No Running Lights

The 15 amp running light fuse in my Suburban blows everytime I plug the trailer up. No running lights on the trailer. Any ideas? thanks

Jack

[Jim & Susan]

Could be a miswired umbilical (if this is a new to you trailer). Otherwise, got to be a short somewhere. My vote is the short would be in the trailer someplace. Have you looked at the inverter? I believe the running lights on my '73 are on a seperate ckt coming off the Univolt. I can take a look when I get hone tonight if you need. But there's a lot of years between out TT's. Good luck.

Jim

[jimmickle]

Sure sounds like a short in the trailer. Did the Suburban work OK with a previous trailer?
The first thing that I would do is check the resistance between the running light and ground contacts on the trailer connector. If it is zero, you have a short. The problem is finding it! A short finder from your local parts store or J. C. Whitney could help you find the location of the short. Check the trailer cord for cuts/wear that may be causing a short.

[Foiled Again]

I had a problem with moisture in my trailer plug, but Glad Wrap's "Press & Seal" solved the problem. Whenever I unhitch, I wrap the plug. Keeps out moisture, bugs, whatever. It's great for all kinds of things around the trailer and really does take the place of plastic bags, tupperware, etc.

(Of course it looks a little like my umbilical is wearing a condom!)

Tin Lizzie

[Safari Tim]

If all that fails you may have to start pulling off running lights one at time and look for a bare wire touching the skin.

They are supposed to have gromet on the wire where it exits the side of the trailer but its possible that it could be worn away, or that someone else replaced a light and did not protect the wire.

[overlander64]

Greetings Craftsman!

I had the same problem with my '99 Suburban/'64 Overlander combination. Lost track of the number of running light fuses that were blown before discovering the problem. The last resort was disassembly of Bargman connector on the Suburban -- corrossion had briged between terminals on the connector and was causing the fuse to blow shortly after the trailer was connected. In my case, replacing the Bargman connector on the Suburban solved the problem (I now carry a spare for the car end of the connector as this problem has repeated about every 50,000 miles -- just about time to replace the current connector as the Suburban is up to just over 153,000 miles).

Good luck in finding the culprit of your blown fuses!

Kevin