Short in LH stop light

[slofoks]

Help! - I have a 1966 26 foot Overlander. I have a ground short someplace between the plug for the tow vehcicle and the left hand light socket. It keeps blowing the fuse for the trlr LH stop on the truck fuse panel. I have removed the whole tail light assy and left the bare wires hanging there and still got the short. The plug to the truck is fine (new)and it shorts even when not connected to the truck. Can anyone save me some time and tell me where I should start looking? I do not want to start pulling the belly pan unless I have to. Is there a manual somewhere that would show where these kind of items are on the trailer? I have a wiring diagram for the house lights but not the trailering lights. Thanks!

[Pileus]

"The plug to the truck is fine (new) and it shorts even when not connected to the truck."

When you state "it shorts" are you refering to the plug? When you state "even not connected to the truck" do you mean that the fuse blows even when the trailer is not connected to the truck?

I recently severed my umbilical cord. When I replaced it I had no stop or turn signals. I was ready to tear the trailer apart when I asked my neighbor to bring his truck over and connect his truck to my trailer. With his truck hooked up to my trailer there were no problems at all. Indicating that the problem was in my truck and not the trailer. It was a fuse in the truck that blew when I severed the umbilical by pinching it with the hitch.

[slofoks]

Pileus - After reading your reply, I guess I need to clarify a bit. With the truck disconnected, there is still a ground short in the LH stop light wire. Maybe my question should be, where does the umbilical cord terminate? Is there a splice block someplace? I am assuming, the cause of the short is corrosion but I would like to avoid dismantling everything to follow the cord through the trailer. Thanks!

[overlander64]

Greetings slofoks!

Welcome to the world of Vintage Overlanders!

Originally Posted by slofoks

Pileus - After reading your reply, I guess I need to clarify a bit. With the truck disconnected, there is still a ground short in the LH stop light wire. Maybe my question should be, where does the umbilical cord terminate? Is there a splice block someplace? I am assuming, the cause of the short is corrosion but I would like to avoid dismantling everything to follow the cord through the trailer. Thanks!

I am not certain, but do believe that Airstream was still utilizing a junction box for the unbilical cord located in the bellypan of the coach in 1966 (my '64 Overlander has this as does my '78 Minuest). This junction box was usually located in the front curbside corner of the bellypan and could be identified by a square/rectangular aluminum "hatch" attached with either pop rivets or sheet metal screws. Something else that might warrant checking out is the Bargman connector itself . . . the most frequent source of "short" problems for me was the blade-type Bargman RV connector . . . it was an annual chore to disassemble the connector and clean corrossion from all of the contacts.

Good luck with your investigation!

Kevin

[slofoks]

Overlander - Thanks for the input. I did check over the connector even though it was new. Even with the wire out of the connector, it was still shorting. I just didn't relish taking off the belly pan tracing out the cord. I will start where you suggested.