Problem with Rear Tail Light, '09 International

[TXMYTX]

Ever since I bought the trailer, I've had trouble with the right rear brake/signal light unit...Sometimes it would work, often not. I've changed the electrical connections from the trailer to the TV several times ...Works for a while ... Completely out now. No problem with the left light..

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by TXMYTX

Ever since I bought the trailer, I've had trouble with the right rear brake/signal light unit...Sometimes it would work, often not. I've changed the electrical connections from the trailer to the TV several times ...Works for a while ... Completely out now. No problem with the left light..

I've changed the electrical connections from the trailer to the TV several times...

Have you checked the tail light itself. If I recall correctly the 09's do not have LED lights, so the bulb(s) could be loose in the socket, or the wires to the socket might have a loose connection - solder or twist connectors? Or I suppose the bulb itself might have a damaged filament. (BTW an upgrade to LED's gets you a much brighter light and there are fewer things that go wrong with these fixtures too.)

If none of those, UGH - you might have a short in the wiring to the fixture itself. The area between the skins is just full of sharp edges, and if a wire rubbed against one of those it could cut through the insulation.

Good luck, hope it's something easy to spot.

[nwmsmith]

Has an anti-sway bar been added to the curb side of frame?
I discovered that when holes were drilled to mount the sway-bar bracket the cable was hit and a short occurred. I pulled out the rubber grommets and was able to pull the cable out (under the trailer) just far enough to discover a very tiny hole. Upon stripping back the outer insulation I found two wires had been damaged - causing a short to my right side blinkers.

[TG Twinkie]

Check the ground/common connection on the tail light fixture. If it is loose or corroded. It will cause a problem.

[robert claus]

I can't tell what your TV is, but if you have separate turn signals and brake lights, then you have a converter to change that to the combo brake/turn on the trailer. My lights would work fine for a while, then one side would go out. It was the converter failing - I've had to replace mine twice.

[TXMYTX]

Robert...what converter ?

[TG Twinkie]

I have an '08 Tundra which has separate turn signals and brake lights.
I did not have to make any changes to pull the ARGOSY other than to match the old wiring scheme to the modern pin out. . Most trailers do not have separate brake and turn signals. If you have a modern TV it should not be a problem.

[robert claus]

If you have separate brake lights and turn signals on your TV, then somewhere in-line is a converter that turns the two signals into one for the trailer tail lights to function properly. If your vehicle has the separate circuits and a factory towing package, then it is integrated somewhere. It could be the source of this problem, and is worth checking out. My Sprinter had a factory converter plugged in under the seat which failed repeatedly, giving me taillights function on just one side after operating a while. We'd check the lights before leaving-all fine- and find a problem when rechecking after stopping later. I wired in a Curt powered converter #56146 in place of the factory Mercedes unit, and had no trouble for a couple of years. I recently had to wire in a new Curt unit after the problem reappeared last fall. Once again, problem solved.

[TXMYTX]

Got it...thanks....