New trailer lights

[Dakotablood26]

I'm new to this site and looking for some help. I have a 12ft boat and I installed a new trailer light kit. No side lights just back left and right. There's only two wires going to each light, then a blue wire and ground white. I have it all set up but when I hook it up to my truck the lights are all goofy. When I turn left the right goes off when I turn right no turn signals at all. When I hit the brakes I loses lights. So my question is could it be a bad ground and I didn't cut the blue wire which is optional, could that be the issue? I'm not a electrician but I've wired enough things to know how to hook up two wires on each light. Thanks for the help....also I don't have a meter so that's not an option at this point.

 

[bobdec]

Sounds like you have a 5-pin connector Here is a chart the blue is usually used for electric brakes on trailer or can be used as a spare for something else. Then 2 wires to each light, 1 for running filament (brown) 1 for brake/turn filament (yellow or green) and the white is run to all lights for ground. .http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx

 

[bruceb58]

Did you connect the white wire to the frame of your trailer to bare metal?

The lights need to have a good ground too. That means the mounting screws need to be screwed down to bare metal.

 

[hungupthespikes]

Blue and a white only....and the lights have both running and brake?????
Then the ground is internal going to the mounting screws/bolts. There is either a wire internal or most likely a bare piece of metal going from the light socket to just one of the mounting screws:

One wire is brake bulb/filament
One wire is running bulb/filament
ground is ONE of the mounting screws.

If you can open the light up you will see the ground running to the screw. That will be your ground/white wire from the pigtail, not the white wire from the light.
If this is the style of trailer light you have, then you'll have to figure out which wire is the brake/brighter filament by trial and error.

Just old style wiring, that's becoming popular again....... trying to lower cost.

huts

 

[Dakotablood26]

Did you connect the white wire to the frame of your trailer to bare metal?
The lights need to have a good ground too. That means the mounting screws need to be screwed down to bare metal.

I did connect the white wire to the frame up front but I don't think its making a very good ground so I'm going to check that today. Also doing some research alot of people use the actual trailer hitch as part of the ground meaning they actually hook up the trailer to their vehicle...I did not I just hooked up the wires so that might be part of the issue as well.

 

[kjsAZ]

I did connect the white wire to the frame up front but I don't think its making a very good ground so I'm going to check that today. Also doing some research alot of people use the actual trailer hitch as part of the ground meaning they actually hook up the trailer to their vehicle...I did not I just hooked up the wires so that might be part of the issue as well.

the hitch is a very poor ground, that's why there is the white wire in the connector. It has to work without connecting the hitch. Make sure that the white wire connection is good and clean and that the grounds of all lights are equally good.
If you use the hitch as ground the lights may flicker when you tow. It's just a back-up (or plan B) in case there's a ground problem but not a solution to start with.
I always test the lights with the hitch disconnected for this reason.

 

[hungupthespikes]

No Title

Here you go.
Only two wires from light, the ground on this light is the mounting bolts on both sides (some only use one bolt)
one wire is running
the other brake
1134 bulb
This was installed several years ago and the wires could have been black and white (yellow over time)