On Thu, 3 Nov 2005, jon@dakota-truck.net wrote:
>
> "Miles D. Oliver" <moliver@mmoliver.org> wrote:
> : I have a 16 foot Kaufman auto trailer with electric brakes. It came with
> : a 6 pin wiring connector and I purchased a 7 pin connector and wired it
> : according to the diagram on the cap of the factory 7 pin connector under
> : the bumper of the Dakota.
>
>
>
> Just to clarify, what you did is to cut off the 6 pin connector from
> the trailer and then replace it with a 7 pin?
>
The 6 pin connector was the 'screw clamp' lead types and when I opened
it up there was not a '6th' connection. There are a total of 5 wires
running to the trailer.
>
>
> : I feel that the trailer end 7 pin female connector is wired properly
> : because I can plug it into my brother-in-laws Chevy Pickup with a 7-pin
> : connector and all lights, including the running lights function properly.
>
> : This is an odd problem that I can't seem to find a solution to, The
> : running lights operate EXACTLY OPPOSITE of what they are supposed to do.
>
> : Can anybody give me a clue as to where to go with this?
>
>
>
> I would tend to agree with your assumption that the trailer and your
> female 7 pin connector are OK since they work as intended on the Chevy.
> What I would do is to focus on the Dakota, since it sounds like that is
> where the problem lies. My next step would be to put a multimeter on
> the 7 pin male plug on the truck, specifically between the ground pin
> and the running/tail light pin. Check it with the lights off, and then
> check it with the lights on. If there is a voltage on that pin when the
> lights are off, and vise versa, no voltage when the lights are on, that
> would definitely confirm that the truck is at fault.
>
From the information given to me by others I would first start out by
confirming that there is a good ground. As there is no specific ground
wire in the trailer harness I will try and ensure that there is good
ground from the hitch ball and also run a test wire from the trailer to
the frame of the truck.
> Assuming that this is indeed the case, if you have any warranty left
> and don't feel like playing with it, you could have the dealer check it
> out, or otherwise you'll need to figure out where that wire goes and
> trace it all the way back to the headlight switch, if necessary. I
> don't know exactly where this wire draws its power from, but if it is
> from the PDC under the hood, it could be as simple as Dodge connecting
> the terminal to the NC contact instead of the NO contact of a relay socket.
>
No warranty, and just moved to a new area, wouldn't know where to go to
find a place to trust.
> If you would like a quick and dirty way to get it working, you can use
> a 5 pin automotive relay (SPDT); run a source of 12v for the trailer lights
> to pin 30, cut the running light wire running from the truck to the trailer
> plug, and hook the plug side to pin 87a, the truck side of the running light
> wire to pin 85, and run pin 86 to ground. (Pin 87 doesn't get connected to
> anything.) This will direct voltage from your 12v source to the trailer
> lights when there is no voltage on the trigger wire (the original running
> light wire), and will cause no voltage to go to the running lights when
> there is a voltage on this trigger wire. This is definitely the automotive
> equivalent of treating the symptoms instead of the disease, and you would
> be better off to find the root of the problem, but I thought I would just
> throw this "solution" out there in case you didn't have time to trace the
> wiring at the moment and need to get it working *right now*. :-)
>
I'll try some of the suggestions I have received and then will probably
bail and pay somebody to help me find the fix.
> Good luck with it! Let us know how it works out, and of course if you
> have any other questions/problems I'd be glad to help if I can!
>
>
>
-- Miles D. Oliver www.mmoliver.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Dec 01 2005 - 10:10:44 EST