I have no clue on how to solve this puzzle short of help from you guys. I bought a new West Marine trailer light kit and wired it as directed. When I plugged the harness to my car trailer harness, no lights went on the trailer. I thought it might be my car harness so I plugged it into another trailer and that trailer worked. Obviously, I concluded the West Marine kit was bad so I replaced it with a second kit. Still, no lights. Now, when I hook the wires directly to a 12V battery, I get lights on the trailer although obviously no turn or brake lights. But at least the lights prove there is no break in the wire (although there shouldn't be since I just wired it). But when I hook it to my car harness, nothing happens. Yet, when I hook the car harness to the other trailer, that trailer lights up. DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY POSSIBLE IDEA SHORT OF GREMLINS?
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Have you checked the grounding?
Sounds like a ground problem to me. Ground wire may be bad or interrupted in the wiring harness from your vehicle. It works with the battery because you are grounding directly to the battery. They work with another trailor because it is grounding through the hitch and to the vehicle frame. It won't work through the frame of your vehicle because of paint between the hitch components, etc. Run a temporary wire from the auto battery to to the trailor frame. If they work, that is your problem. (This is not uncommon.) Good Luck! Jon
Sounds like a ground problem to me. Ground wire may be bad or interrupted in the wiring harness from your vehicle. It works with the battery because you are grounding directly to the battery. They work with another trailor because it is grounding through the hitch and to the vehicle frame. It won't work through the frame of your vehicle because of paint between the hitch components, etc. Run a temporary wire from the auto battery to to the trailor frame. If they work, that is your problem. (This is not uncommon.) Good Luck! Jon
Ground?
I once had enough grime in the hitch assembly that it lost ground. After cleaning it worked fine.
I once had enough grime in the hitch assembly that it lost ground. After cleaning it worked fine.
Probably Grounding
It probably is the ground, but not necessarily in the hitch. For the hitch. There is usually a ground wire in the connector. Take the ground wire in the trailer side of the connector and run it to the trailer frame and ground it. Check the ground by running a continuity check (check resistance) between the tow vehicle and the trailer frame. In general, you should not rely on the hitch as the ground connection between the trailer and the tow vehicle. Make sure you have a good ground on the lights themselves. Check by running a continuity check between the light ground in the bulb socket and the trailer frame. If neither of these work, you have a different problem and you need to run continuity checks on everything.
It probably is the ground, but not necessarily in the hitch. For the hitch. There is usually a ground wire in the connector. Take the ground wire in the trailer side of the connector and run it to the trailer frame and ground it. Check the ground by running a continuity check (check resistance) between the tow vehicle and the trailer frame. In general, you should not rely on the hitch as the ground connection between the trailer and the tow vehicle. Make sure you have a good ground on the lights themselves. Check by running a continuity check between the light ground in the bulb socket and the trailer frame. If neither of these work, you have a different problem and you need to run continuity checks on everything.
Is the Car Harness bad?
Does the car harness mate/contact properly with the trailer harness? You said it is OK with the other trailer, but what about mating/connecting with the new trailer harness? What would Woody do?
Does the car harness mate/contact properly with the trailer harness? You said it is OK with the other trailer, but what about mating/connecting with the new trailer harness? What would Woody do?
get a tester
get a light tester (available any parts store and most discount stores) about $5. great tool for doing electrical work, or use a multimeter type tester. As the others have stated sounds like a ground problem.
get a light tester (available any parts store and most discount stores) about $5. great tool for doing electrical work, or use a multimeter type tester. As the others have stated sounds like a ground problem.
Here's the Final Answer to the Question
Guys, I really appreciate your help and you're right. It was a grounding problem. But it was a little tricky and I thought you'd be interested in what the answer was. This trailer is one of those that has a tilting tongue. You can pull a pin on the tongue and the trailer pivots up to achieve a higher angle to launch/retrieve the sailboat on the boat launching ramp. Perhaps you've seen these type of trailers before. Well, the tongue and the main body of the trailer aren't one solid piece but instead are connected just by a pivot pin. This was the break in my ground you suspected. I ran a wire from one part of the trailer to the tongue to electrically connect them so as to be one unit. Voila! The trailer lights worked just fine. With so many tilting type trailers around, I would have thought the manufacturers of these lights would have mentioned this in their installation instructions for idiots like me. Thanks again. Like you all suggested, it was the ground.
Guys, I really appreciate your help and you're right. It was a grounding problem. But it was a little tricky and I thought you'd be interested in what the answer was. This trailer is one of those that has a tilting tongue. You can pull a pin on the tongue and the trailer pivots up to achieve a higher angle to launch/retrieve the sailboat on the boat launching ramp. Perhaps you've seen these type of trailers before. Well, the tongue and the main body of the trailer aren't one solid piece but instead are connected just by a pivot pin. This was the break in my ground you suspected. I ran a wire from one part of the trailer to the tongue to electrically connect them so as to be one unit. Voila! The trailer lights worked just fine. With so many tilting type trailers around, I would have thought the manufacturers of these lights would have mentioned this in their installation instructions for idiots like me. Thanks again. Like you all suggested, it was the ground.
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