No running lights!

[Bing-Bing]

I just plugged in the 7 pin cord into my Excursion and found I had brake lights and turn signals but no running lights. The Prodgy was also working. So where do I start to solve this problem. The trailer is a 1994 and the cord appears to be o.k. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[lewster]

Bing,

I don't have the link handy and maybe another member will chime in here, but there are a bunch of diagrams for how a 7-way plug is wired. If you take a 12VDC battery with a couple of pins on the end of the pos and neg leads, you can probe the 7-way and activate all of your lights.

Attach the battery ground to the ground slot but be careful NOT to attach the positive side to the pos. battery slot...it will short.

By moving the positive probe around the 7-way (with the exception of the positive 12VDC slot) you can activate all of your light functions.....even the brakes.

If you don't get any results for the running lights this way, the problem is generally in the trailer's wiring. If you DO get all of the lights to activae by doing this, then it's in the Excursion's wiring.

You can also use a 12VDC test light and probe the 7-way on the back of the Excursion to see if all of the locations are getting voltage when the proper activation occurs.

[peegreen]

Take the plug from the trailer's umbilical. Jumper (I use a 10 amp fuse) the top two slots (the slots on either side of the plug's keyway) and all running lights should come on. If they do, then trailer is OK (including wiring of the plug). If not, problem is on truck end. It is very common for wires to become loose, break or short in the plug.

[Shacksman]

Check for a fuse in the truck that controls the running lights on the trailer. Newer trucks have a separate fuse for trailer functions.

[Yhottys]

Originally Posted by peegreen

Take the plug from the trailer's umbilical. Jumper (I use a 10 amp fuse) the top two slots (the slots on either side of the plug's keyway) and all running lights should come on. If they do, then trailer is OK (including wiring of the plug). If not, problem is on truck end. It is very common for wires to become loose, break or short in the plug.

Initially the right hand turn lights on our 1974 Trade Wind Landyacht weren't functioning and then the entire right side of the trailer's lights stopped working.

We discovered that there were two wires that were not connected on the truck end of our Pollack receiver where it plugs into the much longer portion of the umbilical. We cleaned all of the connectors with sand paper and the small wire burr/brush on a dremel and attached the two loose wires to where we thought they were supposed to be connected.

We found a electrical receiver diagram/schmatic online at:
TRAILER LIGHT WIRING - TYPICAL TRAILER LIGHT WIRING DIAGRAM / SCHEMATIC - Trailer Parts & Accessories - Chuck's Chevy Truck Pages.com

It's states it for Chevy trucks, we have a 1996 Dodge Ram 2500 TV. Does that matter? We couldn't find anything about what color wire goes where and are now thoroughly confused because the wires attach to the back of the thingy that looks like a flower made of prongs. (It's Gemma typing-Murray just got frustrated and went to bed). Does it matter what wire goes where? It's got to! But based on the diagram, it seems that the wires don't correspond with the diagram.

We tried the umbilical at 12:30am and now the none of the trailer's lights are working and neither are the right and left turn signals on our TV! Did we short the TV? The trailer? Did we blow a fuse on the TV? Trailer?

So . . . for those of you that may be up at this time . . .

Can we fix this quickly and/or easily? We're supposed to going to Yosemite later today!

Should we just go buy the short wire doohickey? Where can we buy one in San Francisco. We're not very close to Camping World. Walmart? Auto Zone? Around how much will it cost?

Any insight or information would be appreciated,

Gemma

[richinny]

as a guess, you've blown a fuse in the TV. you need to get a test light or a volt meter to verify what is coming out of the TV. you'll also need a short jumper wire to 'test' the trailer leads to see what works. it should be a simple fix.......once the correct wiring is identified.