How can I figure out if my Rogue is pre-wired for trailer?

[ShawnQ]

I've got a bit of an issue.

My Wife, who is about 1500miles away from me, will finally be moving here after finishing her Masters degree. She needs to haul a very small U-Haul 'sport' trailer to get her stuff here.

My plan is to fly down the day before, install a trailer hitch, and a wiring kit.

However, I'm not sure which wiring kit I need - or IF I need one.

I've seen all of the 'how-to's' on trailer wiring install, and it's simple....but I didn't see anything that could tell me whether or not my Wife's Rogue is equipped with wiring from the factory. The Rogue is the first model year, and is loaded...

How can I have her look to see if it is pre-wired, prior to ordering a wiring kit?

Is the Professional Wiring Products still considered one of the best wiring kits? The 'How To' sections post on this topic is over a year old...and a lot can change in a year.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Shawn

[Igg]

Without knowing the specific, you WILL Need a wiring kit either way,

Which kits depends on your model. The only difference is one kit will have a very long cable to power the converter box from your car's battery if you don't have the "pre wiring" that nissan gave you on a loaded rogue.

Most generic kits i've seen come with the long power cable to tap in from the battery, while the professional does NOT come with the long cable for battery tap, instead uses the exist "pre wiring" plug that nissan provide.

Hope it helps.

[ShawnQ]

Is this pre-wiring something my Wife can open the storage compartment and find easily?

The Rogue is an '08 SL AWD, I think it's an '08 - first year they came out.

I apologize for sounding ignorant but I never see the car due to the fact that she's in school and I'm stationed far away.

Thanks in advance,
Shawn

[Igg]

If you watch this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upsn8XsdfNw

and follow the instruction up to the part where you pop off the side panels (don't do that), just take out the carpet, tray and the left side storage bins that has your jack, underneath that bin should be a black wiring bundle of wire, taped to that bundle of wire is a white connector that's not connected to anything, if your car is prewired, it should have that.

[philipa_240sx]

Is this pre-wiring something my Wife can open the storage compartment and find easily?

There is no way to tell from visually unless you get the tools out and remove the tray from the LH side of the spare tire well. If you do, you'll see whether the 'pre-wiring' is there or not. Honestly, since you have a loaded model you have a very good chance that the wiring harness is there.

Buy the Professional Wiring Products converter, it's still the easiest/best out there. Best case it's plug and play, Worst case, you will need to run a power wire from a 12V source. The 12V outlet in the console or center dash is the easiest as it's much more accessible than trying to route wires to the engine.

[ShawnQ]

If you watch this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upsn8XsdfNw

and follow the instruction up to the part where you pop off the side panels (don't do that), just take out the carpet, tray and the left side storage bins that has your jack, underneath that bin should be a black wiring bundle of wire, taped to that bundle of wire is a white connector that's not connected to anything, if your car is prewired, it should have that.

The problem is trying to get my Wife to take it apart as I wont be there until the day before we have to drive 1500 miles

She's great with a scalpal and anything medical, but not a mechanic by any means!

[Igg]

Probably just easier and less stressful on the both of you to have her take it to a uhaul place and pay them to do it

[ShawnQ]

Probably just easier and less stressful on the both of you to have her take it to a uhaul place and pay them to do it

Igg,

You may be right....but I just ordered the wiring.

I will have the wiring and the hitch shipped to her. When I get there, I will install both. I figured worst case, if it isn't pre-wired for the 'plug-n-play' wiring harness, then I can just run a power wire as mentioned. Either way I should still be able to use the Professional Wiring kit. It just may not plug in.

I appreciate the info.

Shawn

[philipa_240sx]

The Professional Wiring Products harness will save you 95% of the splices even if you have to run a separate power wire. It's really the best way to do it.

A couple more tips:

Several owners have had issues with the factory pre-wire harness (located under the cargo floor) not working. 12VDC was not present on pin #2, the large gauge blue wire. Either the fuse was missing (#34 located in the engine compartment) or the harness (connector B11 & E101) was not plugged in under the dash. You can refer to the wiring diagram here, see pg PG-65:

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Rogue/2009/PG.pdf

If you cannot get this working, I would consider removing the red wire from the converter (the one with the fuse) and running a separate 12V source. Leave the other wire (white) intact and plug it in... it's used for the RH turn signal.



A good source for power is the 12V outlet in the console. Read the manual here on how to access it:

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Rogue/2009/PWO.pdf

[Igg]

Philip, thanks for the tip above, I've completed my wiring/hitch install but haven't had a chance to test the wiring with a trailer yet.
Hopefully my 2010 awd will be plugged in.

[ShawnQ]

Hopefully mine will work as well.

I will post up the results and let you know how it went.

I wish I could find a U-Haul that would rent one of those 'Sport' trailers, the tiny one...because I don't need much room. I hate to rent the heavier 4x8 but it may be my only option.

Thanks again,
Shawn

[mpattdu]

Hi ShawnQ,

I have a 2008 SL AWD and it does have the white 12v plug on the left side in the back.

[Igg]

Hi Shawn,
Hopefully this should help you avoid some of the frustration I ran into with my trailer lights yesterday.
After hooking up my trailer, I got no power, as suspected, I checked my professional products fuse, nope, perfectly intact.
Next I looked under the steering wheel for the interior fuse box, nope no trailer fuse either (it's under the hood under the air intake hose).

Here's What I found in my research and resolution for my 2010 AWD SL Rogue.

First remove the intake (3 pop rivet at the front with a flip screw driver).

Then here is what you'll see:


Open up fuse box #2, remove the 30A spare 30A fuse (or go get one from your autostore, these are the mini fuse).

This is what you'll see when you flip, yes FLIP it over, the entire bloody thing comes out:


Hopefully, after this fuse is in, your "pre-wiring" harness should be powered now.

If it isn't, then you might want to follow up with this post:
trailer-wiring-harness-problems-continued-t385591.html
Where a use report that another connector isn't connected behind the dash after the firewall. Thankfully, my case wasn't that so I don't have any pics.

Hopefully this should help someone avoid the frustration I went through.

I wanted to thank Phillip again for cluing me in on the missing fuse issue.

[royalscrew]

Huge thanks for that bit about the fuse! I ran into the same issue, thought I would have to run a wire to the battery until I found this thread by searching online.