Trailer Wiring Problem 2024
Jim McC reply :
I just noticed tonight that when I hit the brakes, my trailer's left turn signal activates. Everything else works normally. What could be causing this? Thanks.
J Francho reply :
Don't know, but it's a simple rewire job. Just use the old wires to snake the new ones through. I just wired mine - solder and heat shrink all the way, with new LED tail lights. Took me about three hours, and I'm a rookie.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 7/13/2011 at 12:59 PM, J Francho said:Don't know, but it's a simple rewire job. Just use the old wires to snake the new ones through. I just wired mine - solder and heat shrink all the way, with new LED tail lights. Took me about three hours, and I'm a rookie.
I have to agree with J here, It sounds like a ground problem but in my area when you start having issues you keep having issues, Go to Wal-Mart or thier web site you can get the whole kit for 30 bucks.
Just be sure to check the vehicles plug before you do to be sure its not in that part of the circut.
J Francho reply :
If the lights still work, the wiring harness is less than $10 for a 25' 4-pin kit. No point in replacing something that works.
Use this, or whatever hook up you have, with the indicator lights to tell you if your hook up is working properly:
Or this:
Jig Man reply :
I own 3 trailers and most of the problems I have had are bare wire or bad grounds. The first thing I'd do is check all the connections and sharp bends. It could be a simple ground problem and or a frayed wire. If you can isolate the problem it may be a fifty-cent fix instead of a $20 and 3 hour fix.
J Francho reply :
You never know what's hiding in those rails, LOL. I was shocked. What a mess. Glad I started fresh.
Jim McC reply :
Thanks guys.
Ann-Marie reply :
THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION TO TRAILER WIRING PROBLEMS.
I mounted the license plate, stop lisghts, clearance lights turn lights etc, all on a 2X4 and made a clamp that would attach it to the trailer or the stern of the boat. A flexible cord plugs into the truck. No wiring on the trailer to give problems. (May not be quite legal to include the license plate but no one ever gave me any trouble.)
You hang it on the trailer or boat when going to move, take it off, roll up the cable and put it back in the truck when you arrive.
No need for waterproof fixtures, no burned out bulbs from the water, no rusty connections.
Triton21 reply :
I just rewired my boat trailer and car hauler. I ran the wires inside a cheap water hose cut in the lengths needed. No chaffing the wires on the inside of the rails on boat trailer or through the holes on the frame of the car hauler.
Kelley
Jim McC reply :
On 7/14/2011 at 5:39 AM, Triton21 said:I just rewired my boat trailer and car hauler. I ran the wires inside a cheap water hose cut in the lengths needed. No chaffing the wires on the inside of the rails on boat trailer or through the holes on the frame of the car hauler.
Kelley
That's a great idea. I'll have to see if I have room to run a hose or something similiar(if I re-wire it).
A local U-haul dealer checked my van's wiring harness today, and everything worked normally. He said it's probably a bad ground or a bad wiring plug on trailer. So at least now I know it's the trailer itself. How do I check to see if the trailer wiring plug is bad? How do I check for a bad ground on trailer? Thanks.
Team_Dougherty reply :
On 7/13/2011 at 11:09 AM, Jim McC said:I just noticed tonight that when I hit the brakes, my trailer's left turn signal activates. Everything else works normally. What could be causing this? Thanks.
Does your trailer have separate brake and turn signal bulbs? Most trailer lights use an 1157 bulb. The brake light and turn signal use the same element in the bulb. Maybe your right brake light is burned out. Does the left light blink when you step on the brake?
Jim McC reply :
On 7/15/2011 at 3:50 AM, Team_Dougherty said:Does your trailer have separate brake and turn signal bulbs? Most trailer lights use an 1157 bulb. The brake light and turn signal use the same element in the bulb. Maybe your right brake light is burned out. Does the left light blink when you step on the brake?
I've got LED trailer lights, new last season. Yes, the left turn signal activates when I hit the brakes.
Team_Dougherty reply :
On 7/15/2011 at 12:12 PM, Jim McC said:I've got LED trailer lights, new last season. Yes, the left turn signal activates when I hit the brakes.
Interesting. The blinking is controlled by the flasher in the tow vehicle.
I agree with the others. Check the trailer wiring. The LEDs need a really good ground to work properly.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/15/2011 at 8:50 PM, Team_Dougherty said:Interesting. The blinking is controlled by the flasher in the tow vehicle.
I agree with the others. Check the trailer wiring. The LEDs need a really good ground to work properly.
OK, but what do I check specifically? How do I know if a ground is bad? Each LED taillight is grounded with a screw, and those look clean. The trailer harness is grounded to the frame, but the screw is rusty.
