# TRAILER LIGHT HELP



## jfwil10 (Apr 17, 2015)

Bought a boat and the lights on the trailer are giving me problems. All of the running lights work (tail lights, side marker lights, guide post lights) BUUUUT the brake lights nor turn signals are working. I've reconnected all of the wires and still nothing. I've also hooked it up to another vehicle to see if it was my vehicle that was causing the problem. MAYBE the previous owner just wired them incorrectly? He said they were all working.....


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Apr 17, 2015)

Could be the bulbs, wiring, the 4pin connector. Try connecting a 12 volt source to the 4pin connector and see if the lights work.
A bad ground will do some strange things.


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## Johnny (Apr 17, 2015)

> *A bad ground will do some strange things.*



Yep, if you have a hinged tongue trailer, and the ground from the vehicle
is only connected to the front part of the hinge, the ground is not continuous.
I had this problem. Sometimes the lights worked - sometimes not.
After reading about it on here, I ran an independent single ground wire from 
the 4 pin connector all the way back to EACH light . . . no problem ever since.
In the middle of the trailer frame, grind off a bit of the protective coating and
install a "crimp lug" in the white grounding wire without cutting it and bolt it to the frame with a self-taping bolt.
Continue the white run back to each light, without cutting it. Dielectric Grease is highly recommended
on all connections and bulbs.

If it is not the ground, it will take some troubleshooting with a meter.


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## edwonbass (Apr 17, 2015)

I also had weird things with my trailer and eventually figured the tilt trailer was to blame. Ran a separate ground to each light and problem solved. 9 times out of 10 it's going to be some kind of ground issue.


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## richg99 (Apr 18, 2015)

Considering all of the time that I've spent with malfunctioning trailer lights, I've finally decided to buy a LED set as soon as possible when I acquire a trailer, new or used. 

The LED set that I bought had the extra white wire to run to the front of the trailer. That extra wire setup cures many incandescent light troubles, too.

The LEDs can be soaked in salt water endless times and never blowout. I no longer have to remove the connector before dropping hot bulbs into the lake/bay. They don't corrode. I can't count the number of times I've spent sitting in my driveway trying to get the lights to come on before I left for a fishing trip in the dark.

IMHO, If your time and fishing trips are as valuable to you, as they are to me, consider just buying the LEDs (with the extra white wire) now.

richg99


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## Seon (Apr 18, 2015)

richg99 said:


> ... consider just buying the LEDs (with the extra white wire) now.
> 
> richg99



I agree 100% but be advised that all LED are not equal. Some are "waterproof" and others are "submersible" . It took me a couple pair of "waterproof" LED lights to realize that after a couple of months of use when some of the LED bulb burned out so they weren't "submersible". That's when I switched and eliminated that problem :wink: .


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## richg99 (Apr 18, 2015)

Thanks, good input.


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