trailer lights

[kirksvillecamper]

ok here my problem i have a 1992 s10 truck i used to tow my 1996 flagstaff popup, we just got the pu 2 days ago and we tow it home with a dodge dakota the pu has a 4 wire flat harness and the dodge has a 6 wire round, i got the adapter for the dodge and the lights work fine. now the problem is when i hook up the s10 truck to the pu the lights work fine untill i used the turn signals, then all of the lights on the popup begin to flash with the turn signals the s10 has a 4wire flat plug. so its a straight plug to the popup, anyone have any ideas whats wrong

[mike4947]

My first guess would be the mnost obvious problem with TV/Trailer connections. The plug on the S10 is corroded and needs cleaning. They sit there 24/7 in all kinds of weather and we forget they need a  little TLC once in a while.

If it's not that, then I'd check the connections to the wiring harness. In most cases it just a T that plug into the harness. Usually if the problem is there you have a problem with the vehicles lights as well.
If it's a homegrown setup, I'd say you need what's called a converter to change 3 wire TV light wiring to 2 wire trailer light wiring, but since there's a T connector available for the S10 just about anywhere I'd take out any hand made wiring and buy the T connector. They have any converters need as part of the system.

[kirksvillecamper]

i just bought the t conecctor at wal mart and install it then i hook up the pu to the tv and notcied the problem

[ForestCreature]

Ours does that when the connection is poor, I second what Mike said, try cleaning the plug.  I'm not big on electrical, could a bad ground also cause this to happen ?

[kirksvillecamper]

do you mean a bad ground on the tv, because the lights work right when we had it hook up to the dodge

[ForestCreature]

Yes on the TV, maybe the plug on the S10 has a bad ground. I'd also consider the possibility of the T plug being faulty.
 Good luck, electrical can be frustrating sometime!

[kirksvillecamper]

i just hope its something simple

[mike4947]

Since you've just bought it, I doubt there's a corrosion problem. I would look at the years the S-10 T connector is made for. The early one 85-97 isn't the same as the later one 98-04. They both fit the same but have different internals for the different truck light wiring setups.
 
If it's the right year, I'm betting cleaning of the two connector ends on the S-10's that plug into the T will fix the problem.
Radio Shack has a fairly new product especially made for cleaning electrical contacts. Of course I can't remember the name but it works even better than standard contact cleaner. Friend bought a can and it took the corrosion right off, where we usually had to use pipe cleaners and things and do a little scrubbing with the standard cleaner.
If that fails I'd return it.

[copcarguy]

Hey all!

My boat trailer used to do this...  It's flat-4 didn't have a dedicated ground (white) wire.  It would ground the trailer through the trailer ball.  I used to just pick up on the trailer tongue and kinda force it around to get a good ground connection through the ball.  Then I kinda figured that wasn't the best method, so I bought a new trailer end flat-4 and drilled a little hole in the tongue and with a self tapping screw made a dedicated ground connection for the trailer.  Now I have had no "bleed though", the taillights do what they're supposed to, and everything is much brighter.
 
Electrical stuff really isn't a big deal, if you're stressed out over it and don't want to deal with it, the easiest thing would be to just take the truck to a U-haul dealer and for a few bucks, they'll do it for you.  The flat-4 set-up is the easiest one out there, espically on a '92 S-10 which combines the brake light and turn signal in one bulb.
 
If you were closer, I would wire it right up for you!!  I hope I helped a little bit.  

[flyfisherman]

i just hope its something simple

Just in case you don't have this reference - who knows, it might help(?)


//www.rverscorner.com/wiring


Fly

[kirksvillecamper]

thanks for all your help. i will tackle the wiring today sometime to see what is wrong

[Kelly]

My boat trailer used to do this...  It's flat-4 didn't have a dedicated ground (white) wire.  It would ground the trailer through the trailer ball.  I used to just pick up on the trailer tongue and kinda force it around to get a good ground connection through the ball.  

I had this same issue with my van and the old Palomino.  It wasn't grounding right throught the ball, so when I hitched up and checked the lights they were a mess!  I found if I pulled forward a foot or two after hitching up that I could get a good ground.  The lights would work right after that.  Just had to remember to do it every time I hitched up  

Good luck finding (and fixing) the problem!  Let us know what happens ...

[ScoobyDoo]

Looks like bad ground between trailer and truck. Make sure the ground wire (white) is connected to a clean (no paint, no rust) spot on the frame of both truck and trailer.Should be a piece of chicken.(us fat boys can't have cake)

[copcarguy]

So what happened???  Did'ja get it fixed?

[kirksvillecamper]

yes i did get it fix. just a bad ground i quess. also the first time i checked it i didnt have the tv hitched on. so im thinking that it gets a ground from the tv.