Tailight and trailer connection questions

[ksroqclimber]

I pulled a trailer last night for the first time.

#1: brake lights work, but when I turn a turn signal on, both trailer lights flash.....like having hazards on. Right and left turn signal do the same thing. Think it might be just some crossed wires somewhere?

#2: on the drive I noticed somethin interesting. The tail light on the 4runner is broken into 3 segments: top clear, middle amber, bottom red. When I use my turn signal, the top clear portion flashes. Shouldnt the amber portion light up for turn signals, not the clear portion? I am thinking the clear should be for backup lights.

#3: lastly we went over some railroad tracks and all the taillights went out. The dashlights went out too. Brake lights still worked and turn signal worked, but regular lights were out even though headlights were on. And again all the dash lights are now off. Idea on cause? Fuses maybe?

My thoughts are a previous owner has really f'd up the wireing. suggrstions on where to start to trace wiremaybe just start at each light and work my way back?

At least whayeve it is, isnt draining my battery with a short somewhere.

 

[XJeepguy]

Are you having the same issues ( # 2 and 3 ) withOUT the trailer lights hooked up ?

 

[ksroqclimber]

yes. #2and #3 occur now without the trailer.

 

[BTO]

From memory, the trailer wiring converter is behind a panel in the left rear next to the tailgate.

 

[ksroqclimber]

But just to confirm? The turn signal should be the amber colored lights right? And backup should be the clear lights/upper most light in the taillight ?

 

[ksroqclimber]

Can somone answer my last question?

In the rear tailight, top clear light is reverse, middle amber light is turn signal, and lowever red light is brake and regular lights.

Is this correct?

Thanks

 

[XJeepguy]

Double checked on mine just now and yes that is correct .

I looked closely when my signal was on thinking perhaps there might be some light bleed over into the backup light but its very defined to the signal portion. No mistaking the two . I would remove the trailer harness first and see if that fixes the issue.

Can somone answer my last question?

In the rear tailight, top clear light is reverse, middle amber light is turn signal, and lowever red light is brake and regular lights.

Is this correct?

Thanks

 

[ksroqclimber]

Thanks, i appreciate the response. I can tell you that this is not a bleed issue. 100% the top light (clear lense) is flashing for turn signals and hazards. Now I also noticed that i have no reverse lights at all either.

Have to take this one step at a time and will start at the trailer harness. Any good resourses that have the correct wiring diagram for a 4pin trailer harness?



Solution for #3 in the original post turned out to be a blown fuse for the tail lights. However, I am not sure why a fuse would blow when driving over railroad tracks....I guess if it was border line and old, the extra jossiling may have broke the filiment. We will see how long this fuse lasts.

 

[XJeepguy]

I think these guys have diagrams online

Trailer hitch, hitches and bike rack (800)298-8924

I hate those flat plugs , they always collect crap in them . I need to get unlazy and just buy a blank end for mine so it dont fill with muck while wheelin.

When I place either turn signals on in my runner with my boat trailer hooked up , the display light in my stereo h/u flashes . I'll be damned if I can pinpoint that issue. I re-did all the wires on the trailer and new harness in the truck but still flashes :cry2:

 

[ksroqclimber]

I think these guys have diagrams online

Trailer hitch, hitches and bike rack (800)298-8924

cool thanks. they have a bunch of info about 4pin, 6pin, and up. lots of good stuff. I added a direct link to my "Tut and Doc Ref" thread (see sig).

Update:

I pulled my tailights off, and before I could hardly see what was back there I saw part of my problem:

Can anyone else see it? I have added a few assiting notes.

Hopefully i will get farther into this and i will find a issue to explain why you would want to cross the wires like this.....but then again. some people are just dumb and shouldnt be given the right to try to fix their vehicles. you end up with stupid shit like this.

anyone know how to pull the lense off the taillight assembly? seems to be adheard with adhesive. I pulle all the tini screws that looked to be holding it in place, but the thing wouldnt still wouldnt budge.

 

[Sig220]

A little late to the party, but thought I would chime in.

The key to fixing your dash lights is a fuse under the hood in the fuse box. Your taillight wiring has been "rigged" for a trailer connection, if that is all you found.

I used a "Hopkins" trailer wiring kit, its plug and play. If you have one of those, there is a wiring/converter box that should be on the passenger side, rear, next to the rear hatch, behind the panel. No need to cut and splice wires with that kit.

A problem with the trailer lights (like a short to ground) will cause problems with your towing vehicle. If you are popping fuses, you should find the cause before you call it all good.

 

[ksroqclimber]

A little late to the party, but thought I would chime in.

The key to fixing your dash lights is a fuse under the hood in the fuse box. Your taillight wiring has been "rigged" for a trailer connection, if that is all you found.

