Trailer Running Lights

[timswi]

Guys,

Yesterday coming home from camp my trailer running lights stopped working (parking lights) -- my brake and turn signals work fine. Rice trailer with LED. What do you think--Ground possibly?

Picked up a screw and destroyed a tire too--Not a great day to say the least.

 

[zing]

I don't see how it could be the ground if the brake and signals are still working. Usually there is just one ground point for each light housing, which grounds the running, brake and signals on that side. Especially since you say lights, so that would mean they didn't work for light housing on both sides. Would be odd for both of the housing grounds to fail at the same time.

I would think it is more likely that the connection from your trailer to truck jack wasn't good for that wire. Did you give the connector a good jiggle and make sure it was seated properly? It is possible for a single wire to corrode or come loose, either at the trailer connector or in the female coupling on your truck.

 

[timswi]

I'm going to check the connector (got home in the dark)..That is odd. The tail light running lights and all the side markers are out. They were on when I pulled out of camp then suddenly shut off--Lights on the truck are working.

 

[Diggin It]

Running and marker lights should be on the same wire as the tailights. Start tracing wires and you may find a break in that line just off the connector on the trailer side.

 

[timswi]

Running and marker lights should be on the same wire as the tailights. Start tracing wires and you may find a break in that line just off the connector on the trailer side.

Thanks--I hope that's the case.

 

[zing]

I'm going to check the connector (got home in the dark)..That is odd. The tail light running lights and all the side markers are out. They were on when I pulled out of camp then suddenly shut off--Lights on the truck are working.

Yeah, the running and side markers should be the same wire, probably just loose at the jack which may have vibrated a bit loose while you were driving.

If it is the actual wire, it is most likely near the connector and it is easier to troubleshoot the trailer end first. I had a bad connection that made my brakes disconnect/reconnect randomly while driving. I tried re-seating all of the connections on the trailer coupling but it made no difference. Turned out the silicon in the truck jack end had mostly been washed out, so it was starting to corrode a bit. I replaced the truck jack and that solved it.

 

[Scrambler82]

Running and marker lights should be on the same wire as the tailights. Start tracing wires and you may find a break in that line just off the connector on the trailer side.

I would start at the front of the trailer checking for cracked or broken wires, bad connections, and/or bad Connector.

Check for corrosion too, and although cleaning connectors may fix the problem for the short term, corrosion can cause future problems.
Cracked wiring and poor wire connections can cause problems in the long term.

How old is the trailer ?

 

[hawkeye08]

unplug trailer, check for running lights at connector on truck, if you have it there, then you have problem in trailer wiring.. if all the running lights are out, likely in the connector on trailer side..

 

[timswi]

I would start at the front of the trailer checking for cracked or broken wires, bad connections, and/or bad Connector.

Check for corrosion too, and although cleaning connectors may fix the problem for the short term, corrosion can cause future problems.
Cracked wiring and poor wire connections can cause problems in the long term.

How old is the trailer ?

About six years old.

 

[George2615]

As Hawkeye says, check the trailer plug on the truck for running lights. If none then you may have a blown fuse. All my trailer lights have fuses separate from the truck fuses. If all your plug terminals work then start at the trailer plug.