No brake lights !

[maxturbo]

I have a dual axle trailer and when I step on the brakes at night when I was driving my boat home I noticed that all the lights on the trailer would go out. When not stepping on the brakes the lights would be fine. When I turn on the blinker the lights would blink but slow. Is this a ground issue?
If I had to run all new wiring which I hope I dont have to. How would I run it if it goes thru the trailer? Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: No brake lights !

you have ground problem

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[JMRuth72]

Re: No brake lights !

The first thing I would do is go through every connection and make sure that they are all clean and tight. Second thing I would do is use this wiring schematic and multimeter to check for continuity.

http://www.accessconnect.com/trailer_wiring_diagram.htm

you should see around 2 ohms (there is a little variation, but not much) between ground and each of the other pins. If you show no change on your meter then you have a open (dirty contact, broken wire). If it shows .5 ohms or less you should consider it a short, but I would doubt that as you didn't mention any blown fuses. It might also help if you would let us know how many pins are on the connector. I completely rewired my friends trailer a couple of months ago and one thing that I did was hard wire all the grounds instead of screwing them into the trailer chassis. The other thing that I did was used enviromental splices on all connections. These are lined with glue that when you heat shrink them seal to the wire. Other than the wire just flat getting old he should never have another problem with his lights. However that being said I never dealt personally with anything related to electric brakes, but they are basically a solenoid as far as wiring goes. Give us any details that you can and we can probably talk you through the repair. Take your time and be thorough and you will find it. It is not rocket science, just tedious sometimes. Happy hunting.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: No brake lights !

Start by making sure the white wire in the tow vehicle harness has a good ground and that the connector contacts are clean. If that's good, then look at the trailer. Start at the connector (again the white wire) and work back.

 

[SuperNova]

Re: No brake lights !

Definitely a backfeed issue--either bad ground or shorted bulb or socket.

 

[Bondo]

Re: No brake lights !

Is this a ground issue?

Ayuh,......... Sure sounds like it,.........

To Test it,.....
Attach a set of Jumper Cables between a Known Good Ground on the Trailer to a Known Good Ground on the Tow Unit.........

If I had to run all new wiring which I hope I dont have to. How would I run it if it goes thru the trailer?

Simple,.........
Use the "Old" wires to pull the "New" wires thru.............

 

[maxturbo]

Re: No brake lights !

K think I found it. I knew it wasnt the tow vehicle cause all the wiring was new. The trailer is a 2001. I found a broken white wire, by the coupler. Now from what you guys say its the ground. That makes sense. Now i have to find the other half that goes into the trailer frame which I cant see.
Thanks guys, i'm sure once I fix the wire. I should be fine.

 

[mrfixitman40]

Re: No brake lights !

most trailers i have wired the ground is just an eyelet that bolts to the tongue.

 

[getinmerry]

Re: No brake lights !

I agree. The white wire on most trailers just attaches to a bolt somewhere around the coupler.

One thing that nobody asked or mentioned was if the trailer is a tilter. If it is, it's imperative to run a ground to the lights directly instead of relying on the frame to ground the lights. I've read lots of threads on the light issues people have, on this forum. 90% are ground issues, and most likely 40% of those are related to tilt-pivot point issues.

Many/ most people that have tilt trailers never use the tilt feature. Corrosion builds up at the pivot points and all of a sudden you have an intermittent light problem. It's not worth trying to clean the pivot points. It's easier and more reliable to run the ground from one end to the other.

Just something to keep in mind.

Chuck

 

[maxturbo]

Re: No brake lights !

I havent been able to fix or locate the other half of the wire yet due to the cold weather and snow. But it sure was corroded you could see the green from the corrosion, and from that it broke. When it gets warmer out I'll try to locate and repair the wire and see if that did the trick. Tomorrow its suppose to be 47 degrees and sunny so we'll see.

 

[SuperNova]

Re: No brake lights !

I agree. The white wire on most trailers just attaches to a bolt somewhere around the coupler.

One thing that nobody asked or mentioned was if the trailer is a tilter. If it is, it's imperative to run a ground to the lights directly instead of relying on the frame to ground the lights. I've read lots of threads on the light issues people have, on this forum. 90% are ground issues, and most likely 40% of those are related to tilt-pivot point issues.

