Location of factory tow harness

[petracca]

Hi,
I'm a new owner of a 2001 QX4 with a factory tow package. Did this package include the tow wiring harness? I can't seem to find the harness in the normal spots, such as behind the cargo area plastic panels or near/around the tow hitch. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Peter

[Chuck Tribolet]

I don't believe there was a factory tow package. There was an overpriced bolt-on hitch (other brands just as good and cheaper) and you could buy a wiring harness. But AFAIK, neither came from the factory.


Chuck

[Towncivilian]

I have a factory tow package. See the "NISSAN" sticker and the wiring harness in this pic:



I'm not sure whether the QX4's harness location is different.

[Chuck Tribolet]

It may well be a Nissan part, but I don't think it was a FACTORY option. I've got an '01 also, and I don't remember the option, and I do remember the dealer giving me a hard sell on buying the dealer hitch (and I think harness). The hitch was twice the price of the Draw-Tite I put on, and I certainly wasn't interested in the harness as the dealer harness for my '95 was just bare wires and I had to splice on the five to four converter.

If there's a harness, factory or otherwise, it taps into the tail lights inside the doors in the back of the cargo compartment, and grounds SOMEWHERE. Plug and play harnesses are available from a number of sources for $20-30. Google is your friend. These harnesses include the five to four converter.

I had the Nissan p/n hitch on my '95 until it got rear-ended Super Bowl Sunday 1994. It got replaced by the body shop with something aftermarket (and the twit that rear-ended me (no English, no insurance, no green card) got shipped home by what we now call ICE.)) I was surprised that my insurance fixed the truck (it took three tow trucks to pry things apart) but it was fine for a year and a half til I got the hots for the 3.5L motor.

Note: IF YOU LAUNCH A SALT WATER BOAT, I'd strongly suggest that you leave the original flat-four connector stashed way up out of the way and use an "extension cord" to get to the hitch. That will make it really easy when (not IF) the connector at the hitch gets corroded. If you want a REALLY quality extension cord (at a quality price), Google JetConnex. If you want to go cheap, your local auto parts store will have four wires with a male flat four on one end and a female on the other end. They don't sell it as an extension cord, but it works.

Chuck

[Towncivilian]

You're right, my mistake. My Pathfinder was purchased by my parents and I can't find the original window detail, and there's no such "tow package" option listed in FAST. The Nissan hitch has two extra mounting bolts, see here, but as said in the thread they probably don't have much utility.

[shelby500krz]

Sorry about going off topic, but towncivillian what is FAST?

[Ron Burgundy]

Nissan FAST is the program used by Nissan Dealerships to look up parts, features, etc. associated with your VIN.

[petracca]

You're right, it was probably just a dealer-installed part when the car was new, but I'm assuming that accessory should have included the wiring harness. My hitch is a NISSAN part like yours, Towncivilian, but I still haven't been able to find the harness. I'm going to drop the spare and check to see if it's jammed up there.

[Chuck Tribolet]

Look inside the two doors at the rear of the sides of the cargo compartment. Start at the tail light and trace the wiring. If there's only one connector, you don't have the harness. If there's two, you do. The harness is a sort of Y connector that plugs in between the tail light and the main body harness. You can trace the trailer harness from there.


Chuck