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G1obetrotter · 06-23-2010, 12:43 PM

got busy yesterday with other crap. imagine. he he. kevin, ill give you a buzz sometime in the next couple a three days.

2xS · 06-23-2010, 04:31 PM

Ammeters must be placed in the path of current aka in series. You must break the line and put the meter in between the connection you broke where the red lead would connect to current coming in and the black lead to current leaving, don't worry if you get it wrong, it'll just read negative, but you must disconnect the line first, and be sure to have the appliance(s) you are testing ON when you read current. But if I was you, I'd be using the continuity tester, and voltmeter function of your multimeter to troubleshoot this problem.

I had a similar problem with my tail lights, and it comes down to bad grounding of the lights through the housing to the shell due to oxidation and age. You should clean/repair these connections as best you can and reconnect, or even fashion a grounding strap attached to your trailer. Since work on the taillights anyways has to be done anyways, consider the LED upgrade; it looks very nice!

For your running lights, you should read 12V if you take off the lens and measure across the bulb; if no, remove the entire running light housing, there should be a single (green?) wire coming out of your shell; with your running lights ON, connect the red lead of your DMM to the wire coming from the shell and your black lead to the shell. If you read nothing, the problem is a break in the circuit closer to the TV connector; check your connections with a continuity tester (ohm meter), and you will find the break where there is an infinite amount of resistance measured between two points you know should be connected electrically e.g. your tow connector running light wire and your wire coming out of your shell under the running lights.

Good Luck!

G1obetrotter · 06-30-2010, 01:17 PM

Well as you know, i was gonna take the gt in to the shop and have them fix the lights. just before we were gonna drive down there and fork over 105/hr for labor i thought i would call a couple of other places to see if they were less expensive. i called this guy who does mobile repairs and explained the issue with the lights blinking when they werent supposed to etc. and he asked a simple question:

"when you were testing the lights did you have the trailer on the ball?"

no, of course i didnt. once i actually put the gt on the ball, guess what?

THEY WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hope the # of exclamation points i used helped convey how i was feeling at the time.

so now i can actually tow this sucker to get the current tires bearings and brakes looked at it before i head down to andy's in corona. the running lights and lic. plate light circuit is still kaput but if i travel by day its a non issue. also since the other ones are fine i would guess that the wiring for the runners is probably ok too. i will have to de-rust the old teardrops or get new ones, also the sockets on the back tail lights are shot and will need to go. do led's use the same amount of juice as the bulbs or is it more complicated?

it feels really good to be moving on to the next issue. thanks again for everybody's help.

peace

paul

G1obetrotter · 09-25-2010, 02:05 PM

Got back from inland rv in corona on wed night. many thanks to greg at inland rv for his great work and help. got a new axle now and all the lights are working just fine. the 4runner handled the job ok, just had to go slow up over the grapevine, good idea anyway since it was windy up there too. very cool to not have to worry about the axle/suspension and also very cool to have my running lights working which allowed us to drive at night. one happy camper here.

kevinb · 09-25-2010, 03:07 PM

glad to hear you had a good trip,your lucky to be that close to inland rv.
kevin

TG Twinkie · 09-25-2010, 06:11 PM

You should install a ground wire or clean the attachment points on your existing ones. The hitch does not provide a reliable ground. The lights might blink on and off while you're traveling. Hard for drivers around you to figure out what your next move is.

G1obetrotter · 09-28-2010, 12:00 AM

hi guys,

yeah its very nice to know that the axle is now a non issue. now i can focus on the other stuff that needs doing. turned out i had the pigtail wired wrong. greg at inland rv fixed it in a matter of minutes. he's great. all the wiring, it turns out, was fine, it was just my re-wiring of the pigtail that was the trouble. so now every light comes on when its supposed to. very cool.

as for the ground on the shore power, as it turns out, the male plug on the coach was grounded but the the 3rd pin, the ground pin, had been broken off. i took your advice, tg, and replaced it before we left.

we lost our front vent cover somewhere between morro bay and san jose but the guys at inland rv put a new one on. its translucent which allows the light in, a nice touch.

i think my next project is to pull out the old tub and have it repaired, also playing with the idea of installing a gray water tank, im sure theres a how to on here somewhere. the cool thing is that all the stuff thats left to do is manageable, and now the coach is road ready and functional enough to camp in in the meantime.

nice end to the summer here.