RE: RE: trailer wiring/reverse lights

From: Neil W. Bellenger (neil624b@rochester.rr.com)
Date: Mon Jun 05 2006 - 16:31:17 EDT


Looks like it taps brake and tail light voltage at each light connector.

The reverse lamps should be a "pass-through".

Remove the mounting screws and pull out one of the tail light housings
from the truck so that you can see where the wires go.

Note which wire goes to the reverse lamp.

Unplug the lamp-side truck harness from the kit connector.

Find that wire or location on the plug on the lamp side of the kit
connector.

Turn ignition "on".

Place shifter in reverse.

You should have 12 volts to ground at that point on the kit connector.

If you don't, unplug the kit connector from the body-side of the truck
harness and check the same location on the truck harness.

If you have voltage there, the kit connector isn't passing through the
reverse lamp voltage to the lamp harness. Splicing around the kit
connector to power the reverse lamps is a solution but if you are going
to splice, it's just as inconvenient to splice into the tail, left
brake, and right brake wires.

If you don't have voltage there, it's likely a fuse is blown, assuming
they were OK before the kit installation.

There should be a body ground point back there somewhere. That would be
the best place to connect the kit ground. A floating ground on the
trailer will drive you crazy! Nothing will work right, as others have
posted.

Good luck!

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of Craig
Faison
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 2:59 PM
To: dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net
Subject: Re: DML: RE: trailer wiring/reverse lights

On Mon, 5 Jun 2006, Neil W. Bellenger wrote:

> Is this a 4-pin (3 plus ground) flat trailer connector or 7 pin
round??

4-pin flat.

> Does the kit require unplugging an existing truck harness connector at
> or near the rear of the truck and then inserting the new connector as
a
> "tee" in the harness? I.e., half of original harness into kit
connector,
> then other side of kit connector into other half of original harness?

Exactly.

> If this is the case, the kit isn't wired correctly for your truck and
> the back-up light voltage is not being passed through the kit
connector
> to the back-up lights.

Sounds logical.

> If the back-up light fuse is blown and continues to blow when replaced
> and the new trailer receptacle has no back-up light function, then the
> kit harness is wired incorrectly and shorting your back-up light
> circuit.

Haven't checked the fuse yet (truck is at home, I'm at work)... I'm
curious to see what I find.

> The pinout on the kit may OK for everything but Dakotas. An electrical
> system that doesn't match any other vehicle?? That would be the very
> first time this has happened since Chrysler designed the truck. OOPS
> SORRY, that slipped out. Mustn't rant.

;-)

> Get a voltmeter or multimeter at Radio Shack of somewhere similar.
Start
> checking voltage at the various points along the existing harness and
> the kit.

I have a couple of multimeters... just don't feel like doing the
checking.
;-) I was hoping for a "just cut the blue wire" kind of answer.
Actually,
I was hoping my brother would sort the issue out with his truck and pass
the solution on to me, but I suspect he's using the same plan of attack.

> The kit maybe designed correctly but assembled wrong or poorly since
the
> likelihood of it being a low bid, pacific rim piece of "equipment" is,
> to say the least, very HIGH.

Incorrect assembly is possible, but I'm gonna guess that since it's
happening to so many people that it's more likely a design issue -
possibly related to your almost rant above.

thanks,
Craig

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