boat trailer lights

[bassman72]

Last year I put on a new set of trailer lights on my boat trailer. All of the lights were working fine. I noticed that after a few weeks the running light were not working. All other lights work fine. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to fix the running lights on the trailer?
Thank you!

[The Bait Shop Guy]

My dad used to have a t-shirt that read "Boating rule #2 - trailer lights hardly ever work." Just part of the joy of owning a boat.

I usually have one or two connections go bad every spring. Just check to see that they are all making good contact. It normally takes me one or two trips to wear down the rust on the hitch to make good contact again. Spraying it and the plug connection with WD40 helps, too, (I don't know if that's the best choice, but it works.)

Aside from that, as long as you have working brake and turn signals, I'd call it good

[bassman72]

Thanks Chris. I'll try the WD40. It sure would be nice having lights when I go early in the morning or late at night.

[raywriter]

I'll repeat a tip I passed along last year, but first, the most common cause of light failure is the ground connection on your trailer near the plug in. It should be a small screw through a Sta-Kon eye connector which is crimped on a white wire and screwed into the trailer frame. Back this screw out and clean the spot it contacts the frame with light grit sandpaper. It can also help to add a star type lock washer between the connector and frame. Re-install the screw and tighten down solidly.

Another source of problems is in the plug-in connectors. To clean them thoroughly, get a .22 caliber, nylon bristle gun bore cleaner of the type you screw into the end of your gun cleaning rod. Chuck this cleaner into a cordless drill. To clean and protect the plugs, buy a two-part cleaner/protector set. These are small aerosol spray cans. I got some at Menards. Spray some cleaner on the bristles and power it into the female plug using the drill. Run it between the prongs of the male side. When the plugs are both clean and dry, spray on some protector on both male and female plugs. You can clean and restore green, corroded plugs with this tactic. You will probably have to do this twice a season and it only takes a few minutes once you have the proper supplies. Good luck!

[Hoosier]

a couple of years ago my brother had the same prob. went and bought all new wire and rewired the whole trailer . same thing ? was not sure? started looking closer and found each light had there own ground right by the light fixture , cleaned all the contacts tried it again . they worked! we waisted a half a day on somthing that could of been completed in 30 min. Good Luck!!!

[MARK707]

I fought those problems for years. Then I got tired of the fight and rewired the trailer with a complete harness. Then I soldered all connections and treated them with dielectric grease, then shrinkwrapped each connection. That's a permanent fix. No moisture or corrosion can get to the connections...except that white wire for ground. Keep it clean with wire brush.

[bbstacker]

I had similar problems a couple of years ago with the stop/tailights on my boat trailer. It seemed everytime I hooked up one or the other did not work. I know poor ground connections and a little corrosion on a bulb will give you fits. I finally spent the extra money and replaced them with LED stop/tailights. Works all the time now and when you put your foot on the brake they are bright. Good Luck

[anglr]

First check for voltage at the plug on your vehicle. If you have it proceed to all splices to check for bad or broken connections. Soldering all splices is always best for trailers & boats.

[jhinky]

I have just went through the same problem. I am not sure what type of vehicle you have but mine was a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I actually put the hitch on and installed the wiring harness from Curt. The problem actually was the wiring harness from Curt that was installed on the jeep. There is a converter box in the harness that changes all the wires coming from the vehicle to come out as a 4-flat plug to plug into the trailer lights. These converter boxes actually start to go bad and you can jump everything out and wire direct accept for the brake lights, this has to go through the converter box so the only solution is to get a new wire harness for the vehicle. Like I mentioned I am not sure if you installed the harness on your vehicle or if it was factory but that would be something to check for.

[YooperTroll]

I have a Ford Freestar that was actually wired incorrectly at the factory. Damndest thing ever: the left blinker would turn on the trailer brake lights...it was all messed up. I had to wire a custom plug to go between the truck and the trailer--and use that only when I used the van to pull the trailer.

Oh, and I completely rewired the trailer before I figured that out.

Other tip that just could save you a lot of time, money, and energy: check your fuses first!!!!!!!

I will also second the tip about cleaning your male and female plugs--especially first thing coming out of winter. Doing that this spring BEFORE gutting the wiring on my trailer saved me a ton of time.

[bassman72]

Thank you everyone for all the tips.
I reran a new ground wire with no success.
Looked in my book for my truck so I could check fuses. But found no reference. So I poked around until I found the right one. One of the fuses had blown. EASY FIT!!!

[YooperTroll]

Thank you everyone for all the tips.
I reran a new ground wire with no success.
Looked in my book for my truck so I could check fuses. But found no reference. So I poked around until I found the right one. One of the fuses had blown. EASY FIT!!!

You haven't really arrived as an experienced trailer-light repair person until the day when you've spent hours and hours in vain trying to fix something...only to find out it was a fuse. Welcome to the sacred club

I finally broke down last week and bought the high-end LED lights for my trailer. I wish I would have done it a lot sooner. Love them! I put a cheap (new) pair of lights on the trailer back in April...by June they were already trashed.

Then I figured "with all the money I spend on this sport...why do I keep skimping on the trailer lights?"

I had no good answer--so I bought the good stuff. Finally!

[bassman72]

Don't think for a second that I wasn't on the edge of ripping the plug off the back of my truck and "looking" for the broken BROWN wire. Boy....That would have been fun...And just think...put it all back together again to find out it still didn't work.
I'm super happy my friend came over with his truck and we hooked up and found all the lights worked fine. It sure made the decision of looking at all the fuses much easier.

The wiring on my old truck use to break by my plug every year it seemed. So I did get rather good at changing out the plugs.