Trailer light question

[bamajoker]

This is kinda confusing but
My tail lights and clearance lights do not work.
Brake and blinker lights do work.

I search for a bare wire and did not find any.

I undid the pig tail on the boat and attached the two brown wires to the brake light wire and when i apply the brake the all the lights work.

Does this mean the pig tail is bad?

also it would blow my fuse for my tail lights on my truck before i swapped the wires.

 

[saumon]

Re: Trailer light question

Working on trailer lights can be very confusing and drive you crazy. The best way to do it is to use a methodical aproach by splitting the whole rig in two separate parts.

First, test the towing vehicule end. Get a simple test light, put the clamp on the ground (white) wire or pin and then test brake, tail and flashers. If eveything check ok, proceed to the trailer end.

Get a 12v source like a powerpack or a battery and, again, use a wire to connect the ground to the neg terminal. Then, with another wire connected to the pos terminal, apply power to the brake, tail (brown) and flasher (green, yellow) wires, one after the other. If one of thoses fail to work when power is applied, let the power connected and use the test light at various places on that wire toward the back of the trailer until the light stop working (the culprit piece of wire is just before that point).

Hope it help.
(sorry for my english, as it isn't my first language!)

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Trailer light question

Check for bad ground.

 

[bamajoker]

Re: Trailer light question

if it was a bad ground THEN why would it work when i wired the two brown(tail) to the brake lights

 

[lonemust]

Re: Trailer light question

With a bad ground it wouldn't. If your wiring runs though the tongue tube, it could be a verment got in there and chewed on the brown wire causing it to ground. Where did you hook to 2 browns together ;at the lights themselves or at the hitch. If at the lights meaning the wires coming from the hitch was deconnected you would not find that the wire has a bare spot. AT the plug end use a n ohm meter. Put 1 terminal in the socket for brown wire and the other to the tongue. The meter should not change at all. If it does the brown is grounded. You can also use a continuaty light, if it lights up the wire is grounded. Do this with the wire disconnected at the lights.

 

[bamajoker]

Re: Trailer light question

at the hitch

 

[lonemust]

Re: Trailer light question

yes the hitch! the part where the ball goes. Oh I htink it is also called the coupler. The end that hooks to your vehicle. If the trailer wiringruns though the square tube that runs back below you hull it is probable there that the wire is bare.

 

[Auxlarry]

Re: Trailer light question

Had a similar problem with a Chevy Trailblazer (Since upgraded to a Suburban)I used for towing, kept blowing the trailer light fuse that was located under the second row of seats. Took it into Chevy thinking it was a truck problem and they told me to check the ground wire on the trailer.
I have an aluminum trailer and started checking everywhere the ground wire fastened to the frame. Seemed every connection had just a little green corrosion around it and where the main ground (pigtail to traler) was connected it had been pop rivited. Replaced the pop rivet with a bolt and used anti seize on all the connections. Fixed the problem and have not had another issue since.

Larry

 

[bamajoker]

Re: Trailer light question

trying to fix it is so frustrating lol i think it would be easier and faster just to rewire the trailer lol.