Many/ most people that have tilt trailers never use the tilt feature. Corrosion builds up at the pivot points and all of a sudden you have an intermittent light problem. It's not worth trying to clean the pivot points. It's easier and more reliable to run the ground from one end to the other.

Just something to keep in mind.

Chuck

I'll definitely second that!
--
Stan

 

[maxturbo]

Re: No brake lights !

Well it rained pretty much all day today. So it was a wash for me to work on it. Did take a quick look and I think you guys are right it must bolt onto the trailer somewhere. I dont see where it could, but it shouldnt be a problem finding a spot. Plenty of bolts by the coupler that I could loosen and connect and eye lid to it and see.
Gonna have to wait till next weekend cause by the time I get home from work its night time. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[maxturbo]

Re: No brake lights !

most trailers i have wired the ground is just an eyelet that bolts to the tongue.

Thats excatly what i did and it fixed it. Thanks guys!

 

[JMRuth72]

Re: No brake lights !

Glad it works!! I think that if I were you in the future I would change all splices to watertight heat shrinks and hardwire all grounds. In other words wire the ground the same as everything else. That way you do not have to worry about loosing ground because of a bad connection to the frame. Your electrical system will be completely isolated from the frame and it won't matter if it breaks in half the lights will still work, of course you would have a lot bigger problems at that point. It is always possible that a wire will get cut or something, but it is a lot less likely than a corroded contact on a trailer. I would also put a good coat of dieelectric grease on all currect grounds to help protect them until you can hardwire them.

 

[maxturbo]

Re: No brake lights !

Glad it works!! I think that if I were you in the future I would change all splices to watertight heat shrinks and hardwire all grounds. In other words wire the ground the same as everything else. That way you do not have to worry about loosing ground because of a bad connection to the frame. Your electrical system will be completely isolated from the frame and it won't matter if it breaks in half the lights will still work, of course you would have a lot bigger problems at that point. It is always possible that a wire will get cut or something, but it is a lot less likely than a corroded contact on a trailer. I would also put a good coat of dieelectric grease on all currect grounds to help protect them until you can hardwire them.

Thats what Im doing now. Im swapping out all the old lights and installing all new LED's on the trailer. And heat shrinking all the connections. SO I wont have this problem again And I never go anywhere without my die electric grease.

 

[RetNav]

Re: No brake lights !

One of the best things I have found for electrical connections is a product called Liquid electrical tape. Coat the connection real good and let it dry. No more problems.

 

[achris]

Re: No brake lights !

I've just rebuilt my trailer and I put a waterproof junction box in about half way down the trailer. Just run the cable from the plug to the JB, then each light group has it's own cable running from the JB. No splices, no ground problems. All cables are joined inside the JB. If I ever have a problem, I just open the JB and it's all there. Too easy!!! And the JB and glands cost me a whole $11.80. The next mod will be LEDs, some time in the future, maybe.

Chris...........

 

[maxturbo]

Re: No brake lights !

I've just rebuilt my trailer and I put a waterproof junction box in about half way down the trailer. Just run the cable from the plug to the JB, then each light group has it's own cable running from the JB. No splices, no ground problems. All cables are joined inside the JB. If I ever have a problem, I just open the JB and it's all there. Too easy!!! And the JB and glands cost me a whole $11.80. The next mod will be LEDs, some time in the future, maybe.

Chris...........

That sounds like a good idea. I'll remember that in the future if I ever have another issue. Hopefully not. And the LED's look awesome.

 

[maxturbo]

Re: No brake lights !

One of the best things I have found for electrical connections is a product called Liquid electrical tape. Coat the connection real good and let it dry. No more problems.

I've use to use that at work when working on cars. Only problem with that is that you have to make sure you close it air tight cause it dries out quick. Especially when doing a lot of elect. repairs. And I always had to buy more. Heat shrink works a lot better in my op. and its cheaper.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: No brake lights !

Ditto on the shrink tube - that's what I use too. I also like that I can buy it in different colors to color code wires if I want/need to. And, it can also be used to provide a little extra wear protection by using long lengths of it over the wire's normal insulation. The heat gun costs a few bucks but they aren't too terrible.