New to site Boat Trailer Left signal not working

L

lubo

New member
:x yes its been three days trying to figure the problem out, In the process of stripping down my trailer from rust and old paint. Almost complete looks allot better , was going to leave the old lights but they are worn badly, so wife gave permision to get new ones. Now Problems begin, I hooked them up on the brackets, rewired with new wire ( g,b,y,and white colo coded, simple task right NOT :cry all the lights on my 99 chevy silverado all work great, all lights on the trailer work great except a little dim and the left signal just wont work. The bulb is new , tested the left with the right and it worked but onec I hook up the wires for the left still no signal light.

Today I killed my truck battery trying to figure this one out, gave up had to dead battery, got a just was going to go at it again but thought let me ask and see if anyone might have encountered this same problem.

Sorry for going on and on think I covered just about everything.

Thanks in advance :idea

Now its time to unwind with a few cold ones :beer
 
Sounds like perhaps there's a leak to ground from the hot wire of the left turn signal. I say this since you managed to run down a battery in one day with just the turn signal. I'd measure the resistance between the wire that goes through the bulb and the resistance of the bulb independently. If the resistance from the wire to group is significantly lower than the resistance of the bulb alone, then you need to trace that wire to discover the problem.
 
For trailer light testing, I hooked up a 12 volt light to a set of probes (soldered to the bulb base)--that way you can trace to the wiring/plug. Many trucks have separate wiring for the trailer and truck lights. It is very possiable that the left wire is bad in the trailer circuit of the truck. (ground is also a possiblity, but that would probably blow the fuse--which again may be separate for the truck trailer lights). A digital volt meter can be used to trace out the circuits--but the bulb flashes faster than the varying voltage of the digital volt meter. Check the wiring of the harness which you have---probably a 4 pin or a 5 pin, if you have lock out for the trailer brakes. If it is a 4 pin, left turn is Yellow and second from the end opposite from the ground: Ground white, next brown tail light, yellow left and green is right turn signals--check these at the truck socket.

5 and 6 way (round or rectangle) use the same code.

If 7 pin: may have different color code on the truck: 2 pin is left, 6 pin is right 3 pin tail and license plate. Perticularly with the 7 pin it can be confusing. I had to re-wire my son's Ford Expedition; someone had changed it in the past.

see: http://www.etrailer.com/faq_wiring.aspx Down the page is the code on 7 pin for each brand of truck. (some sites have different colors)
 
I hate electrical problems, and so I’ve learned the hard way over the years.

First, Find out what wires on our truck plug do what
Get out your malti-meter and set it to 12 volts
Unplug the trailer
Take the black negative wire and attach it to a good ground on our truck
Now hit the turn signals, step on the brakes, turn on the lights, and go around to all the plug wires and make sure they all register 12 volts; may have to have the wife help you here.
If you find a problem it’s on the truck, if not then move on to the trailer

Now get a battery charger or battery and attach the negative to a the trailer frame
Take the positive lead and work your way through the plug

This is basically how you’re going to have to figure out where the problem is.

If everything works great then it’s most likely a ground problem, so skip all of the above and start off by taking a set of jumper cables and establishing a good ground between the truck and tailor to see if indeed the ground is your problem.

Good luck, you'll figure it you! :thup
 
On my 2004 Chevy tow vehicle, there are separate fuses for RIGHT and LEFT Trailer tail/turn lights and a third fuse for trailer clearance lights. Check what the others have recommended, but you might also check for these fuses, especially if you get no voltage at involved terminals on the truck's trailer plug.

While your re-doing the wiring, i would suggest applying the Liquid electrical tape to all the connections to increase their water resistance. It's sold at Home Despot, Lowes, auto parts stores, hardward stores, etc.

/david
 
Suggest, if the above good ideas don't solve things, making a second ground connection from your troubled light on the main frame of your trailer and then T into the light ground wire.

I had almost the exact same problem and I couldn't solve it for the life of me. I new I had a good clean seat on the ground wire (but it was to the bracket that held the light). Apparently, through some corrosion at the connection of that bracket to the main frame, or whatever, there was not good enough ground continuity to the main frame to complete the circuit. Your (dim lights) comment also point to this as a possibility

Should that solve it, waterproof your temporary T well, and should be gtg

Chris
 
SGIdave had it right..... Most new vehicles have a seprate circuit for trailer lights....and seprate left from right.... so it is probable that a fuse is out....my 2001 Chev pickup has that ..... and several times everything works except one turn signal....and it is one of those fuses under the hood of the truck...... very common.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Many thanks for all of your help on this topic I followed all and still nothing so went to pay my brother a visit and after about 1/2 hr got them all working. :idea :idea :idea

:thup :thup :thup :thup :thup :thup :thup :thup :thup :thup :thup

You all wouldn't believe what it was, the yellow wire from the truck plug was followed up a bit to where there was 4 red connectors anyways the yellow wire was not crimped down securely enough to make a good connection. It was this way all this time I wonder why if I tap the 4pin wire it would flicker sometimes go figure :idea:

Again Thank you all for your comments very much appreciated.

Now im in the process of takeing out the transom rot wood out , any recommendations of what type of wood to replace it with.

It a 12ft traveler seaking aluminum, its looking better every day.....


Thanks
Lubo
los banos guy ( the fish sniffer )
 
When in Utah visiting Brent and Dixie ( Discovery) I had an electrical problem with my motorhome. Dixie said "It's always the ground"......
She was right that time. I'm betting she's right again.

Gary
 
If the boat has an open transom, and rot in the plywood, you have two choices--one would be the cheaper treated exterior plywood (it will have voids and in the long run will not last as long as) the more expensive approach, which is to use Marine ply (no voids) and encapsulate it in epoxy resin.
 
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