Caravan Lights wiring problem

[Lee_374575291]

Hi all

We have an older Elddis van and share it with my father. All last year and twice this year we have both towed it without a problem with both our own cars. Last week though on my way home the 15amp fuse blew somewhere on the way home. I didn't realise at first but became aware the indicator bleeper wasn't working somewhere along the route. Cut a long story short we decided to continue home as we were quite close by then. I found the fuse had blown on the car the next day. Also fridge hadn't worked on return journey. After speaking to the guy who installed towbar he suggested looking for a short on the 12n lighting circuit as it was the fuse from the bypass relay that had blown.

We decided to get new trailer plugs on the van as due to the age they were showing signs of degregation. Yesterday we rewired the black one and we decided to check the connections with the continuity checker of my meter and all 7 pins seem to be connected to each other? We went round all the lights and saw no obvious signs of shorts etc . Before I go mad could anyone confirm that this shouldn't happen and also what might cause all the pins to show continuity with each other.

Any help appreciated

Lee

 

[PetePajero]

Ho Hum Lee,

You might have two problems here, BUT ......

The first thing to do is to check the car circuits. Have you got a friend with a van you can connect up to and check the car is working okay. If you can do that, it will show either the car circuits are, or are not working, and go from there.

 

[Lee_374575291]

Hi pete

we have my dads car here ready to plug up to the van but don't want to do this until we know whether all the 7 pins on the 12n plug coming off the van should all be effectively shorted together. Should they?

 

[seth1]

Hi Lee,think about it,the reason they all seem to be connected is, the circuit is returning through the earths and through the filaments of the bulbs.Take all the bulbs out and then test for short circuits pal.

 

[PetePajero]

Hi Lee,

I dont understand your question.

Are you saying elecrically shorted ??? If so, thats a no no. Please explian.

 

[PetePajero]

Lee,

All I can say, if both your vans were built after Aug 1998, then there should be no problem in connecting your car 12N into your Dads van and testing lights and systems.

No further actions are necessary.

 

[PetePajero]

Lee,

You also mentioned that your fridge blew the 15 amp fuse. This is fed off the 12S plug on terminal 6 with the return on terminal 7.

Being the way things are, you have sizeable troubles.

I would advise you now to go to a towbar fitting workshop and get them to put their test rig in the 12N plug to test all the lighting circuits.

We can therorise till the cows come home - but you have to test the car out first.

And if you reckon that all 7 pins are shorting electrically, dont plug into ANYTHING till you get it checked out. This could be a fire hazard and could cost you a huge amount of cash.

Good luck

 

[Lee_374575291]

Thanks for all the replies. Following advice from Seth we took all the bulbs out and indeed all continuity between the pins stopped - phew. So we put them all back in and plugged my dads car in. All working except brake lights but we had been repairing the fitting on the caravan and may have shorted it to earth - we aren't normally this daft by the way!

Net result now my dad has no brake lights on his car and we get no power through the car socket pin 6 and also no brake lights full stop even with caravan uplugged? Car a 2002 c5 estate. I thought that it would have a bypass relay fitted to stop this? Checked fuses at front of car and both ok?

Any clues?

 

[PetePajero]

lee,

Pin 6 is definitely brake lights. Its got to be a fuse, unless all the brake bulbs have blown, which is an impossiblty - or is it.

Check the fuses again

 

[Lee_374575291]

After getting hold of the towbar installer he thinks the brake light problem sounds like the brake light switch on the car and is unconnected with our recent problems!

If correct then what are the chances!

 

[Lee_374575291]

Once again many thanks for the advice today. We might still have a problem with the 12s connections and the fridge bit that is one for another day!

 

[seth1]

Or a short on the brake light circuit of the car somewhere,my father also runs a C5 diesel.This to has no smart relay fitted either.Bad idea.The body computer can sence a short when it does the initial resistance/bulb check when you first key on.If this is the case it shuts the power down on this circuit as a means of self protection.Try this - key off,hold brake pedal down,get someone to watch rear lamps,then key on still with pedal held down.The lamps may illuminate faintly for less than a second.

 

[Lee_374575291]

I will be going round to check the c5 after work today. Seth do you know if the brake switch is under the passenger side glove box on them as it is on some other Citroens?

Will first check your other suggestion to see if they light up as you turn the key, if this is the case what then?

Regards Lee

 

[Lee_374575291]

Well I checked the brake switch and it appears to work ok. However there is no voltage feed on the connecting cable?

So basically there is no brake lights and yet the fuses are all ok and there is no voltage going to the brake switch.

Any ideas or is it a garage job?

Lee

 

[seth1]

Hi Lee,its on the pedal i think,maybe two fitted,one for brake lights ,and one for cruise depending on age.Maybe its switching a negative,just check,multimetre set on continuity.One lead to earth and the other to the wiring.

 

[Lee_374575291]

Hi Seth thanks for reply but it must have crossed with mine as I have now found and checked the switch and found no power going to switch?

Also with the key experiment we couldn't see anything on the lights either.

Lee

 

[seth1]

Ok Lee,next thing is a wiring diagram,that in itself could be a problem.As i said earlier it could be switching a neg.What age is this car?

 

[Lee_374575291]

It's a 2002 C5 estate hdi 90

 

[seth1]

Lee google this -citroen bsi body control failure.Its by BBA reman.There is a reset prodedure on there,complicated though.Good luck.

 

[Lee_374575291]

Cheers Seth

will pass info onto my dad and let you know how we get on.

Looking at website the reset sounds a strange procedure.

 

[Lee_374575291]

Update on my fathers car.

He took it into our local independant garage and after some time examining everything discovered a connector on one of the fuseboxes had appeared to have burnt out. He said he had not come across one like this before. Not sure why this would happen and he didn't think it was anything to do with towbar fault.

He made good the damage and carried out a thorough check of the system and all now appears to work.

Lee