wiring hell
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Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2007
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wiring hell
i just got a pop up and the lights are shot so i just picked up a new trailer light set up and the same thing is happening the running lights wont work just the brakes and turn signals even with new wire and on both trucks please help
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 7,298
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From: Southern California
The marker lights are probably grounded straight to the metal skin of the trailer. I had the same problem with my horse trailer when I got it. The marker lights didn't work reliably. When I was tracing out all the wires, I noticed there was no ground on the trailer frame. I attached a ground wire to the trailer frame and tied it into ground going through the trailer plug.
Unless the trailer frame is wired to ground, the only way anything grounded to the trailer finds ground to the tow vehicle is through the hitch. Not a very reliable ground. You could probably test with a piece of wire long enough to wrap around the ground pin on the plug (white) before plugging it into the truck and then holding the other exposed end of the wire on an unpainted conductive part of the trailer.
Unless the trailer frame is wired to ground, the only way anything grounded to the trailer finds ground to the tow vehicle is through the hitch. Not a very reliable ground. You could probably test with a piece of wire long enough to wrap around the ground pin on the plug (white) before plugging it into the truck and then holding the other exposed end of the wire on an unpainted conductive part of the trailer.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 13,873
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From: Atlanta GA
> the same thing is happening the running lights wont work just the brakes and turn signals
FWIW: Many people mistake the two wires on lamp for (+) and (-) when in fact they are both (+) and if you want a negative wire you have to ground the lamp with a separate wire attached to the mounting bolts.
When one of the (+) is grounded it appears that you lose parking/running lamps.
FWIW: Many people mistake the two wires on lamp for (+) and (-) when in fact they are both (+) and if you want a negative wire you have to ground the lamp with a separate wire attached to the mounting bolts.
When one of the (+) is grounded it appears that you lose parking/running lamps.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 415
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From: Long Island - NY
I had the SAME EXACT problem. I thought it may have been a ground as well , but when I hooked up the trialer to wifey's Suburban it lit right up ... so I knew it had to be truck ---> It was a bad relay under the hood. I can't remember off hand which one exactly , though I do remember it being one of the parking lights or something to do with the lights ( backup, turning etc... relay ) - I swapped the bad one with the power washer relay and that did the trick -- instant lights.
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