Trailer lighting problems

[Nick982]

Hey Guys,

I have a 2000 White Explorer V8 XLT, and whenever i try to use my signals here are my results

Lights off and on

Left Blinker: Both lights flash

Right Blinker: Both lights Flash

Brakes: Nothing

My dad and i have tried 3 different kits, and cant figure it out, we thought we might need a converter for independent lights, but the hookup from the exlporer doesnt have the "Independent break cable"

Today we took two different kits put them together and heres what we got.

Lights off:

No Lights at all

Lights On:

Left Blinker - Left Flashes

Right Blinker - Right Flashes

Break: Turns the tail lights off.

Have you guys ever had trouble like this out of lighting, any input would be appreciated

Thanks,

Nick!

[burleytog]

How is the ground on the trailer?

[SigArms]

I agree check the ground on the trailer. Bad grounds will do that kind of thing. Also check the ground going from your plug to thye tow vehicle.

Pull the bolt out that's holding on the ground, hit the area AND the cable crimp connector on the cable with a wire wheel or some emery cloth and re attach. You want the metal to metal contact to be shiny.

Hope this helps.

Bill

[Jig Man]

Bad grounds can cause all kinds of crazy problems.  If you are grounded through the ball, I change it to the frame.

[RobDar]

buy the plug in trailer light tester...plugs into the plug on the vehicle...costs about 6 bucks at Bass Pro.

I has little green LED's on it. use it to elimante the vehicle as the problem. If it shows clear on the vehicle...you know it is a trailer problem.

Check the ground...

if the ground does not clear it...

remove all the bulbs...and put them back in one at a time...put in the left rear bulb...test it...right rear bulb...test it...until you find where the problem is coming from. ( my trailer had a bad running light housing that made my lights go wacky)

If the railer light tester says the vehicle is fine...the ground does not clear the problem...and when you put the first bulb in the problem starts right off...

you may have wires whose insulation is rubbed off or damaged inside the trailer channel.

[HPBB]

hate to say it, but sounds like a ground problem

check to make sure the ground is hooked up on the trailer also on your truck. I have compleatly replaced a wirering set out on a trailer just to find out the ground wire broke on the truck

[mferris]

don't trust the tester that plugs into your truck.i was having problems and the tester read ok,turned out to be the converter you're talking about....the problem i was having was the directionals and stop lites worked until i turned the headlites on,then nothing worked...and the running lites didn't work at all....i guess what was happening was when i turned the headlites on igot a voltage drop so nothing would work...i checked the grounds and all that stuff..drove me crazy for a week....