Jim McC Posted July 18, 2011 Author Posted July 18, 2011 Now it appears the problem is not the trailer. I took my van to another place today(a trailer sales/installation shop) and the problem is the wiring on the van. While he had his tester on the van's wiring plug, it was flashing while I hit the brakes. He said it's not the van's ground because all the other lights work properly. Is that correct? Just to re-cap, when I hit the brakes the left turn signal flashes. It's supposedly one of 2 things: 1) The wiring harness plug(I'll replace this first and see what happens) 2) The T-connector and wiring harness on van is bad. If it is this, where's a good source to buy this for a 2003 Chrysler Town and Country mini van? Thanks. Quote
Super User slonezp Posted July 19, 2011 Super User Posted July 19, 2011 Many trailer rental stores like Uhaul will sell and install trailer parts. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted July 19, 2011 Super User Posted July 19, 2011 Check your van's fuses. Check the connection on the van with one of the testers I posted above. If that all checks out, its your trailer wiring (always is, LOL). Get an $8 wiring harness at bass pro, and start over. I'm telling you, it's way easier than you think. Quote
Jim McC Posted July 19, 2011 Author Posted July 19, 2011 Check your van's fuses. Check the connection on the van with one of the testers I posted above. If that all checks out, its your trailer wiring (always is, LOL). Get an $8 wiring harness at bass pro, and start over. I'm telling you, it's way easier than you think. As I said in post 26, it's apparently the van's wiring. When he had the tester on the van's wiring plug and I hit the brakes, the tester was flashing and the left turn signal was flashng. I also hooked up to a trailer there, and it's left turn signal flashed when I hit the brakes. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted July 19, 2011 Super User Posted July 19, 2011 Ahh, I didn't refresh the page, so missed that. That's weird. How could you get a flashing signal with brakes pressed. That is really weird. Whqt happens when you turn on the right or left turn signal? How about the hazards? And any weird symptoms with the running lights/plate lights? Quote
Jim McC Posted July 20, 2011 Author Posted July 20, 2011 Ahh, I didn't refresh the page, so missed that. That's weird. How could you get a flashing signal with brakes pressed. That is really weird. Whqt happens when you turn on the right or left turn signal? How about the hazards? And any weird symptoms with the running lights/plate lights? Everything else works normally. There's only a problem when you hit the brakes. I ordered a new T-connector wiring harness for my van from Etrailer.com. It even has a video on how to change it out on my van, and it looks pretty easy. I'll post back after I change it. Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted July 20, 2011 Super User Posted July 20, 2011 The brake lights, turn signals and flashers are linked together. The turn signals would be almost useless if they didn't override the brake lights. Same for the hazard four way flashers. Here's a question. When you put on the brakes, and the left tail light flashes, does the front light on that side also flash? If it does, you probably have a "short" where the circuit for the brakes is feeding juice to the left turn signal. Does your left signal work normally when you are not on the brakes? Your best bet is to take it to a dealer, or a mechanic you trust, and get an estimate of how much to fix it. The problem could be in the turn signal mechanism, or somewhere in the wiring harness. Since it happens when the trailer is not hooked up, you can rule out something back feeding current from a trailer problem. Explain exactly what happens when you take it to the garage, to see what their thoughts are before they plug it into the computer and charge you to diagnose the problem. I doubt it would be the first time a dealer, or busy independent repair shop has seen this problem. Quote
Jim McC Posted July 20, 2011 Author Posted July 20, 2011 The brake lights, turn signals and flashers are linked together. The turn signals would be almost useless if they didn't override the brake lights. Same for the hazard four way flashers. Here's a question. When you put on the brakes, and the left tail light flashes, does the front light on that side also flash? If it does, you probably have a "short" where the circuit for the brakes is feeding juice to the left turn signal. Does your left signal work normally when you are not on the brakes? Your best bet is to take it to a dealer, or a mechanic you trust, and get an estimate of how much to fix it. The problem could be in the turn signal mechanism, or somewhere in the wiring harness. Since it happens when the trailer is not hooked up, you can rule out something back feeding current from a trailer problem. Explain exactly what happens when you take it to the garage, to see what their thoughts are before they plug it into the computer and charge you to diagnose the problem. I doubt it would be the first time a dealer, or busy independent repair shop has seen this problem. I think you mis-understood my problem. The problem is not with the lights on the van malfunctioning, the left turn signal on the trailer is flashing when I hit the brakes. Everything on the van works normally. Yes, the left turn signal on the trailer works normally when I am not applying the brakes. No, the problem does not happen when the trailer is not hooked up. Quote
BassThumb Posted July 20, 2011 Posted July 20, 2011 I've lost count of the lighting issues that I had before I learned about bad ground connections on trailers with LED lights, which are especially sensitive to a bad ground. Since I began cleaning/grinding the ground connection on the trailer every spring, I haven't had an issue. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the problems that occur when I had a bad ground. Even from day to day, they could be different. Try cleaning the ground on the trailer(white wire) and see if that fixes the issue. Or you could clean all the connections. I like to use a Dremel with a grinding stone mainly. Anther useful tool is to wrap some steel wool around a nail and use that in a Dremel to polish your connections. It's basically looks like a steel wool Q-Tip. Quote
Super User Fishing Rhino Posted July 20, 2011 Super User Posted July 20, 2011 I don't know about your tow vehicle, but my pickup has separate wiring and fuses for the trailer. They both originate at the same source, but are fused separately. Whatever goes to the turn signals on the truck goes to the turn signals on the trailer. But, for the tester to show the brake connector for the trailer as flashing, it still has to be some type of back feed to the flasher and then on to the trailer circuit for the left turn signal. Once upon a time, trailer hookups were tied into the tow vehicles tail and brake lights. Now, they are separate circuits. You're problem reminded me why I hate doing electrical work on any vehicle, other than changing bulbs. Sometimes that's a pain too. Good luck getting it resolved. Be sure to let us know what caused this problem, once you get it corrected. Quote
Jim McC Posted July 22, 2011 Author Posted July 22, 2011 Well, I just finished putting on the new T-connector/wiring harness and it is now fixed. BUT I have one more question. The old wiring plug is still hooked up, and I don't know where it hooks up. They used some other method than the one I just replaced. Since the problem is fixed now, do I just tuck the old wiring and plug away and leave it? Thanks. Quote
Jim McC Posted July 24, 2011 Author Posted July 24, 2011 Well, I just finished putting on the new T-connector/wiring harness and it is now fixed. BUT I have one more question. The old wiring plug is still hooked up, and I don't know where it hooks up. They used some other method than the one I just replaced. Since the problem is fixed now, do I just tuck the old wiring and plug away and leave it? Thanks. Anyone? Quote
Super User slonezp Posted July 24, 2011 Super User Posted July 24, 2011 If you can't remove it, I would tape the ends up real good with some electrical tape and secure it with wire ties somewhere it won't get shorted. Quote
Jim McC Posted July 24, 2011 Author Posted July 24, 2011 If you can't remove it, I would tape the ends up real good with some electrical tape and secure it with wire ties somewhere it won't get shorted. Thanks. The plug is still intact on it, and stays in the inside of van. Are you saying to tape up the plug? Quote
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