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Posts: 26
| I took the boat out Sunday and noticed that I was having some issues with the trailer lights. So, here it is. Put the boat in the driveway and when I turn the lights on everything seems to ok. When I hit the brakes the lights go out. When I use the turning signals to go either way both lights flash. The running lights up front work. so its not a blown bulb because the lights work for one function or another. My question to all you experts out there, is do you think it is my wiring harness on the truck or do you think it is something on the trailer? I just put in new wires on the trailer last year so hope its not that. Is there a way to test the wiring on the truck???? Thanks. |
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Posts: 897
| Sounds like a bad ground. Check that first. |
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Posts: 194
Location: Southwest PA | More than likely, there is a bad grond between the trailer and the tow vehicle.
You can check this easily. Get a jumper wire and ground it to the frame of both the trailer and tow vehicle. If that fixes the problem start cleaning all the ground connections.
Rich W |
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Posts: 73
Location: Indiana | Sounds like you have a bad connection...probably the ground. Whatever you do, don't go pull all the wires out of your trailer....
If the lights were working fine with your truck before, my bet would be that it's not the truck. You can get a tester that plugs into the truck harness to see. You can also get one that plugs into the trailer harness. Or you could use a volt meter. Again, my bet is that the truck wiring is OK, but it is probably worth a look see...
Then do what the posts above said...check where the ground connects to the trailer. Make sure it connects to metal and not paint. And make sure it's not rusty.
If it's not the truck and it's not the ground wire to the trailer, then it's the trailer lights, but don't go pull all the wiring out. I made that mistake once. The wire typically doesn't go bad at all. No use waisting it. I'd say it's probably the connections to the rear tail lights. Get access to the connections and redo them. It's easy. Start with the side that's giving you the problems. Cut the wire back a 1/2 inch to get clean copper, and reconnect. And that's about it.
Edited by Halfpint 6/3/2009 9:12 AM
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Posts: 280
| If you have a converter changing 5 wires to 4 I have heard of those going bad. Do all of the lights on your truck work with the trailer disconnected? If yes there probably isn't a problem with the truck wiring. So if you have no converter box and the truck lights all work I would say there is a problem with the trailer wiring. Whenever I have trailer light problems the first thing I do is measure voltage on each pin of my wiring harness with only one lighting option enabled. This should tell you if there is a problem with the wiring leading to the trailer. If you have a 4 wire system your turn signal wires double as your brake wires. If one of those was shorted to ground (on trailer side) I think what your seeing would happen.
Hope this helps,
MM
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Posts: 26
| Well, you guys were right on. It was a ground wire issue. Found the problem, cleaned up the area in question and the lights workk like a charm. Thanks for all the help. |
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Posts: 793
Location: Ames, Iowa | Won't start a new thread just add to this one. Trailer running lights work hooked to the van but not the Blazer. My running light (brown) wire on the Blazer harness is showing no juice at the harness using the tester. Cannot find a fuse in the manual that goes to this line, but can find fuses for turn sigs and brake lights. Any suggestions? Don
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Posts: 134
| If your tester has a point try working your way back up the wire to find 12v. but before you do this I would double check the fuses. Todays vechicles have fuses for everything. |
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Posts: 646
Location: In a shack in the woods | On my 03 chef truck there are trailer fuses inside the cab and under the hood. Have you checked both places? |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Check the ground connection on the Blazer- There is usually a white wire(ground) from the trailer light adapter T-plug attached to the vehicle frame via a screw. It's probably badly corroded/rusted. Rust is a pretty good insulator, i.e., very similar to having a corroded battery post/connection. Sometimes, they even break off right at the ring connector crimp from vibration.
Good luck
Al |
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Posts: 793
Location: Ames, Iowa | On 3rd look I found a fuse under the hood that was out. Glad it was simple because I am too.djw |
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Trailer Wiring Question....Need Help