electrical question

[mercc350]

Hello All:

I think I have everything dialed in to get my PUP ready from her first canping trip with the exception of the wiring on the hitch. I noticed that the only light that works is the right signal light when I plug it into my truck, pulled the braid off the trailer and tested all the wires which are all ok. Does anyone know of a website that contains wiring diagrams for Dodge trucks like a 1996 Dodge Ram 4X4 with factory installed towing package? I have gone through my owners manual and there is nothing written about the hitch wiring. I am pretty sure it is the TV since all the other trailers I towed were 4 wire and worked. This is a five wire and I am not the best at electrical problems.

Thanks as always,

Steve

[wavery]

Hello All:

I think I have everything dialed in to get my PUP ready from her first canping trip with the exception of the wiring on the hitch. I noticed that the only light that works is the right signal light when I plug it into my truck, pulled the braid off the trailer and tested all the wires which are all ok. Does anyone know of a website that contains wiring diagrams for Dodge trucks like a 1996 Dodge Ram 4X4 with factory installed towing package? I have gone through my owners manual and there is nothing written about the hitch wiring. I am pretty sure it is the TV since all the other trailers I towed were 4 wire and worked. This is a five wire and I am not the best at electrical problems.

Thanks as always,

Steve

See if this helps:

http://www.accessconnect.com/trailer_wiring_diagram.htm

[mercc350]

Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just what I was looking for.

[mercc350]

See if this helps:

http://www.accessconnect.com/trailer_wiring_diagram.htm

I looked at he diagrams. my harness has a red wire in it and no blue. I see that the blue is for electric brakes mine are hydro's  and the yellow wire as been cut down and not connected the ground is in the right position but all others don't match up. I do have the seven wire system on my TV and my PUP. What is the red wire for? Is that for the auxillerary?

[tknick]

If your TV came pre-wired from the factory, chances are the problem isn't with the wiring.  the colors may not match up with the diagram, but the function of the wires in those positions should.  The way to test the TV is with a test light or a multi-meter.  Using the diagram as a guide, check each terminal and make sure it is giving voltage when it should.  Remember turn signals blink so the voltage with go up and down or your test light will blink as well.

One way to test the actual trailer wiring is to use the battery on your PUP
(or the #6 terminal on your TV if the PUP doesn't have a battery).  Disconnect the battery from your PUP first!  Then with a short test lead, start applying voltage to each of the terminals on your PUP's plug and watch the corresponding light(s) to see if they light up.  You will need to connect the negative post of the battery to the negative or ground terminal on your trailer plug for this to work.

Checking both vehicles separately will tell help you narrow the problem down.  If you find both are working separately, but not together, you probably have a bad connection in one of your plugs.  Usually the ground connection is the culprit.

On my Expedition (and I would assume with most modern Fords) the #7 center auxillary terminal is for reverse lights.  I also had to add a relay in the fuse box under the hood to allow the 12v #6 terminal to be hot.  The relay means the 12v is only hot when the engine is running so my PUP won't drain my TV's starting battery when stopped.

THIS is the easiest way to allow your trailer to connect to your TV.  You can make one yourself using parts from walmart, boater's world, etc. following a basic wiring diagram.

Hope this helps & let us know what you find out!
travis

[mercc350]

If your TV came pre-wired from the factory, chances are the problem isn't with the wiring.  the colors may not match up with the diagram, but the function of the wires in those positions should.  The way to test the TV is with a test light or a multi-meter.  Using the diagram as a guide, check each terminal and make sure it is giving voltage when it should.  Remember turn signals blink so the voltage with go up and down or your test light will blink as well.

One way to test the actual trailer wiring is to use the battery on your PUP
(or the #6 terminal on your TV if the PUP doesn't have a battery).  Disconnect the battery from your PUP first!  Then with a short test lead, start applying voltage to each of the terminals on your PUP's plug and watch the corresponding light(s) to see if they light up.  You will need to connect the negative post of the battery to the negative or ground terminal on your trailer plug for this to work.

Checking both vehicles separately will tell help you narrow the problem down.  If you find both are working separately, but not together, you probably have a bad connection in one of your plugs.  Usually the ground connection is the culprit.

On my Expedition (and I would assume with most modern Fords) the #7 center auxillary terminal is for reverse lights.  I also had to add a relay in the fuse box under the hood to allow the 12v #6 terminal to be hot.  The relay means the 12v is only hot when the engine is running so my PUP won't drain my TV's starting battery when stopped.

THIS is the easiest way to allow your trailer to connect to your TV.  You can make one yourself using parts from walmart, boater's world, etc. following a basic wiring diagram.

Hope this helps & let us know what you find out!
travis

Thank you for your post. I cleaned out the connections on my TV and everything works. I guess I should check the simple things first.

[kanega]

Triple check all connectors are clean.

A faulty ground can cause your issue.  With grease applied to the hitch ball, this ground may not work until it works in.  Make sure a ground wire is good.  To test grounding, just use a battery jumper cable on unpainted parts of the hitch/frame to the car.

I remember a time there was no ground wire installed, the hitch ball was the ground, but it was an issue.

My 69 Apache Eagle had grounding issues in the frame.  The solution was to wire a ground to each panel containing a light.