Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Jayco RV Owners Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-04-2014, 08:15 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 21
Help with Trailer Lighting

Hello, all.

Just recently purchased a 1990 Starcraft Starstream popup; I know this is a Jayco forum, but since Jayco ended up buying Starcraft, I am hopefully welcome.

The trailer has a 7-blade connector, and I have recently added the wiring and similar connector to the tow vehicle, a 2014 Kia Sorento. When I connect, the turn signals and brake lights work fine, but when I turn on the running (tail) lights, the left rear tail light on the vehicle goes dark, and neither of the talil lights on the trailer work.

A neighbor told me he'd heard that newer vehicles like mine have smaller gauge wiring that is not sufficient to carry the current to the trailer, but I have never heard of such a thing. Anyone have any other suggestions for what the problem might be before I hook everything up and take it to the dealer?

Thanks very much.
maddoxdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2014, 09:33 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: VA
Posts: 394
May want to double check your ground wire on the trailer. I have had a bad ground cause some crazy things happen on my boat and utility trailer.
__________________
2005 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 5.7 HEMI
2̶0̶1̶4̶ ̶J̶a̶y̶ ̶F̶e̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶X̶1̶9̶H̶
howie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2014, 09:50 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 3,430
I agree, this is probably a ground wire issue. Pop-up campers usually don't have good grounds for their lights. More often than not the tail lights are grounded to a piece of aluminum attached to the light fixture itself. It's a wonder they work at all. When I had my PUP after a while I had similar issues. I ended up taking the lights out and running ground wires directly to the frame.

But before you do that get a 12 volt tester. Have someone go through all the lights on the tow vehicle while grounding the tester and touching each connection to verify that juice is getting to the 7 pin connector. If that all works hook up the trailer and check the connections to the lights themselves.

Quote:
Originally Posted by maddoxdave View Post
A neighbor told me he'd heard that newer vehicles like mine have smaller gauge wiring that is not sufficient to carry the current to the trailer, but I have never heard of such a thing.
Good thing your neighbor isn't working on this for you...
__________________
Chuck
2013 Jayco Jayfeather X20 E (sold)
2016 Chevy Silverado LTZ 2 Z71 Crew Cab (sold, and dearly missed)
DocBrown is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2014, 10:17 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
fmichaels's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: pottsgrove
Posts: 194
X2 on the ground connection.
__________________
2013 23B
2001 Tahoe
Sold 2005 Fleetwood Allegiance
Sold 1999 Durango
fmichaels is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2014, 10:32 AM   #5
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 21
Thanks for the great (and fast) replies, I think I'm going to like this forum.

I should have mentioned that we encountered similar issues when connecting my vehicle to my son-in-law's 4-pin utility trailer (using a 7-4 adaptor). With that information, the test-the-pins suggestion makes the most sense, and I will try to do that tonight.

Thanks for the help.
maddoxdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2014, 01:37 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: garden city
Posts: 170
any one with a POP UP is welcome
bailee21 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2014, 05:46 PM   #7
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Oshawa
Posts: 58
I'm wondering if there's a short between the tail light wire (which is most likely tapped from the left side, and you mentioned the left tail light goes out) and another wire. Since it happens when any trailer is plugged in ...
Check your wiring carefully, including inside the plug on the car.
Do you have a problem when there's no trailer connected?
__________________
2012 Dodge Grand Caravan with Prodigy P2 Brake Controller and AirLift air-bags
2004 Jayco Eagle 14SO Pop-Up
Platinum6316 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2014, 09:07 AM   #8
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 21
So here's the latest: I tested all the leads on the vehicle, and they all seem to be working, although the tail light lead may have been intermittent (my tester isn't the best, either).

On the trailer, I found the main grounding point, and it was indeed rusty and corroded. So I cleaned/sanded all those connections, as well as the connection to the trailer itself and re-installed.

Hooked the vehicle up to the trailer, and same thing happened: brakes and turn signals work great on both vehicle/trailer, including extended braking periods. Turn on the running lights, and all come on briefly, then left vehicle light goes out as well as both taillights on the trailer.

My question: If it's a grounding problem with the lights on the trailer, why would they work with the brake/signals, as it's the same bulb/fixture?

Next test is tonight, going to hook up the trailer to my neighbor's Explorer to see if things work.

Thanks again for input.
maddoxdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2014, 09:21 AM   #9
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 21
Finally had a chance to test the trailer with my neighbor's Explorer, and everything worked perfectly, including the tail lights. That pretty much confirms that the problem is with my tow vehicle, right?
maddoxdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2014, 09:37 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Owen Stubbs's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Chicago
Posts: 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by maddoxdave View Post
Finally had a chance to test the trailer with my neighbor's Explorer, and everything worked perfectly, including the tail lights. That pretty much confirms that the problem is with my tow vehicle, right?
Can you do the reverse test, that being using your tow vehicle connected to a trailer other than your own?
__________________
2008 Jayco 1207
Owen Stubbs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2014, 09:43 AM   #11
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 21
Yes, I encountered similar problems connecting my vehicle to my son-in-law's utility tralier; not completely apples-to-apples, as that trailer is a 4-pin (so I used an adaptor), but the evidence points to a problem with my vehicle.

Hoping it is simply a short where they tapped into the tail light feed, and not truly inadequate wiring. Hoping to get it into them today.
maddoxdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2014, 09:52 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: VA
Posts: 394
I do believe you said that you had issues when hooked to a 4-pin utility trailer. It definitely sounds like the problem is in your tow vehicle.
Does your Kia have the factory tow package? After a quick search on e-trailer, looks like there are several different wiring harness options for the Sorento's.
Here is a link to the many questions ask. Perhaps one of these questions/answers will help out.
http://www.etrailer.com/vm/Kia/Sorento/t1
Also, I think there should be a chassis ground from the connector to the vehicle also. Could be a bad ground there.
__________________
2005 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 5.7 HEMI
2̶0̶1̶4̶ ̶J̶a̶y̶ ̶F̶e̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶X̶1̶9̶H̶
howie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2014, 10:27 AM   #13
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 21
This is pretty frustrating for me, I actually do OK with household electrical but DC wiring baffles me...I know, doesn't make much sense because DC is conceptually much easier.

Thanks for all the help on this.
maddoxdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2014, 02:48 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 248
Check with a dealer because some of the foreign made cars need an adapter to get even the 4 prong circuits to work. The way they set the lights up is different from American designed cars. had to do that with an older Toyota truck.
campingva is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2014, 08:44 AM   #15
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 21
We finally resolved the issue on Friday, and my suspicions about the vehicle were correct. It did turn out to be the power adapter that was bad, although I practically had to drag the mechanic under the car to check it out. He saw where a wire had sorted out on my son-in-law's trailer a year earlier and tried to blame the problem on that.

Anyway, turns out that the my neighbor (and campingva) were both right, the newer cars use thinner wire because (duh) most of the lights are LED and don't require thicker gauges. So the shop had correctly installed a power adapter that taps directly into the 12V system, and then tapped into that for the trailer lights. But that adapter only worked intermittently with the tail light feed...when I tested it was fine, but it wouldn't hold.

Anyway, all is working fine, thanks for all the input, and hopefully this will help someone in the future who encounters the same thing.
maddoxdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2014, 05:33 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: VA
Posts: 394
Glad you got it resolved!
__________________
2005 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 5.7 HEMI
2̶0̶1̶4̶ ̶J̶a̶y̶ ̶F̶e̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶X̶1̶9̶H̶
howie is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jayco, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:45 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2002-2016 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.