road light problem

[Stuart_374347051]

We are off on our first outing of the year this weekend, so we were out checking the road light tonight, but not all is working properly, when the tail lights are off, everything is fine the indicators work, the brake lights work.

... but when the tail light are on so is the brake lights at the same time,..... indicators are still ok.

Can someone help please?

Stuart

 

[Douglas_374404558]

stuart start with checking your 7 pin plugs for water ingress it maybe shorting across the pins give them a very good clean and check that none are covered in green tarnish (both the car and the caravan) clean with wet&dry abrasive paper also check the bulb holders on the caravan they might also need cleaning or could have some water in them also clean the actual bulb itself it should be a double filliment ( the actual bit that makes contact with the bulb holder and the bulb also check that the bulb is in the right way (sounds daft but it could be it should have an ofset pin so should not go into holder but again might be if it was o.k. at end of last year sugest it to be dirt or water with standing so long over winter

good luck

Duggie

 

[Ray R]

Hi Stuart, The most likely cause is a bad earth, check the connections in the light units and also make sure that the connections in the 7 pin plug and socket are clean and not corroded.

 

[Stuart_374347051]

Hi Stuart, The most likely cause is a bad earth, check the connections in the light units and also make sure that the connections in the 7 pin plug and socket are clean and not corroded.

Thank you both,.,... what I can add which may help you a bit more was that I happened to change the caravan plug at the end of last season simply because it didnt look good, there were two of us checking that we didnt make a mistake re-wiring it again.

...and I have also tried another car on the caravan and got the same results, so its not the tug at fault.

I am off work tomorrow, so I will do as you have both suggested.

Stuart

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Also check any Scotchlocks in the wiring

These are blue connectors where the car wiring is connected to the 7 pin socket

They have a very small area of contact and are often the cause of problems particularly if wet

 

[Dustydog]

Just on the issue of Scotchlocks it's best to avoid them wherever possible. Solder the joint or use terminal blocks for a more permanent job.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Hi Dustydog

I agree totally

My preferred method of attaching to the car wiring etc is to strip a 1cm+length of the existing cable and fold it back on itself,twist and crimp on a female bullet connector

The added wiring then has a male bullet and is just plugged in with a good area of contact

I have used this method for several years and on changing the car the wiring to the 12N is just unplugged and reused

On the prestn X Trail the dealer via a mobile fitter had used Scotchlocks next to a multiplug socket

I was able to replace the Scotchlocks with crimp on tags(as used in screw up blocks) that would then plug directly into the individual sockets of the multiplug connector

I see from "comment" that the car is not thought to have been the problem but sometimes Scotchlocks are used in caravans as well

I replaced one for a friend some years ago on a new then ABI Ace Rallyman.It was used to connect the main +ve wire from the van battery to the main van 12v wiring

 

[Ray R]

Thank you both,.,... what I can add which may help you a bit more was that I happened to change the caravan plug at the end of last season simply because it didnt look good, there were two of us checking that we didnt make a mistake re-wiring it again.

...and I have also tried another car on the caravan and got the same results, so its not the tug at fault.

I am off work tomorrow, so I will do as you have both suggested.

Stuart

Hi Stuart, I think you have just found your starting point, if this problem has only arisen since you changed the plug, did you check the lights after you had replaced the plug.

 

[RonD]

Hi Stuart, I think you have just found your starting point, if this problem has only arisen since you changed the plug, did you check the lights after you had replaced the plug.

Stuart has said the fault is the same on another car so it can't be the car's 12N plug.

Regards,

Ron

 

[BigAl1]

Stuart.

I would check your stop and tail bulbs if they are the combined type (No 380). Are they fitted correctly and do not have the contacts touching each other. Check if the fault occurs to the tow car when with the 7N disconnected, fault may be in the car.