turn signals, brake lights not working- ground is working

smconnors

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Joined
Aug 28, 2016
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2
Hi- We have a 2010 Nissan Frontier, with the tow package. We purchased an open meshed trailer from tractor supply two months ago. Last week some of the wires at the tongue got torn. We reattached, and we have running lights - but the brake lights, hazzards and turn signals do not work at all.

We have replaced all wires (twice), taillights to tongue, and even after doing this with a new plug it still is not signaling. We have hooked the truck up to two other trailers, and confirmed the problem is not in the truck.

We are stumped- every single suggestion focuses on the ground.... but we've tested our ground on both truck and trailer and they are functioning.

We've got the ground attached at the original location, new wire, we wire-brushed to make sure everything is grounded properly and we've put the ground in different locations to see if anything changed, but it didn't.

There is no fuse for the tow hitch, and I see power going to the tester (and as I said above, we've tested it on two other trailers and it worked.)

We are completely stumped- if anyone has any suggestions, we would appreciate them.

Thank you
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
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Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,307
welcome aboard.

first, if you tore the wires loose, you may have more than one break in the wiring on the trailer. I myself would simply run new wires on the trailer.

the use of chassis ground on a trailer is really a cheap way to do a crappy job. I prefer to run individual ground wires to each light to make sure I have good ground. easy to test.

also, check for a short to ground in your harness on the turn circuits (yellow and green). not sure on your nissan, however some trucks use circuit breakers on the trailer lights.
 

dlngr

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 15, 2007
Messages
547
Check all your fuses on the car.I don't know anything about your vehicle,but some have separate fuses for turn and brake,and trailer.
 

smconnors

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Aug 28, 2016
Messages
2
We have replaced all wires, twice, and the truck is definitely not the issue (we've hooked up two other trailers, and now a tow kit, and both have worked).​We have also tested the ground, multiple times- we are completely mystified here- the trailer is almost new, so we have no corrosion or rust. We have a complete circuit... is there anything else, even the remotest possibility, or something so crazy you wouldn't think it would affect it, because we've been trying to rectify this for almost 4 days now, and nothing is working.... bought a tow kit just so we can get it home, but we can't do this forever.....
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
:welcome: to iboats smconnors...

When you stated that you "torn" the wiring, the first thing that I thought of is how you could have torn the wires inside the insulation and not even known it. However you stated that you changed the wires two times now. When you changed the wires, how far back on the trailer did you change them? If not to each light itself, then I would change them a third time, but all the way to each light. And if you want to use the trailer itself as a ground, do this, run separate ground wires from all the lights back to one signal point and attach them all to that point with a wire from that exact same attachment point on the trailer to the white wire in the trailer plug. That way you have separate ground wires from everything with a back up trailer ground as well. Kind of like a dual redundant circuit. And I understand you stated that you tested the truck with two other trailers, but is your truck using a converter box setup? If it is, it could be an issue as well. JMHO
 
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