no brake or turn signal

[Home Cookin']

Re: no brake or turn signal

This happened to me; I relate it not as something going on with yours but an example of what can happen:

my trailer lights would cancel out if I hit the brakes while the headlights were on. Chevy Tahoe. Turns out that at the truck wire harness there was an extra white wire which everyone assumed was a ground--and grounded it. But it was an auxilary brake light wire (like for the center brake light on top of the rear windshield) and was powered when you hit the brakes, causing some kind of short/loop/whatever. And that was hooked up by a chevy dealer.

So you may be looking at reworking the vehicle wiring. In fact, next thing I'd do is hook that trailer to a friend's car and see what happens. Then hook his to yours. really, that's the first thing we all should do with these problems.

other things that can go wrong:

Bad connections at splices (esp. at the running lights) inside the frame

A worn spot on a wire inside the frame grounding out

bad ground connections between the parts (similar to the tilt trailer issue mentioned above--good point

Something crossed up so your colors of the wires aren't right.

Get 20' of wire, make a jumper and try running that from each light back to the plug, to identify problems in the existing wire.


Dedicated ground wires are the way to go.

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

yes that is what I have in the video,I installed it over a year ago,and has work great untill a few days ago.....I have just a plain simple trailer,no tilt or swing arm.....I am not sure what kind of model the converter is...I am 100% sure the trailer is wired up correct,,,,brown-running lights,yellow left blinkers and brake and green right blinker and brake.... ,,,the trailer has all new wire,and all connections are solder.....all lights are complety sealed,you can not chage the bulds,1,light is brand new,,put on about 2 months ago... I am also sort of thinking the converter,but seeing I have power at the plug why want my traier brake,blinker lights not come on till the motor is started,that part I really don;t understand,,,I will get a picture of the converter tuesday and see what kind it is........thanks for everybody help

 

[Patfromny]

Re: no brake or turn signal

I think another cheap and easy test is to run seperate ground wires from the lights right to the plug. that way you take the trailer out of the equation. you can run them outside of the trailer to test. wire is real cheap and a quick test. Use scotch locks to test and if it solves the problem you can go back and solder everything in.

 

[saginawbayboater]

Re: no brake or turn signal

yes that is what I have in the video,I installed it over a year ago,and has work great untill a few days ago.....I have just a plain simple trailer,no tilt or swing arm.....I am not sure what kind of model the converter is...I am 100% sure the trailer is wired up correct,,,,brown-running lights,yellow left blinkers and brake and green right blinker and brake.... ,,,the trailer has all new wire,and all connections are solder.....all lights are complety sealed,you can not chage the bulds,1,light is brand new,,put on about 2 months ago... I am also sort of thinking the converter,but seeing I have power at the plug why want my traier brake,blinker lights not come on till the motor is started,that part I really don;t understand,,,I will get a picture of the converter tuesday and see what kind it is........thanks for everybody help

power at the plug on the back of the vehicle tells me it's probably not the vehicle! some one said hook your trailer to a different vehicle, I would try that at this point. Or if you have a spare battery try hooking up each circuit to the trailer separatly.

That would double check the trailer without spending money on the light kit that may, or may not, be the problem.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: no brake or turn signal

Power at the plug on the back of the vehicle tells me it's probably not the vehicle! ...

Power at the plug of the Jeep means nothing without the trailer plugged in.
I took a meter to my hitch plug with the truck parked/Key Off;
All pins measured 12 volts.
Plugging in the trailer produces "Lights Out" as expected.
The voltage you are seeing is a leakage voltage and means nothing without an electrical load.

... Or if you have a spare battery try hooking up each circuit to the trailer separately

That was tried in post #11 and #12.
All the trailer lights operated.

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

I don't have another trailer or car that I can try....I did hook up a battery charger to the plug on the trailer greeen wire,,,right side lit.....yellow wire left side lit,brown wire running light came on.....I put the ground on the plug and also tried just the frame,,same results....I just sent CURT(converter maker) the list of problems to see if maybe there is a problem with the converter.................maybe they will have and answer.....right now I can pull the trailer just have to go thru the right series of starting it to make all light work,I am just worried that something might fail while out on the road....................

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

I took the tail light...evrything looks good,unplug evrything,,,test the brake light with motor not running unpluged from converter i get 11.7 volts,plug it in and at the 4way plug i get 11.6 volts,,,I retested with motor running and get 13.7 and 13.6 volts...I test all 3 wires with motor off an running but with all light offs and read 0.00 volts...I tired to check flasher voltage but it bouces all over place,,,,some reason the volts are not making it too the lights unless the motor is running and even then you have to start it up a certain way...all running lights work all the time,,,its just brake and blinkers and when they do work they work good very bright..............

 

[sccatfish]

Re: no brake or turn signal

Sounds like an issue with the converter to me. Maybe it has to have a certain voltage to operate, and without your alternator running it's not getting that amount of voltage. If you're worried about it I'd get a new one. Get one that all you have to do is plug it in if one is available for your vehicle.

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

thats what I have,,it just plugs in.....hoping to hear back from the maker of the converter.....its the only part I am not 100% sure about,just seems weird that the voltage goes from11.6 volts to zero when you plug it in and back to 11.6 volts when you unplug it,,something just doesn't seem right...might just have to break down and buy another 1 an hope it fixes the problem,,,its just I like to know the problem and then buy what ever parts I need to fix it,but this time I may be stuck...already replaced the wiring that did not need to be replaced...only thing left is converter or the lights themselfs and there are 9 of them.............or could be something else that I don;t even know about .....................

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: no brake or turn signal

... just seems weird that the voltage goes from 11.6 volts to zero when you plug it in and back to 11.6 volts when you unplug it ...

