallew wrote:Apparently this isn't entirely right. The brake lights on the trailer operate backwards. Normally bright, then dim when the brakes are applied. Ugh. When it warms up a little I'll dig into it and try to figure out what the problem is.


That sounds like you have your headlight and brake wires reversed?

Tony
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Re: Trailer wiring for 2014 Mercedes GLK350

Postby TheBallew » Tue Dec 20, 2016 1:35 pm

tony.latham wrote:
TheBallew wrote:Apparently this isn't entirely right. The brake lights on the trailer operate backwards. Normally bright, then dim when the brakes are applied. Ugh. When it warms up a little I'll dig into it and try to figure out what the problem is.


That sounds like you have your headlight and brake wires reversed?

Tony


Possible. The turn signals work OK, so I think I have that much correct. I'm hoping that it's just as simple as I tapped into the wrong wire for the brakes. It's just a little frustrating and nobody seems to have an off-the-shelf system that is intended to work with this vehicle. The car's lights are all LED and the wires are small gauge, only as long as they need to be, and firmly wrapped in tape. Not the easiest thing to work on.
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