Towing wiring issues

[Nikki]

had my surf 6wks now and just bought a trailer. they fitted the tow bar and electrics for me when i bought the surf. hooked it all up to find that the sidelights on the trailer appear to come on when i press the brake pedal, but no rear brake lights come on on the trailer. indicators appear to work fine, although on reading previous posts when i searched it appears there should be some kind of bleepy thing going on when i indicate when towing - that isn't happening. i have found a wiring diagram on the internet and my dad reckons it should be pretty easy to work out which wire is going to the wrong hole and swap them round, but wondering about this bleepy indicator thing now. anyone help?

[Apache]

Not everything has a bleepy indicator thing unless you fit one. If the towbar electrics are just spliced into the rear lights loom, you wont get bleepy stuff.

The Surf's got enough bleeps without adding more anyway!

I'm gonna agree with your dad here. It should be easy to sort out for someone handy with a multimeter.

[Albannach]

You're supposed to have a bleepy indicator thing to let you know when a trailer indicator is not working. So you'll not hear/see it as your indicators work.

[TonyN]

I hate those beeping things, they go in the bin when I fit towbars for people!



If you get stuck you know where I am.

[nero279]

Yellow - Left Indicator
Blue - Foglight
Green - Right Indicator
Brown - Right Tail Light
Red - Stop Light
Black - Left Tail Light
White - Earth

I can't remember the pin no's, but assumiong they used standard 7 core towing cable and followed the proper wiring colours, this is the colours and what they should do. I guess the easiest mistake for someone who ain't used to doing it is to assume black is the earth, so black and white could very well be the wrong way round. Won't really know without checking it out with a multimeter or something though.

Another thought, if it's a new to you trailer, eliminate the wiring on the trailer itself by either plugging that trailer in to another car, or trying the lights on a different trailer on your surf.

[SURFerRob]

http://www.noboundaries.com.au/Hints%20and%20tips.htm

try that link out...

[Nikki]

it's definitely the car - i hitched up another trailer and it did the same. the trailers have little side lights on the front of the wheel arches and they come on when i press the brake pedal!

I'll let my dad have a play with it this week and see if he can sort it out or I'll be bringing it down to you Tony. I can quite happily live without the bleeping. Is it the sort of thing a copper will check out if they pull you over though?

All a bit annoying really as meant I couldn't go out practising yesterday and was stuck reversing round the car park!

[Albannach]

it's definitely the car - i hitched up another trailer and it did the same. the trailers have little side lights on the front of the wheel arches and they come on when i press the brake pedal!

I'll let my dad have a play with it this week and see if he can sort it out or I'll be bringing it down to you Tony. I can quite happily live without the bleeping. Is it the sort of thing a copper will check out if they pull you over though?

All a bit annoying really as meant I couldn't go out practising yesterday and was stuck reversing round the car park!

It's just the plug that's wired wrong, it'll be wired back to front, it's a common thing with amateurs.

The trailer warning bleeper/indicator is a legal requirement. Never known plod to check for it though.

[Nikki]

well, 4 wires were in the wrong place so have put them all in the right places. all the lights at the back now appear to work at the right time. however, the side lights on the trailer that were coming on when i braked now wont come on at all - I'm at a loss - the plug is definitely wired correctly now so I dont know why the sidelights wont work Are the sidelights a legal requirement or can I do without them?

[Nikki]

dont worry. problem solved. in future, dont take advice on wiring issues from people in different countries!!! Oz do not have the same wiring pattern as the UK

[Nikki]

back to square 1

wired them as per the Australian link above - everything working except the fog light and the side lights.

realised Oz wire different so wired them as per UK wiring - everything all messed up again.

tried logically working out which wire went where but everything seemed to turn the indicators on - complete nightmare. ran out of patience after an hour and re-wired as per the Oz link as that was the closest to being correct. All this in the rain Obviously whoever wired the car up didn't wire the correct lights to the correct colours because if you have the colours on the tow bar matching the ones on the light socket on the trailer nothing works properly - i press the brake and you get one indicator, one side light and no brake lights! Total f^%* up!

[Maverick]

Sounds like you need to start all over again, and rewire from the lights. It really does sound as if whoever fitted it in the first place messed it up.

[Robmatthews]

Might seem like a odd question but bare with me,-how is your fog light wired?If your truck is jap import with a aftermarket fog then disconnect the wire to the trailer socket,and recheck your connections as per nero279 has said,now check your trailer lights...
...i had the same problem-the way the aftermarket fog is wired means there is a path to ground where there should not be one-even with the fog switched off,the path goes from the trailer lights through the fog lamp to ground causing the problems hope that solves your problem?let us know. cheers rob