No indicators AGAIN - Help

[Patrolee]

OK, that makes sense...will add that to the list. Thanks

[Patrolee]

Thanks for your advice. Intermittent faults with impatient horse in trailer increases PIA factor!

[kevin07]

Like 4bye4 I found that my indicators which worked ok with the vehicle solo would blow their fuse when connected to the trailer. A slightly higher rated fuse resolved this. However you have previously towed your float without problem...... so something has changed.

My guess is that you have , as BigCol suggests a momentary short somewhere, most likely somewhere from the plug back to the trailer. When the cable moves, a short occurs & it is enough to cause the fuse to blow. As it is going to be somewhere where wires can move, & the biggest area of movement is around the plug area, this is probably the primary suspect area, but try swiching on your hazards make sure all is working, & whilst leaving them on go around systematically wiggling wires to see if you can make them not work or blow a fuse. Having a mirror or reflective board behind the trailer lights can help to see what is going on.

Intermittent faults are indeed a PIA.

and this is why I say just run a new harness though the trailer and change the lights to leds no more bad connection poblems

[SpecialDave]

To trace it - do you have any friends with a float you can borrow? If yes then replicate the exact conditions (eg weight route speed current draw ie headlights etc) that you had on previous outage incidents and see if it happens again...

If not problem is from the plug on the float all the way to the tail lights. If that the case use a multimeter on each individual component check for continuity if any give you a reading that's the short circuit you can then trouble shoot from there.

If however it does happen it's in the truck under towing conditions, you've already replaced breaks unit so not that.
it's only indicators?
Once the float is off do they begin working again?

Again if yes to the second it's most likely your tow connection plug or the trailers or overloading the turn signal relay or flasher unit could also be happening.

To check the flasher it's the square thing above and to left of brake pedal. Check the earth out the back of the unit and also follow the other wires coming out of flasher away from ignition until you hit the signal switch, check them and the earth at the back of the signal switch as well.

With towing it's tricky as there are heaps of different forces on the truck. Not only is there the drag but there is downward force at the rear which makes you drive in the truck at a different angle. Corners snd wind add new lateral forces and the thick is using more energy this generating more heat in the moving bits, which share a lot of common space with electric bits...

Intermittent blows because it's hard to do the first diagnosis.

Previous issues or hazards also compound the problem identification. Gu's have the hazard fuse under the bonnet whereas other models are typically under dash..

Here's the turn sig trouble shooting although I suspect you've got a plug / trailer short or loose connection that wobbles etc and loses contact occasionally but is not visibly obvious..





Good luck


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[Patrolee]

Success..... I hope....due to intermittent nature of problem....I won't be sure for a while. Closer inspection of the float revealed a section of cable that had rubbed to bare wire where it disappears inside the frame of the float pretty close to the plug...where there is a lot of movement - as mentioned by Cuppa. Also found another place in danger of similar problem...so it has been sorted too. Thank-you all for your many suggestions. I will gradually replace standard lights with LED versions. And I now know that I need to add cable and plug inspections to my regular trailer maintenance. Thanks again.

[SpecialDave]

Excellent!!


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[flemj]

I had this issue with my camper trailer, it was happening when going through water and arcing across,. Needed a better quality plug

Does it happen in the rain maybe.

John