Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Running Lights on new trailer not working ???
I got my new replacement trailer a few weeks ago just in time for my vacation to Maine but I have a problem. The running lights are not working. They keep blowing my 20 amp fuse in both tow vehicles. The turn signal, brake, and reverse lights are working fine. My dealer is very busy and cant look at it until next week so I am going to try and fix the problem myself. I traced all wires looking for kinks or bare spots and they appear to be fine. I removed the rear lightbar at the request of my dealer and found no problem there. My plan is to disconnect one side at a time at the first splice to determine which side is shorting out. If I can determine this I will than disconnect each light on the problem side until I find bad connection or light. Am I overlooking anything ? Would a bad plug cause this problem ? Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks…….Tony
Tony, Welcome to Maine…..This might be out there somewhere but I read about an issue with GM trucks and trailer wiring and one of the fuses they have located under the hood. If you dont find the simple grounding wire or possible bulb that is shorting and it gets complicated and you are running a newer GM you might do some searching on the subject. Hope it helps… actually I hope you just find a scuffed wire somewhere…Are you in Maine now or headed this way? What lake is your destination?
Tony, The issue is usually the side clearance lights, though the light bar also can be an issue. They are supposed to be checked when they are in production and that set up has individual breakers to throw. Though if a clearance light got twisted is shipping it could pinch the wires and ground it to the light housing. Undo those and check the wires. If that doesnt work, then lets try this! Take a battery lead direct, and run a pair of wires from whatever the source is. Be that boat, go cart, motorcycle, lawn mower (you dont need it yet up there) whatever has a 12 volt source. Go direct to the battery direct with two leads. You can use a vise grip or whatever to hold the ground on the trailer. This is a bit more challenging as you are messing with 12 volts and no breaker. The wires will get HOT if you hold it to ground. Run the leads out, one to a ground on the trailer and the Positive lead just tiche (lightly touch) the prongs on the trailer and see if they arc or the lights work. This will put you to the source of the issue, whether it is the right or left or the tail lights. Though we think you will find it with a simple check pending it is not in the truck harness. And we assume you have verified that already. BCB
Thanks BCB for the quick response. I will follow your instructions. The problem is definately not the tow vehicle. I tried both of my vehicles and got the same results. The trailer running lights will flash for a breif second and than the fuse under the hood of both tow vehicles will blow.Ill post my results when I find the problem. Thanks…Tony PS Mark 5795, I just got back from Maine and had a great trip. I fished Cobbossee, Webber, China, Long Pond,Anabessacook, and Unity. Caught a 5 1/2 lb largemouth on China and too many 3 pounders to count. I stay at Castle Island Camp on Long Pond and trailer the boat to different lakes through out the trip. I also have a brother that lives in Unity and my dad lives in Albion. I try to get to Maine a few times each season. Its a beautiful state with great fishing and no fishing pressure. I live in southern NJ where you are fishing with 30 boats in a few hundred acre pond on the weekends so Maine is like a breath of fresh air.
Tony, Good to hear on the tow vehicle looks like BCB has pointed you in the correct direction…. I know the area where you fish. We are headed to the Belgrade area for a few days this weekend then headed to our camp in Webster Maine….North East near Canadian border..West Grand is our big lake but we put in at Bottle Lake and have access to 11 lakes from that ramp including the big lake. We love the quiet and were lucky to see 5 boats over an entire weekend…Have you ever fished Salmon or Macgrath in the Belgrade area?
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