Trailer wiring ???

[njk53]

We had a problem similar to what you have. Check the new light wiring, he may have pinched a wire.

[buzzinhalfdozen]

Seems odd that the park lites come on the trailer light when you use turn signals. Does your truck have seperate stop and turn bulbs? If so I've you require a "module" to operate the trailer lites correctly if the stop and turn on the trailer use the same bulb.If in fact the Park lites come on with the turn or flashers, you may have a simple feedback issue thru one of the new lites. What I would do is use a jump box or battery and go right to the trailer plug (no truck) and test all my lites. This will tell you if the trailer wiring is sound. Joe Most any "modern" trailer has a dedicated ground thru the plug so you can check the ground during your "battery" test, I used to remember the positions by heart however I'm sure the 3 oclock pos. is RH stop and turn the 9 oclock pos. is LH stop and turn. this is looking at the truck plug from behind.Keep us posted

[FED 387]

Joe--same bulb for stop & turn & tail lites( 1157 bulb in it) bulb is in correctly too----the clearance lites (all of em) flash when you turn on either the turn signals or emergency flashers---the stop/tail on the trailer works but they are dim--the stop lite on the roof of the cab(2000 Ford Super Duty) flashes too---the clearance lites work great UNTIL you turn the turn signals on have not tried it with the brake pedal did not think of that---seems to me that there is a ground wire thru the plug ---maybe climb under the trailer see where it ends up and if the ground there is bad to clean it off or drill a new hole---well I'll look at it tonite--thanx for the ideas will try a seberate battery test each circuit see if I have a bad wire someplace--thanx Comp387

[buzzinhalfdozen]

OK then you either have a bad ground or you're "feeding" back thru one of your rear lamps or sockets. Remove both rear TS stop lamp bulbs and try again, if it seems OK tryreinstalling1 bulb at a time to try and narrow it down to a particular socket. By removing both rear bulbs you're taking away the "feedback" path. Make sure the socket ground wires at the rear are connected as this could be your "feedback" path.Joe Your rear socket should have 3 wires 1 for tail 1 for TS stop 1 for ground

[Bob Verwold]

Joe, the trailer should ground the turn/stop lamp...........

[Bobby Brannon]

Do you have grease on your hitch ball. If you do you will need to ground the trailer. Then in trailer plug facing it about 5:00 is your ground.. Run wire from plug back to a good ground on trailer. Truck ground is at 7:00 make sure you have a good ground..



For Infro only

7 Way Plug Typical trailer wiring / position Knot on top at truck
Performance Trailer
Green is running lites / 11:00
Brown is right turn /3:00
Blue is brakes / 5:00
White is ground / 7:00
Red is left turn / 9:00
Black is a charging lite / 1:00
Yellow is back up / center

[Wayne Ewing]

You can't depend on the hitch being a good ground. For years when we would start traveling the lights would not come on at first and as we would travel they would blink or get dim and when we would make a turn they would come back on and then go off or get dim until the rust would wear off of the ball and even then they would act up at times. If you have grease on the ball it will also cause a bad ground. What I found was the ground wire on the plug had come disconnected. On your plugs there should be a center post where the white wire slides into it and then there is a small screw that holds in in place. I know what you are going through, frustration isn't the word, I got so I couldn't thing while doing this. On a Goldrush they have a panel where all the wires connect and they are marked (brakes, running lights,etc) and the wires are color coded. Could the plug on the truck be wired incorrectly? Once you are sure you have a good ground take the truck plug apart, turn the truck lights on and see which turminal has 12 volts. Take a small jumper wire from that terminal and touch each terminal on the trailer plug until your trailer lights light. See if the wire color on that terminal matches the wire color at your back door. The wires probably run down the ceiling to the back corner and down. You should see wires from the trailer going into the door. They might be green, yellow and I think black. You should be able to pull the whole light assembly out of the door to be able to see what color wires are there. Hope this helps and good luck!!!!!!

[buzzinhalfdozen]

Bob ,yes I know however if the ground for the pigtail or socket is not connected it may be trying to find another path to ground.depending on the bulb and socket design it may be grounding back thru the filament in the bulb hence backfeeding another circiut since the tail and turn lamps are on completely different circuits.I've even seen some people put a single contact I believe 1156 bulbs in dual contact sockets and cause the same sort of issue. Joe Oh and one other thing I see alot of ,when guys wire plugs a single stray wire touching the adjacent terminal can cause this issue. Sorry don't mean to confuse you just hard to diagnose not being there.I also neglected to ask, do the trailer brakes work? If so I doubt you have a grounding issue as thet use the most power of anything on the trailer.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

In about 1973,I worked for a gas station that had U-Haul rental trailers and trucks.You never saw junk until you saw their stuff. People used to rent a trailer, a clamp on bumper hitch, and wonder why the lights misbehaved. That was when bumpers had those big gas shocks suspending them, and continuity of ground wasn't too good to depend on. An auto electrician good enough to quickly diagnose and repair these issues that trailer lights can cause was enough of a rocket scientist that he didn't need to work there. Feed back through defective bulbs, sockets, and grounds would turn a saint into a drinking man. The suggestion to make sure all bulbs are correct for the socket is a good place to start. It might be necessary to remove all bulbs in the trailer, then re-install them one at a time until the glitch reappears. Good luck- it's probably something simple.

[Jeff Teuton]

Ground the thing.