Team_Dougherty reply :
On 7/16/2011 at 5:49 AM, Jim McC said:OK, but what do I check specifically? How do I know if a ground is bad? Each LED taillight is grounded with a screw, and those look clean. The trailer harness is grounded to the frame, but the screw is rusty.
There should be a white wire going from the trailer to the tow vehicle. you should not rely on the ball and the coupler to provide ground. to check run a wire from each tail light ground to a ground on the tow vehicle.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/16/2011 at 8:40 AM, Team_Dougherty said:There should be a white wire going from the trailer to the tow vehicle. you should not rely on the ball and the coupler to provide ground. to check run a wire from each tail light ground to a ground on the tow vehicle.
I've never had a white wire going from the trailer to the tow vehicle. How would that even hook up?
Jim McC reply :
Update: Today I re-did my 2 grounds from the taillights to the trailer frame. I also re-did the ground from the trailer harness plug to the trailer frame. The bad news is it's still doing the same thing(When I step on the brake, the left turn signal flashes on the trailer). Everything else works normally(The left and right turn signals and the hazards). When I put on the hazards though, the 2 taillights are slightly out of sync by a split second. Does this hint toward anything? Tomorrow I'm going to replace the trailer harness plug and see what happens. Thanks for any help.
Team_Dougherty reply :
On 7/16/2011 at 1:59 PM, Jim McC said:I've never had a white wire going from the trailer to the tow vehicle. How would that even hook up?
Jim McC reply :
On 7/18/2011 at 2:52 AM, Team_Dougherty said:
I've got the white wire from the plug grounded to the trailer. Is that what you mean?
Team_Dougherty reply :
On 7/18/2011 at 3:08 AM, Jim McC said:I've got the white wire from the plug grounded to the trailer. Is that what you mean?
you also need a the white wire grounded to your tow vehicle. You can not rely on the ball and coupler alone.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/18/2011 at 3:10 AM, Team_Dougherty said:you also need a the white wire grounded to your tow vehicle. You can not rely on the ball and coupler alone.
Do you mean the ground wire that should have been installed when they installed my hitch and wiring on my van?
J Francho reply :
Yes. The one "oddball" opposite connection is the ground. On the vehicle side, the white line should be grounded somewhere on the van. On the trailer side, it's grounded on the trailer itself.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/18/2011 at 1:06 PM, J Francho said:Yes. The one "oddball" opposite connection is the ground. On the vehicle side, the white line should be grounded somewhere on the van. On the trailer side, it's grounded on the trailer itself.
Thanks. Now I have to find the ground on the van and see how it looks. Any tips on how to find it?
J Francho reply :
I'm sure they installed it correctly. I still think you should just rewire the thing. It was WAYYY easier than I imagined.
Team_Dougherty reply :
On 7/18/2011 at 2:42 PM, Jim McC said:Thanks. Now I have to find the ground on the van and see how it looks. Any tips on how to find it?
follow the white wire from the plug to the ground screw on the van.
Jim McC reply :
Now it appears the problem is not the trailer. I took my van to another place today(a trailer sales/installation shop) and the problem is the wiring on the van. While he had his tester on the van's wiring plug, it was flashing while I hit the brakes. He said it's not the van's ground because all the other lights work properly. Is that correct? Just to re-cap, when I hit the brakes the left turn signal flashes. It's supposedly one of 2 things:
1) The wiring harness plug(I'll replace this first and see what happens)
2) The T-connector and wiring harness on van is bad. If it is this, where's a good source to buy this for a 2003 Chrysler Town and Country mini van? Thanks.
slonezp reply :
Many trailer rental stores like Uhaul will sell and install trailer parts.
J Francho reply :
Check your van's fuses.
Check the connection on the van with one of the testers I posted above.
If that all checks out, its your trailer wiring (always is, LOL).
Get an $8 wiring harness at bass pro, and start over.
I'm telling you, it's way easier than you think.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/19/2011 at 8:45 PM, J Francho said:Check your van's fuses.
Check the connection on the van with one of the testers I posted above.
If that all checks out, its your trailer wiring (always is, LOL).
Get an $8 wiring harness at bass pro, and start over.
I'm telling you, it's way easier than you think.
As I said in post 26, it's apparently the van's wiring. When he had the tester on the van's wiring plug and I hit the brakes, the tester was flashing and the left turn signal was flashng. I also hooked up to a trailer there, and it's left turn signal flashed when I hit the brakes.
J Francho reply :
Ahh, I didn't refresh the page, so missed that. That's weird. How could you get a flashing signal with brakes pressed. That is really weird.
Whqt happens when you turn on the right or left turn signal? How about the hazards? And any weird symptoms with the running lights/plate lights?
Jim McC reply :
On 7/20/2011 at 2:43 AM, J Francho said:Ahh, I didn't refresh the page, so missed that. That's weird. How could you get a flashing signal with brakes pressed. That is really weird.
