D22 Tail light fuse blowing
Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 16:12
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franklKTM450
Hi, this problem is doing my head in.
A while back, towing a 6x4 trailer, the tail light fuse (10amp) blew and lost the dash lights, fan/heater/ac and the rear lights on car and trailer. It was near midnite on great ocean rd and didnt fancy driving with no lights so I replaced it with another 10amp fuse and all was good.
I dont remember towing the trailer at night since then.
On Satd, I picked up my Jayco. It was raining and I turned on my parkers. The fuse blew again. I put in another and as soon as I turned the parkers on.. the fuse would blow. This happened 3 times. With the 6x4 it happened once that night whereas the camper is continously blowing the fuse.
This is only happening with the parkers turned on... otherwise all is good.
I had an auto-elec look at the car and says he cant find a problem with the car and it must be a short in the trailer... my immediate thought is it has happened with 2 diff trailers and the only common thing is the car/trailer harness.
Before leaving Jayco on Satd, we did a light test and fuse didnt blow. I left Jayco and it was until later on that I needed to turn my lights on. It did rain on the way home.
The auto elec wants to inspect the caravan. Jayco want to inspect the car. I dont think its the caravan and taking the car to Jayco means taking a day off and driving to Belmont. Can anyone offer any kind of advice? What to check? How to check? Has anyone had this problem before?
My car is a 2009 D22 Navara with approx 30,000 km.
Reply By: Member - Barry P (VIC) - Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 16:40
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 16:40
have a look in the plug on your vehicle could have dirt etc in it wires loose or touching make sure the earth is ok
AnswerID:
436151
Follow Up By: Member - Keith P (NSW) - Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 16:48
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 16:48
Yep..as above ...start by checking out trailer plug on vehicle first. Look for dirt and moisture ....loose screws/connections....and wires touching each other. Only needs one little strand of wire..................
Cheers Keith
FollowupID:
707345
Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 16:49
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 16:49
Thanks Barry. Something like this I would have thought the auto elec would check.
1st thing i do when I get home is plug the caravan in and turn lights on. If the fuse doesnt blow then the only difference has been that it is not raining.
I picked up some spare fuses so I will clean the plug. Do you recommend using wd40 and then waiting for it to dry?? Will reconnect trailer and turn on lights. If the fuse blows I will open the plug and check the wiring.
FollowupID:
707346
Follow Up By: Member - Barry P (VIC) - Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 20:03
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 20:03
i wold remove the plug from vehicle clean check wires blow out with air try and seal rear of plug somehow ;to make it waterproof it only takes a small amount of moisture to cause problems ;also make the earth wire is
well connected
FollowupID:
707375
Reply By: Member - RobnJane(VIC) - Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 19:06
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 19:06
Hi Frank,
The symptoms sound similar to what we experienced earlier in the life of our car, and found the fault was in the high mount stop light in the ute tub canopy. Do you have a canopy with centre stop light?
Problem (from memory) only occurred when we had CT hooked up. So our fix, we disconnected the high mount stop light and have not blown said fuse again.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Rob.
AnswerID:
436171
Reply By: DMH122 - Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 20:06
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 20:06
Try a 15 amp fuse the extra load of the trailer lights may be the prob 10 amp not heavy enough, if it does have an intermittant short it will still blow the fuse & not cause any problems to the vehicle.
Cheers Grant
AnswerID:
436186
Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 23:07
Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010 at 23:07
Hi All, 3 hrs of tinkering to no avail.
I dont have a canopy so thats not my issue.
I took off the plug and cleaned it with contact cleaner.
I tried a 15amp fuse and it blew.. but it took 1 sec longer. I then tried a 20amp and it didnt blow. The lights around the van were on also. I thought I was onto something but then I noticed the brake controller began flashing "no trailer connected". the controller is a P3. It seems to flash the correct setting and then shows the no connection msg.. and it continues in this loop. Now, with the 10amp fuse its fine.. just cant turn my parkers on.
When the fuse blows, I still have brake lights on the van, and blinkers too..
I guess we wont be leaving on our holiday friday nite. :( unless I can find a mobile auto elec to come to my place on short notice. Anyone know of one in the macedon ranges????
FollowupID:
707382
Reply By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 10:27
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 10:27
This is a common issue with Pajeros. The fuse is too light for the extra load of the trailer lights. Up the fuse to a 15 amp and all will be good.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 10:28
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 10:28
Just read your last post so disregard this one. Sorry..
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 10:29
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 10:29
Hi,
I did that.. went up to 20amp and the fuse did not blow.. but the brake controller started displaying the "no trailer connection".
FollowupID:
707413
Follow Up By: Lex M (Brisbane) - Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 15:50
Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 15:50
"the brake controller started displaying the "no trailer connection".
The only thing common to the circuits is the earth return.
I'd be checking that there's a good earth circuit on both the trailer and the vehicle.