The voltage means NOTHING without an electrical load on the circuit.
You are measuring the LEAKAGE voltage in the Open Circuit without the trailer attached.
As soon as you plug in the trailer , the electrical load of the trailer lights pulls the voltage down to Zero.
Unplug it and it floats back up to 12. This is to be expected and is not an issue.

...all running lights work all the time...

The Brake and Turn Signals are controlled by the Converter.
The Tail/Marker lights are NOT controlled by the converter.
The Brown wire just passes through the converter box for the sake of neatness. (Unless you have a Powered Converter)

Your problems are only with the lights that are controlled by the converter.

EDIT:
Have you confirmed that the Ground wire from the Converter to the Frame is Good?
No Rust, No Paint under the Lug, Lug is touching bare metal!
The screw itself should not be relied upon to complete the circuit!

 

[saginawbayboater]

Re: no brake or turn signal

If the lights worked on the trailer, with the charger , and your measuring leakage through the converter with the key off. I'd put on a new converter.

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

The voltage means NOTHING without an electrical load on the circuit.
You are measuring the LEAKAGE voltage in the Open Circuit without the trailer attached.
As soon as you plug in the trailer , the electrical load of the trailer lights pulls the voltage down to Zero.
Unplug it and it floats back up to 12. This is to be expected and is not an issue.) If I hook up a light to the green or yellow wires they will either flash or burn with the blinkers on or brake on,,but you can plug it in and nothing will work(this is with just the key turn on)....I will unscrew the gnd. wire again and have another look....the screw and lug look like new,no rust... I don't think its a powerd converter no sperate power wire THERE IS NO POWER AT THE PLUG WITH EVRYTHING OFF (i CAN TURN ON THE FLASHERS AND HAVE VOLTAGE AT THE PLUG,BOTH GREEN AND YELLOW WIRES)OR i CAN PRESS THE BRAKE AND HAVE VOLTAGE AT BOTH WIRES,BUT IF i PLUG IN THE TRAILER i HAVE ZERO VOLTS,STICKING THE TEST PROB ON THE METAL INSERTS,BUT IF i GO UP AND START THE MOTOR i NOW HAVE VOLTAGE AGAIN

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: no brake or turn signal

... with motor not running unplugged from converter I get 11.7 volts,plug it in and at the 4way plug i get 11.6 volts,,,I retested with motor running and get 13.7 and 13.6 volts...

Let's take another angle at this!
We may be barking up the wrong tree.

Re-reading one of your previous posts...
The converter may not like working below 12 volts and give intermittent operation.
13.5+ volts is normal for a running motor.
Engine off, and a charged battery, should be at 12.5 absolute minimum if it is good.

11.7 volts with the Engine off, indicates a bad battery or a bad connection somewhere. :grumpy:

Measure the voltage at the battery Posts (Not the Battery Clamps) and at the trailer connector with the engine off and the headlamps both on and off.
You should see a solid 12.4+ volts.
Anything below 12.0 is a Major problem.

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

battery voltage....at rest 12.5 with headlights on11.9.....I have the charger on the battery now, and retested and nothing has changed......THE maker of the converter has wrote me back and has ask for my mailing address for warrany service,so it sounds like they are going to replace it,I will let everybody know how everything works out..... thanks for all your help on this problem

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: no brake or turn signal

Battery voltage....at rest 12.5 with headlights on 11.9....

While your are waiting on the converter; Resolve the battery problem.

If you measured the 11.9 volts directly on the two ACTUAL Battery terminals;
Not on the wires, Not on the Battery Clamps, or to the Jeep body; The Actual Battery Terminals;

You have a Battery that is not reliable.

If the Actual Battery measures 12.5 and the wiring measures 11.9; you have a poor connection somewhere.

 

[saginawbayboater]

Re: no brake or turn signal

Battery voltage 11.9 with the head lights on is OK!!

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

ok,I have the battery part fixed....got the battery charge thur. and retested today...have 12.55 volts and with lights on have 12.25,,,yes this is on the post.....this SUV only get driven when I pull the boat,so maybe 2-3 times a month,then its a 8-30 mile round trip,so I am sure this why the battery was reading low...nothing has change with the trailer light problem,still only works while motor is running

 

[beardeddone]

Re: no brake or turn signal

ok,I have the battery part fixed....got the battery charge thur. and retested today...have 12.55 volts and with lights on have 12.25,,,yes this is on the post.....this SUV only get driven when I pull the boat,so maybe 2-3 times a month,then its a 8-30 mile round trip,so I am sure this why the battery was reading low...nothing has change with the trailer light problem,still only works while motor is running

That may be the main issue right there, your battery may not be holding a charge, have you had it load tested, if so have you taken a reading at the battery to see if you have antiquate charging to it at least 14 volts when the engine is revved while volt meter is attached, I'm getting to wonder if this is in fact a converter problem as it could be a voltage problem or the lack of it, an 11 volt is low for just the headlights on, this should only go that low or lower when cranking the engine and at no other time and being the trailer lights seem to work ok when the motor is running tells me your battery is failing and not holding a charge enough to allow that converter to work properly, does any of this make sense ...Also check to make sure the battery cables are clean and tight on the battery..

If all checks out ok as little you drive that SUV you might want to use a battery tender on that vehicle to keep the battery charged 30 miles may not be enough to keep that battery charged in a month especially if the battery is low and the extra lights of the trailer being added to the load of charging the battery..

 

[saginawbayboater]

Re: no brake or turn signal

any update on the converter johnson89?

 

[johnson89]

Re: no brake or turn signal

nothing yet....only recieve the 1 email asking for my mailing address to send a new unit out..so maybe sometime this week...I will be sure to let everyone know the outcome.......................