Trailer wiring

[Beardog]

Lights on my boat trailer have stopped working. Checked power from car and it is good. Firewood trailer lights work, so the issue is on the boat trailer. Lights work with a 3 wire setup, but not with the appropriate wishbone setup harness. Anyone have any ideas as to what to look for?

 

[Jack Straw]

The most common problem I have seen is a bad ground. Usually with a bad ground your lights act "wierd", but that's where I would start. You can even use a test light to check your grounds. Attach the spring loaded clamp to what you know is +12vdc and use the probe to check the ground. If you have a good ground the tester will light up. Good Luck.

 

[fishingpol]

Lightly sand the connections in the pigtail. Grounds would be next. Check all wire connections for the lights and get waterproof caps after re-doing connections. My trailer has sidemarker lights that need a light sand on the back once in a while to ground them. There is nothing worse than having everything ready for your boat and the trailer lights don't work.

 

[gzecc]

If the connections are old, they begin to fail. You can buy a new set of flat connectors that easily connect via a spike for 4 or $5. I got a set a pep boys.
Vasiline on the new connections extends the life.

 

[ROBERT F]

I would check in order, good ground, and then pull lens and bulb, check for power at bulb contacts. trace back from there. any side marker lights???? are they operational? while the bulbs are out, clean contacts in socket and on bulb.

 

[bogydave]

The most common problem I have seen is a bad ground. Usually with a bad ground your lights act "wierd", but that's where I would start. You can even use a test light to check your grounds. Attach the spring loaded clamp to what you know is +12vdc and use the probe to check the ground. If you have a good ground the tester will light up. Good Luck.

+1
If they all don't work, & you have good power going to the fixtures & no bad connections in between. Ground is the most likely.

 

[BrotherBart]

I HATE trailer lights.

 

[DexterDay]

I HATE trailer lights.

Me 2... And 3... And 4... Been pulled over many times.. With Brand New Tailers... Hate them all and have a couple of them

 

[SlyFerret]

This totally reminds me of a story written by one of my favorite writers, Patrick F. McManus.

I found an except from the story, that I think you'll enjoy. Mostly, because I think it's the truth.

This is from a story called: â€Trailer Trials.â€

Shortly after man invented the wheel, he invented the trailer. Ever since then, he has been trying to figure out how to hook up the lights.

I know a man who claims the lights on his boat trailer once worked twice consecutively. Anyone with one or more trailers will instantly recognize this as an outrageous claim, but the man is a member of the clergy, and for that reason alone I believe him. On the other hand, he’s also a fisherman, so he may be exaggerating a bit. Possibly his trailer lights worked only once consecutively.

Over the course of his life, any sportsman worthy of the name will own a dozen or so trailers of various kinds–utility trailers, tent trailers, boat trailers, house trailers, horse trailers, trail-bike trailers, and snowmobile trailers, to name but a few. That is the reason researchers estimate that one-eighth of a sportsman’s life is spent trying to hook up trailer lights.

-SF

 

[SolarAndWood]

I ran a wire from the harness to plug into the ground in the cigarette style power adapter in the back of the truck. Have to plug two things in now but it was the end of the trailer light problems.

 

[Woody Stover]

If you've got a test light with a pointed wire probe, you can attach the clip to ground and then probe along the hot wire after every connector to see where you are losing power. Seal any punctures you make with Liquid Electrical Tape. Another thing that can happen is that a rock or other road debris can pinch a wire against the frame and sever it.

 

[Beardog]

Thinking the issue is the truck. I hooked up to a buddy's trailer and had one light work. He hooked up and they all worked. Went ahead and hooked his car up to my trailer and viola, all the lights worked. Followed the wiring and can't find anything obvious. Truck goes in for service tomorrow and they will look at wiring while they have it. Hopefully it gets fixed and I can get back to getting firewood and boating.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Relying on the ball, drawbar, pin, receiver and connection to truck frame for a good ground. is problematic at best. Try this one. Get your jumper cables out. Find a good ground on the trailer, then a good one on the truck and connect them. I bet your trailer lights will be about as bright as you have ever seen them.

 

[gpcollen1]

Quite often your converter goes bad and not all at once, just a light at a time. Got me a new one here for both the replacement for the 4runner and one for the Pilot.

http://www.etrailer.com/fitguidet1.htm

Figure out if it is indeed a ground and then replace if necessary. Troubleshooting at the mechanic will cost you more than a new harness??