I used a "Hopkins" trailer wiring kit, its plug and play. If you have one of those, there is a wiring/converter box that should be on the passenger side, rear, next to the rear hatch, behind the panel. No need to cut and splice wires with that kit.

A problem with the trailer lights (like a short to ground) will cause problems with your towing vehicle. If you are popping fuses, you should find the cause before you call it all good.

Thanks for the response. I just finished swapping the wires back to where they should be and now the turn signals work. my huntch now is that what was wired up to be reverse lights were likely burnt out as i used a bulb i knew worked in both and both worked. So now i gotta run back to the parts store to get new bulbs.

As for the overall cause, you are correct, I need to figure out what is going on here. I had read as you mention that the box is on the drivers side and under quick investigation, it looks as though the hitch harness goes up into the body somwhere on the pasenger side. I cant imagine that it goes up on that side and then is routed all the way to the drivers side. So i will need to pull both side panels to verify what is going on.

what would the fuse be under the hood for dash labeled? I dont see anything labeled "Dash", "Gauge", "Inst. Pnl" or anything the such.

thanks again.

 

[Sig220]

Thanks for the response. I just finished swapping the wires back to where they should be and now the turn signals work. my huntch now is that what was wired up to be reverse lights were likely burnt out as i used a bulb i knew worked in both and both worked. So now i gotta run back to the parts store to get new bulbs.

As for the overall cause, you are correct, I need to figure out what is going on here. I had read as you mention that the box is on the drivers side and under quick investigation, it looks as though the hitch harness goes up into the body somwhere on the pasenger side. I cant imagine that it goes up on that side and then is routed all the way to the drivers side. So i will need to pull both side panels to verify what is going on.

what would the fuse be under the hood for dash labeled? I dont see anything labeled "Dash", "Gauge", "Inst. Pnl" or anything the such.

thanks again.

Might do a search for post under my nic.......I had a problem with my boat trailer causing me all kinds of problems with the wiring.

I found the tow wiring converter on the passenger side, but had to pull the plastic out a little to access it, other brands may be in a different location. It had the plug and play wire plugs, grounded to the frame where the power outlet does and ran a single wire to the driver's side taillight. This wire was right under the plastic part at the bottom of the hatch opening.

I even checked my owner's book for the fuse location and found it to be no help, I used a test light to check the fuses and found the blown one. Just don't be a hard head like me and replace the fuse and call it good, because that caused the converter to melt first and the wires under the fuse box to short out as well. It took me a little bit to figure out the problem......which was a shorted wire to ground on my boat trailer. Replaced the converter, repaired the wiring and replaced the fuses......come to think of it, I even changed out my tail light bulbs. Found they are not the standard 3157, etc I was used to dealing with!!

A month or so later, got stopped by a deputy working traffic who advised that I had been stopped because my license plate light at first appeared to be out to him.....and only on second look did he decide it was "dim", so I need to change that out as well and give the police something less to look for!!!

Good Luck to you!

 

[Dirt4dinner]

My lights were all jacked up when I got them. I could have brakes or tail lights...but not both. I ended up having U-Haul install some type of little converter box to seperate those two signals. Works like a charm now and was pretty cheap if memory serves. Just another idea.

 

[BTO]

The factory trailer package comes with a converter which is installed behind the left rear panel. Our's was bad so I replaced it with a generic converter I had when I was towing a boat with a mustang. Basically, since the turn signal lights are separate from the brake lights you have to have the converter.

 

[econhonda]

The factory trailer package comes with a converter which is installed behind the left rear panel. Our's was bad so I replaced it with a generic converter I had when I was towing a boat with a mustang. Basically, since the turn signal lights are separate from the brake lights you have to have the converter.

I'm a rookie with electrical work. What kind of convereter, specifically, do I need for this same problem?

 

[Sig220]

I'm a rookie with electrical work. What kind of convereter, specifically, do I need for this same problem?

Do a web search for Hopkins trailer wire connector. Most search results will have a place to enter your vehicle information and from there give you a part number. Or do a search for "1999 toyota 4runner trailer wire kit" that should get you there w/o problem.

 

[zcruiser]

I have a Hopkins 43415 plug'n'play wiring kit I'd be glad to sell you.

PM me or email at zcruiser at mindspring dot com

 

[DanEz007]

97 4Runner Trailer Lights fixed

My trailer lights weren't working at all so I replaced my "Trailer Light Converter" (as read from cnvrtr) 6-pin to 4-pin, which was located behind the right rear panel and everything worked. I bought it from Autozone for $15, additionally it only used 5 of the 6 pins to start out with. g/l

 

[arracado]

Yeah my converter is dead too. I'm gonna pick up the Hopkins 43415 when I have a chance since I've read the 'yota converter has issues.