Whqt happens when you turn on the right or left turn signal? How about the hazards? And any weird symptoms with the running lights/plate lights?
Everything else works normally. There's only a problem when you hit the brakes. I ordered a new T-connector wiring harness for my van from Etrailer.com. It even has a video on how to change it out on my van, and it looks pretty easy. I'll post back after I change it.
Fishing Rhino reply :
The brake lights, turn signals and flashers are linked together. The turn signals would be almost useless if they didn't override the brake lights. Same for the hazard four way flashers. Here's a question. When you put on the brakes, and the left tail light flashes, does the front light on that side also flash?
If it does, you probably have a "short" where the circuit for the brakes is feeding juice to the left turn signal. Does your left signal work normally when you are not on the brakes?
Your best bet is to take it to a dealer, or a mechanic you trust, and get an estimate of how much to fix it. The problem could be in the turn signal mechanism, or somewhere in the wiring harness. Since it happens when the trailer is not hooked up, you can rule out something back feeding current from a trailer problem.
Explain exactly what happens when you take it to the garage, to see what their thoughts are before they plug it into the computer and charge you to diagnose the problem. I doubt it would be the first time a dealer, or busy independent repair shop has seen this problem.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/20/2011 at 7:26 PM, Fishing Rhino said:The brake lights, turn signals and flashers are linked together. The turn signals would be almost useless if they didn't override the brake lights. Same for the hazard four way flashers. Here's a question. When you put on the brakes, and the left tail light flashes, does the front light on that side also flash?
If it does, you probably have a "short" where the circuit for the brakes is feeding juice to the left turn signal. Does your left signal work normally when you are not on the brakes?
Your best bet is to take it to a dealer, or a mechanic you trust, and get an estimate of how much to fix it. The problem could be in the turn signal mechanism, or somewhere in the wiring harness. Since it happens when the trailer is not hooked up, you can rule out something back feeding current from a trailer problem.
Explain exactly what happens when you take it to the garage, to see what their thoughts are before they plug it into the computer and charge you to diagnose the problem. I doubt it would be the first time a dealer, or busy independent repair shop has seen this problem.
I think you mis-understood my problem. The problem is not with the lights on the van malfunctioning, the left turn signal on the trailer is flashing when I hit the brakes. Everything on the van works normally. Yes, the left turn signal on the trailer works normally when I am not applying the brakes. No, the problem does not happen when the trailer is not hooked up.
BassThumb reply :
I've lost count of the lighting issues that I had before I learned about bad ground connections on trailers with LED lights, which are especially sensitive to a bad ground. Since I began cleaning/grinding the ground connection on the trailer every spring, I haven't had an issue. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the problems that occur when I had a bad ground. Even from day to day, they could be different.
Try cleaning the ground on the trailer(white wire) and see if that fixes the issue. Or you could clean all the connections. I like to use a Dremel with a grinding stone mainly. Anther useful tool is to wrap some steel wool around a nail and use that in a Dremel to polish your connections. It's basically looks like a steel wool Q-Tip.
Fishing Rhino reply :
I don't know about your tow vehicle, but my pickup has separate wiring and fuses for the trailer. They both originate at the same source, but are fused separately. Whatever goes to the turn signals on the truck goes to the turn signals on the trailer.
But, for the tester to show the brake connector for the trailer as flashing, it still has to be some type of back feed to the flasher and then on to the trailer circuit for the left turn signal.
Once upon a time, trailer hookups were tied into the tow vehicles tail and brake lights. Now, they are separate circuits.
You're problem reminded me why I hate doing electrical work on any vehicle, other than changing bulbs. Sometimes that's a pain too.
Good luck getting it resolved. Be sure to let us know what caused this problem, once you get it corrected.
Jim McC reply :
Well, I just finished putting on the new T-connector/wiring harness and it is now fixed. 
BUT I have one more question. The old wiring plug is still hooked up, and I don't know where it hooks up. They used some other method than the one I just replaced. Since the problem is fixed now, do I just tuck the old wiring and plug away and leave it? Thanks.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/23/2011 at 4:41 AM, Jim McC said:Well, I just finished putting on the new T-connector/wiring harness and it is now fixed.
Anyone?
slonezp reply :
If you can't remove it, I would tape the ends up real good with some electrical tape and secure it with wire ties somewhere it won't get shorted.
Jim McC reply :
On 7/24/2011 at 9:12 PM, slonezp said:If you can't remove it, I would tape the ends up real good with some electrical tape and secure it with wire ties somewhere it won't get shorted.
Thanks. The plug is still intact on it, and stays in the inside of van. Are you saying to tape up the plug?
slonezp reply :
yes
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