Trailer wiring problem on 2002 Chevy 2500

The brake lights will not come on on my trailer but are fine on the pickup. Also only one taillight comes on when the lights are on (on the trailer) pickup is fine. Where could problem be?

Reply to
pairie
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Reply to
Pete

What special hookup?

Reply to
pairie

Something like this

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I've seen them at Walmart and Autozone . They take your seperate brake light signal and convert it to the typical turn signal/brake light combo that most trailers use.

Tinker

Reply to
Zopilote

Your trailer lights may not be grounded enough.

Reply to
4546

The ground wire is seperate and runs to each light. I have the same problem on my 7 way plug car trailer as I do with a set of universal trailer magnetic lights I have. I checked all the fuses. I also have a friend with an older Chev PU that does the same thing? Could it be a bad connection in one of the plugs in back? Or do I need some other special equipment? The uhaul thing looks like it is for foreign cars?

Reply to
pairie

The U-haul thing is for vehicles that have a separate turn signal bulbs in the rear. Mostly foreign, but some American as well. Common set up is one bulb with two elements, low watt element is the tail light, high watt element is the brake and turn, the turn signal switch breaks the brake light voltage feed to the side the turn signals are activated on. The foreign set up uses a separate wire for each function, and two bulbs instead of one. Both designs have their pluses and minuses. The amber might be a bit more visible as a turn signal, and the added advantage of both brake lights working. One down side though is you don't know which end of a car your coming up on when its four ways are on, is it the rear or the front, what side of the road is he on? This is an issue in foggy conditions, or in heavy snow. This is why the American DOT rules specified red on the rear, and amber or clear on the front for turn signals and parking lights.

as to the issue, I would be looking at the connectors, and the adaptor or splices into the main harness.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

Wow, server error and I lost my message. I will check the plugs in the back tomorrow. Thanks for the help. Anyone else with help feel free to chime in.

Reply to
pairie

I am still looking for some help as to where to look next? I checked the connectors and they all look good. I also found another fuse panel and checked those fuses. Seems like it has to be the connection on the brake pedal but that looks OK too. I did check the pickup and it does have seperate lights for stop and turn but that should not affect the trailer hookup which is factory and shows a como turn/stop for each side. It has me puzzled. The tail lights both work fine now but I get no brake lights at all. HELP!!!!!

Reply to
pairie

I still think its a grounding issue. I went through the same thing, with my 2,001 S-10, to an old homemade trailer. There was a ground for each light. I had to move the wire around to connect on a bolt, and keep the wire away from any painted metal. For it to ground properly.

Reply to
4546

Do you know anybody else that has a hitch, and plug? Have them stop by, offer a beer, (that is important), plug into their setup with ball attached to trailer.

That will tell you if the trailer has a problem. I think it's the trailer.

Reply to
Bill

Reply to
Pete

Thanks mydaja but I really don't think it is a grounding issue when the same bulbs that don't work for the brake lights do work for the turn signals? My wiring is all factory plugs with a seperate ground running from the pickup all that way to each light. Some how the brake signal is not getting through? I also tested all the leads to the trailer lights with a seperate power unit and they all work fine. I have a buddy who has a shop in my hometown, that is where I am headed next with this problem. I just thought maybe somebody else might have had a similar problem or know of some reason the brake signal might not be getting through? Maybe there is a fuse or rely I am missing?

Reply to
pairie

Is this factory "trailer package" wiring and connectors? If you are getting normal voltage to the brake lights on the truck and not to the trailer connector, the fault has to be somewhere between these two points.

Block the brake pedal down or have someone hold it down. Starting from the rear, disassemble the connectors until you get voltage.

On my new 2004 2500, I had a similar problem. It turned out one of the individual connections in a connector hadn't been pushed in far enough to allow the other side of the connector to make contact.

DJ

Reply to
IdaSpode

Thanks DJ, what you says makes sense but I am wondering where the brake signal is picked up for the trailer brakes? I followed the trailer wiring up and it looks to be taped in with the major wiring coming from the front of the pickup? There are three plugs up high underneath on the driver side. There is no seperate plug for the trailer wiring recepticle. The brake pedal wiring has four or five wires coming from it so I assumed that maybe the trailer and the pickup brake lights both come all the way from the brake pedal? I may be wrong. I would like to hook up an electric brake controller also but would like to solve this problem first. Any advice or info on hooking up a controller would also be appreciated. Thanks!

Reply to
pairie

Brake light switch controls three things, the brake lights, unlocking the torque converter, and disengaging the cruise control

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

It will come from the brake controller, a separate issue altogether.

This may help:

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Sorry, my memory is failing me...

The connection that was the culprit in my case was the one right at the bumper mounted receptacle. When I posted my problem here, someone suggested checking the connections for corrosion, which I did. I thought it looked fine so I assumed the problem was elsewhere. It finally dawned on me to trace the circuit to the point where I lost voltage. Looking at the front, it seemed like a big pile of spaghetti, so I started at the rear. Only took a few minutes to figure out and remedy the problem.

Here is the thread from 2004:

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This will come with your brake controller. Mine (Tekonsha Prodigy) has a OEM style pigtail from the controller to a connector panel under the dash.

DJ

Reply to
IdaSpode

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