Trailer Lights

[H2O]

A buddy of mine has some trailer light issues that could delay his plans for the opener. He asked me to assist him with the repair work and being my electrical skills are average-(at best), I thought I'd ask the experts on what I should be looking for when we get into it.

He does have running lights, but no blinkers or brake lights. Would this be an issue with a bad ground wire or am I aiming at the wrong target? Suggestions are welcome!!!!!!!

[Gus]

I've done a lot of tinkering with trailer lights and this is my chain of events.

1. Double check boat to truck connection for corrosion.

2. Check ground wire of lights to trailer and trailer half to trailer half if it is a tilt trailer.

3. Check Bulbs and sockets for corrosion.

The above I usually do pretty quick but thorough checks. If they do not solve the problem I go to number 4.

4. Re-run all wires. Much quicker than trying to track down a short somewhere. When all possible I get wire that will run the ground back to the vehicle so you are not relying on the trailer to ball connection for a gound.

More often than not your problem is the ground. Sometimes is is just easier and quicker to rewire the whole thing.

[wgpeter]

Check the fuses inside the truck. I spent a half of day working on my trailer lights only to find out that the fuse was blown in the truck.

[NAGORSKI]

If time is running out and you havent figured it out, I would go buy a new set of lights at a dealer for about 40 bucks! Or go the cheap rout and go to a car parts store or fleet f. and pay 30 but the covers fall off of these. My point is nothing like this would keep me from getting out this weekend! Good luck.

[Bobby Bass]

A handy tool to keep in your glove box and sold at K-Mart is a harness tester. You plug in at the truck harness and you can check to make sure the truck harness is working. Much better then playing with a probe. As it has been said here many times 99% of the time it is a bad ground. Better to be working on them now then Sat morning !

[lanyard]

Try running grounds from the anchor point at the hitch alllllll the way back to the lights. It's a wierd deal, but if that loop isn't completed the lights don't work. Saw this happen on my duck boat trailer. The connection, especially on the tilt, gets a little rusty, crusty, etc. and the ground isn't completed.

Good luck!

If all else fails, get the new set of lights and mount them to a board with a ground to each that can be clamped to the back end of the boat.

DO NOT miss fishing because of trailer lights. Life is too short.

[The_Duckslayer]

If the trailer lights are on bright it could be that the running and signal wires are reversed some where. With the covers on in the day time the dim light would be flashing but you would not see it. Take the cover off and look at the bulb. Normally if there is a bad ground the trailer running lights may or may not come on but once you turn a signal light on everything goes haywire back there. Hope this helps.... Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[jbdragon17]

I had a VERY similar problem last year. I found out it was my truck's tow package wiring, and not the boat. The lights work perfect on another vehicle. Don't rule that out.

[marine_man]

One thing to consider here is that it's the same circuit for the turn signals as the brake lights - translation - turn signals are the green and yellow wires individually, and brake lights are green and yellow at the same time...

So, it's either a grounding problem or a problem with the connection the vehicle / vehicle's connection to the harness...

marine_man

[rms]

Check the fuses first. If they are good, get a tester, the kind you clip on to the ground and stab the wires with. Check the plug on the car side--make sure the tester is grounded properly. Check the connections in the plug first, if the connections are good go to the trailer side of the plug. If there's an issue at the plug, check the wires on the car side of the plug, if the plug is corroded you'll find out at this time. You can clean it with sand paper and/or a drill and usually get it to clean up enough to work.

Check the wires on the trailer from the plug until you find where the failure is. Might need a new plug or you might go all the way to the lights at the back of the trailer and find a ground is bad at the light fixture. Clean or replace and you should be good to go. Just be sure the tester is grounded properly every place you stop to check.

[walleyeaddict]

I agree always check you fuses first!

[bigb56303]

check the ground. i had a similar problem with my truck harness when i bought it so i got a new harness and it has a seperate ground that you put to the frame of the vehicle and it took care of my problem, also check the fuses first to save you any time on trouble shooting , after that the ground run a seperate one if needed, good luck

[H2O]

I'm taking your tips and pointers and putting them to use tonight as we will attempt to make the trailer legal. All the insight and advice should help us to get the job done. I ablsolutely love this site! Soooooooooooooo much information, conversation, and insight to basically everything you can think of. Thanks Guys.

Fish On!

[marine_man]

Glad to help... let us know what you find!

marine_man

[The_Duckslayer]

Quote:

---

I agree always check you fuses first!

---

Quick down and dirty check, if the lights on the back of the tow vehicle are working it is probably not the fuse. Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo