Hello,

I have an s-max st-line 2019, 70k km.  The retractable tow hook suddenly would not retract any more. There is only a click, but no motor sound, and an error warning about the hook not locked. The hook can not be moved by hand or sledgehammer. There also is a siren at the retract-switch with a one second on/off cycle, starting when a door is opened, and continuing until 20 second after the ignition is turned off and doors closed. By removing the 40 A fuse no.78, the hook electronics/alarm is off, but so is the automatic front light control.

The manufacturer (westfalia) are not allowed to offer spares to a Ford supplied item. Replacing the hook is E3000.

Rumours say that the hook motor is supplied with 3 cheap plastic gears, that should be replaced with metal gears. Where could I get such gears? The hook plate reeds: E1GJ-19G521-CE      D1C6C.

6 hours ago, OveH said:

The hook can not be moved by hand or sledgehammer.

Good to see you have used your full expertise in attempting to retract the tow hook 🤣🤣🤣

If you are proposing to change the gears (and the alternative is to change the entire thingy at stupid cost) then why not take it apart, see if the rumours are correct and decide from there presuming you can get the parts - if you can't it's a no brainer to remove it (or pay up)?
Another alternative would be to revert to a fixed or detachable bar but that would need the factory fit item de-activating (no idea on that unless the option is available in Forscan) but you'd need to keep the towing option so the the car knows it has a trailer attached when necessary?

Don't you just love Westfalia response - I wouldn't buy anything from them, ever.

20 hours ago, OveH said:

The manufacturer (westfalia) are not allowed to offer spares to a Ford supplied item.

Right to repair act ?

@StephenFord is our resident expert on consumer matters 😉

26 minutes ago, unofix said:

Right to repair act ?

@StephenFord is our resident expert on consumer matters 😉

An interesting query. The act only came into force in UK in 2021, so looking at the age of the car, it may well fall out of the scope. However, if it were me I'd 'bluff' my way with them, quoting the act, and asking them to confirm their dis-interest in supplying parts bin order to repair their device.

I think the problem is that the owner of the car has no relationship with Westfalia.

Westfalia is just the manufacturer that manufactures the retractable towing hook for Ford. Ford simply outsourced the manufacturing to Westfalia. These retractable towing hooks are manufactured conform Ford requirements and standards and are different from the aftermarket Westfalia towing hooks. It is completely normal for a manufacturer like Westfalia to have a legally binding agreement with Ford that does not allow Westfalia to supply parts for these OEM Ford towbars to 3rd parties. 

The retractable mechanism is not considered to be a serviceable part and therefor neither Ford or Westfalia supplies internal parts of the mechanism.

Ford is technically the supplier of both the vehicle and the retractable towing hook. In my opinion Ford is the only one that can be blamed for the premature failure of the retractable towing hook and the fact that it cannot be repaired because of the unavailability of parts.


Westfalia manufactures a lot of OEM retractable towbars for different car manufacturers. BMW for example uses similar retractable towing hooks to the ones that Ford uses.

On the BMW retractable towing hook failure of the plastic gears is quite common. For these vehicles some aftermarket uprated plastic or metal gears are available on for example Ebay. These gears may (or may not) also be suitable for the Ford retractable towing hook. To check compatibility, you have to disassemble the mechanism and compare the internals with the ones from a BMW.

If the plastic gears are actually broken and are different from the BMW gears the only way to repair the mechanism is by manufacturing new gears. This can be done by 3D scanning/printing. The remains of the broken gears can be temporarily put together, 3D scanned and 3D printed in either metal or carbon fiber reinforced nylon.