Blowing fuses in Jeep....

[Rip_Some_Lip]

I have been blowing fuses on my wifes Jeep Liberty as of late. It happens when I pull my boat with the headlights on. They work fine all the way to the lake in the daylight. They work fine for about 2 to 3 miles down the road with the headlights on in the dark. Then it blows a fuse which is for the drivers side tailight and front parking light. When the fuse blows, I lose the trailer's tail lights. I have had to drive it home with the 4 way flashers on, oh yes the blinkers and break lights still work. I checked the connections and the wire I could see without pulling it all out and it looked good. Any advise would be appreciated!

[DrKen]

I'm assuming that you have the factory trailer light setup. My jeep has a power converter in the setup but I would suspect you would lose all the lights if you didn't have one. Beyond that you have a short in the trailer wiring to the taillights. These can be hard to find. Most likely it is where there is some rubbing and the insulation is gone. Best bet is to replace the entire wire to the taillights. Easier than trying to trace the short and replace a short area of wire. If that doesn't work look for one of the light fixtures to be bad from corrosion causing a short. Good luck.

[Fisher Dave]

My jeep had to have the power converter also.. like a little booster box. I assume yours has this, if the newer models require it.

A short, or a lose connection somewhere is probably your problem.. I suppose it could be the ground with poor contact causing constant power surges.

If all else fails, you can switch over to LED lights on your trailer.. tail, and clearance lights. The LED lights draw way less power, and might lighten the load up enough to end the fuse problem.

Make sure your connections are clean, and your ground is good.

[Wishin2BFishin]

I would see what amp size the fuse is and if it's only a 10 or 15 amp one you could boost it up to a 15 or 20 amp one. You would still be protected from burning the wiring harness so don't worry. If it's already a 25 amp one and it's blowing then you have a short somewhere.

Best of luck

[Jeremy airjer W]

Unless you plan on voiding any vehicle warranty you may have or worse yet starting the vehicle on fire DO NOT REPLACE ANY FUSE WITH A HIGHER AMPERAGE FUSE. Fuses are not only ment to protect the devices on the cicuit but the wires that also run through the ciurcuit. To much amperage on a small wire is a recipe for a potential disaster.

[jigginjerk]

Same thing happened to me and it was a wire inside of the trailer frame. You are going to have to pull the wires out and replace them. Just tie new wires to the old ones and pull them through as you pull out the old ones. The insulation does chafe off and short out. Not that bad of job and it sure beats running with flashers.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I will replace everything and put in some LED lights. I was thinking of it anyway with the luck I have with trailer lights.

[lumpy]

Mine was doing this a year after I had my hitch done, have a 93 truck. Found out after redoing everything that the trailer wires looked good. I installed a plug-in harness instead of the patched wires and redid the ground to the truck frame which looked very suspicious. It worked so I would say my problem was in the ground to the truck or the harness connection to the trailer plug-in.