This might help.
Trailer connections here:-
http://campertrailers.org/trailer_wiring_diagram.htm
FollowupID:
707578
Reply By: Bluesbus - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:11
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:11
Some years ago I had a similar problem. 10 amp fuse blew. Replaced with a 20 amp. Driving through the night all was good for a while until I started to smell plastic burning. The wiring harness from the fuse box to the plug had melted together and all the wires were shorting out. It turned out to be a faulty earth but according to the sparky I was lucky not to have lost the car and it was very expensive to have the wiring repaired
He suggested that this ever occurred in the future to never put in a bigger fuse as this could lead to a lot of other problems as
well.
AnswerID:
436216
Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:23
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:23
Agree totally.. I wont use a bigger fuse.
I got advice from another auto elec. He is insisting the problem is with the van. He says that if there was a short in the car, regardless if the van was plugged in, the fuse would blow when turning the lights on. He says the problem must be in the van.
FollowupID:
707422
Reply By: franklKTM450 - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 15:19
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 15:19
Not ready to give up yet.
I disconnected the Brown wire from the plug and the fuse didnt blow. I had no parkers on the trailer. It makes me think the short is in the trailer.
What do you think?
AnswerID:
436232
Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 15:21
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 15:21
To clarify.. I disconnected the brown wire from the vehicle 7 pin plug. I am not sure if this means I had no power at all going to the trailer as I didnt check the blinkers, brakes etc.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: DMH122 - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 20:42
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 20:42
yep brown wire is for parker's only
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 22:43
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 22:43
can someone clarify something... if the fuse blows **only** when the caravan is connected, is the short in the caravan or vehicle?
FollowupID:
707522
Reply By: Member - Marc Luther B (WA) - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 15:36
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 15:36
Hi Frank
I have just returned home from
Kununurra to have almost the same problem repaired onmy hilux. The auto sparky traced the wiring back through the entire car, and found a small (7mm) bit of the wire that has become bared and was earthing out on the car body, blowing the fuse.
Thyis may be the same kind of thing, I do not know, but thought I would mention it for you.
Cheers
AnswerID:
436233
Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 16:31
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2010 at 16:31
Hi Marc,
Would the fuse blow even without the trailer connected? For me, its only with the caravan connected.
FollowupID:
707445
Follow Up By: Member - Marc Luther B (WA) - Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 00:27
Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 00:27
Hi Frank
The fuse only ever went when the CarCarrier was connected, and it was a short in the rego plate light, a bare wire earthing on the frame.
Cheers
FollowupID:
707533
Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 09:53
Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 09:53
Thanks Marc.
It gives me something to look at. I wish there was an easier way to diagnose this... other than checking each individual wire back there. I guess I need to work out what is switched on when the parkers turn on. I just hope its not anything behind the dash.
FollowupID:
707553
Follow Up By: Member - Marc Luther B (WA) - Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 15:22
Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 15:22
Hi again Frank
If the fuse is not blowing when the caravan is not connected, then the fault is in the caravan. Most times you will find the fault is where wires are exposed to the elements, so that will hopefully give you a good starting point.
Cheers
FollowupID:
707574
Follow Up By: franklKTM450 - Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 15:59
Thursday, Nov 18, 2010 at 15:59
Thanks again Marc. Would that mean on the jayco, the problem should be easy to find? given that there are 2 parkers on the rear and a couple lights around the van. I realise the wire is probably neatly tucked away but atleast I dont have other devices on the same circuit like I would in the car.
FollowupID:
707580
Reply By: franklKTM450 - Friday, Nov 19, 2010 at 16:05
Friday, Nov 19, 2010 at 16:05
well.. caravan is going to the
bendigo dealer tmw morning to work out if the short is in the van (which I hope it is) as its under warranty. they will plug the trailer into something that simulates the car. i will probably lose my sh*t if the van comes back all good.. after 2 different auto elecs have given the car the OK.
hopefully this time tmw I have an answer.
AnswerID:
436371
Reply By: franklKTM450 - Monday, Nov 22, 2010 at 09:45
Monday, Nov 22, 2010 at 09:45
OK... just to close this thread.
The short was in the jayco. After plugging the van into a test unit we knew the van had a short. He then went under the van to disconnect something.. I asked what he was doing and said he was disconnecting the back half of the vans lights. He did another test and no short.. so we knew it was the back half. The lights are sealed units so he then looked at the wiring to the rear parkers. He said the shielding had worn through on one of the lights so made the repairs.
Happy its fixed. A little peeved a brand new caravan experienced a fault like this.
What amazes me though is how many people responded/posted issues with exactly the same symptoms but for completely different reasons. So, if anyone experiences anything like this, find out where this plug is underneath.. and disconnect half of the van. It will tell you right away whether the problem is in the van and which half. Obviously.. after disconnecting either half and theres no short then it shows the problem is the car.
AnswerID:
436604