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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | So I just got done splicing in a new light mount to tow vehicle. All lights are working right, left turn signals, tail lights, but i can't get either of the brake lights to come on? What am I missing? The it a mercury mountaineer, it had a old 4 wire plug, i spliced in a 7 way so current I have 3 dead wires. Wire colors are green, white, brown, and yellow? Any ideas why the brakes aren't coming on?
Edited by Magruter 8/24/2008 12:40 PM
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | How is the boat trailer wired, 4- wire or 7 wire? Is the vehicle wiring hooked up according to the 7-Way plug manufacturer's instructions for your vehicle, i.e., like shown in the 7-wire diagram here->
http://www.accessconnect.com/trailer_wiring_diagram.htm
Flat 4 wiring code
white -> ground
yellow -> left turn/brake light
green -> right turn/brake light
brown -> tail light
Wiring Code 7 way Trailer End #
Color - Circuit Function
1 white - common ground
2 blue - electric brake
3 green - tail/running lights
4 black - battery charge (+)
5 red - Left turn/stop
6 brown - Right turn/stop
7 yellow - auxiliary/back up
I see three choices if the trailer is 4-wire:
1. Rewire the trailer to 7-wire system. This probably will require new tail light assemblies, wiring harness, etc
2. Put the 4-wire plug back on the trailer and get a 7-wire to 4-wire adapter. The adapter has the necessary connections with blocking diodes so that the brake lights will work properly.
3. Hook the trailer 7-way plug up with the following color connections to the 4-wire trailer harness >
Vehicle 7-Wire to Trailer 4-Wire
White -> White
Green -> Brown
Red -> Yellow
Brown -> Green
Tape off all other wires on the 7-way trailer pig tail.
Good luck!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 8/24/2008 12:12 PM
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | If:
yellow -> left turn/brake light
green -> right turn/brake light
And both turn signals work but the brakes don't, i must be missing something. The boat has a 4 wire plug.
Edited by Magruter 8/24/2008 2:52 PM
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Just try #3, you'd be surprised what works & what doesn't!
Al |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | I'll give it a try. Thanks
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | I don't have a red on the seven
http://www.etrailer.com/faq_wiring.aspx
That's the 7 that I have. |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | Just tried a couple configurations, didn't still no brakes. I'll get a volt meter and do some testing tomorrow. |
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Posts: 194
Location: Southwest PA | Scott,
I'll guess that the Mountainer has separate brake lights and turn signals. If this is the case there will be a converter wired into the Mountanier to change it to a combination brake and turn signal for the wiring to the trailer.
Sounds like the converter is bad.
Hope this helps
Rich W
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | Yeah, that' what we are guessing.. I'm going to toy around with after work. |
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| Some Ford's have separate fuses for the Trailer Stop and brake light circuits. |
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | Buy a testlight...it will only cost a couple bucks. Find the wire that lights up when someone hits the brake pedal. |
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Posts: 96
| Just a thought because I went through it last year. A tail light may be defective. I bought a whole new kit and one was bad so it shorted my system. Everything worked but runnning lights. Then after some trial and error (disconnected the bad light and the others came on) I discovered the problem. If nothing else it's worth a look... |
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Posts: 706
Location: Richland Center, WI. | Scott,
Check with Walmart or your local parts store and you will find a kit that will convert your current wiring setup to work with the 4 prong wires. It is a T setup that plugs right into the existing wiring at the rear of your vehicle. No cutting of wires needed. Had the same issue as you and bought the kit and was ready to go in under 10 minutes.
Ken |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | Never did figure it out, I tried everything, 4 differenct convertor boxes, 2 turn signal switches. Basically the final solution was to take it to uhaul and have them wire it for $100 bucks. I never did buy the truck anyways... Time well spent I tell ya!  |
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Trailer lights