i have no running lights on my trailer but the turn signals and break lights work fine. any ideas on what could be wrong? got pulled over and let off with a warning. don't want that to happen again. any tips available.
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i have no running lights on my trailer but the turn signals and break lights work fine. any ideas on what could be wrong? got pulled over and let off with a warning. don't want that to happen again. any tips available.
Turn signals and brake lights use the same wire on a trailer harness. How I remember the wiring is by the colors (if it is wired correctly that is). Yellow has an L in its spelling which stands for Left. Green has an R in it which stands for Right. Brown is for a Brown tail like a dog, which ( wags)/ feeds both left and right. White is for chassis ground/frame. ( I don't have a saying for the white lol) There could be other wires also for electric brakes , power supply etc.
But for common trailer lighting there will be these colors. You should have power to your brown wire at your vehicle plug when you turn on your tail lights. If you do, then you need to go to each light socket and see if you have power to the bulbs which is connected to these brown wires. Generally trailer lights use a double filament bulb, (1157) One filament for TS/Brake which is larger and one filament for tail lights which is the smaller of the two. My guess is that you have corrosion, a bad connection at the plug, bad connections at the sockets, or bad bulbs.
As PimplePounder stated it is something to do with the brown wire. If you do not have power coming out of the socket on the vehicle then check you vehicle manual because there may be a trailing running light fuse on your vehicle. Also if you have a splice on the brown wire then definetly check that first.
Many places sell a simple led tester that will quickly give you an idea if your vehicle is putting power to the plug, a test light or volt meter will do the same. I like a volt meter cause it can show voltage drop not just on or off. But 1st is to verify power coming from tow vehicle, if so check for power at bulbs and work backwards till you find it. Could be as stated bad bulb, loose, bulbs, bad connection, bad plug, broken wire. I have even seen some trailer lights have a separate ground set for stop/turn and parks lights, so 4 wires at the light not 3
Reel Deal,, What kind of truck are you pulling with... When pulling trailers in my old 2003 Silverado the running lights would never work if the truck light switch was in the auto position. I would always have to flip the light switch to the ON position. Just something you might try before you go chasing wires etc.... I bought new Silverado last year and have not had a trailer hooked to this truck to see how the lights work on it...
my truck has a separate fuse for the running lighs in the fuse box under the hood it is very easy to blow if you have a short
I have a 2013 Silverado and I have to have my lights on also for my trailer lights to work will not work on auto . Good luck and tight linesQuote:
Originally Posted by Reel_Deal
my guess would be the fuse under the hood for the running lights. just look at your fuse block in the manual for your truck and it'll show which fuse is for your running lights. this fuse is very bad about blowing. we were up at lake erie a couple of yrs ago and a friend stopped by our campsite. his running lights was out so we got the manual out and found the right fuse. we changed it out and problem solved.
Do you have a converter module for the trailer lights that may have gone bad. I had a similar problem with my trailer lights and found that my converter was defective. Bought a new one and all is good.
I had the same issue at the beginning of the year thought I was going to have to rewire my whole trailer when I started to work on the trailer wiring found where a wire was spliced together for the ground and it had come apart fix that everything worked perfectly on anything I hook it to
it keeps blowing. i've replaced it 3 times now in as many days. thought i had it fixed but apparently not. unplugged before i put in and brought out, turned auto lights off before hooking and unhooking, and i changed the plug and made sure all splices were tight. might be somewhere else in the trailer.Quote:
Originally Posted by sherman51
You have a bare wire, making contact on your trailer, or somewhere .also those fuses are normally 20 amp.
I'm pretty sure it's the brown wire.. probably where it goes through the frame
I never unplug my lights when I launch. Have never had a problem. Just never had to submerge the plug
i submerge just right over the fender. so no where near the plug. it only happens when i just pulled the boat out, dropped it in, or possibly when i start with them plugged in and auto lights on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank
You you have a bare spot or broken marker light wire
if you have the option of the round plug or the flat plug plug the trailer in to the round plug before plugging into the truck the fuse usually blows when hooking up the flat plug round plug doesnt seem to short out when you plug in
As Frank mentioned, most likely a bare spot somewhere. I had the same issue, if sitting still the lights worked for hours, no problem. Hit the road and 10 minutes in the running lights fuse in my '11 Chevy full size. My wiring was old. Obviously, the issue was a bare spot that would make contact as the wires bounced around while underway.
If your wiring is old, like mine was, you may find the problem is not confined to one spot, and it is simpler and less time consuming to buy the waterproof led full light kit at harbor fright or wallymart or your local trailer shop, etc.
Just my opinion, I chased it a few days and to be honest, the led upgrade was worth the investment. Good Luck!