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IB853347201's avatar
IB853347201
Nomad II
Apr 12, 2026
Solved

Towing lights issue

Have a 2010 Suncruiser 37j on a Workhorse W22 gas chassis. Power to the 7 pin trailer towing plug receptacle has quit. Anyone know where the fuses are to this? Have checked the main fuse block panel under the hood and the fuse panel under the dash. No luck...

  • Well I followed all the suggestions and thoughts shared by everyone on this post and Voila! Issue resolved. Turns out that the issue was caused by severely corroded terminals in the 7 pin receptacle. I used a multimeter and found that the pins were live although tricky to connect to. After using some contact cleaner and a fuse cleaning file, everything works like new. 

    Again, thank you all for your help with my issue. 

12 Replies

  • Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. Very helpful. There is no power to the turn signals, brake lights and running lights. I had assumed that the 7 pin was factory installed by Workhorse but the owners manual does not provide any details about towing wiring / fuses. It does however provide thourough information on all fuse blocks and panels. Now i'm beginning to think that the 7 pin was installed by Winnebago. I do have the Winnebago 12 Volt system manuals so I'll take a look. I'll also do further testing with my multimeter. 

    I'll let you know what i find....

    • IB853347201's avatar
      IB853347201
      Nomad II

      Well I followed all the suggestions and thoughts shared by everyone on this post and Voila! Issue resolved. Turns out that the issue was caused by severely corroded terminals in the 7 pin receptacle. I used a multimeter and found that the pins were live although tricky to connect to. After using some contact cleaner and a fuse cleaning file, everything works like new. 

      Again, thank you all for your help with my issue. 

    • StirCrazy's avatar
      StirCrazy
      Moderator

      that changes things a bit. I assumed you were just talking about the 12V power to the 7 way.  if the whole thing isn't working it becomes a follow the wires and find out which plug isn't proper, or if the ground is good, or contacts in the plugs are oxidized.

      I just battled that one in my truck.  not sure which plug it was as there are 4 in my line but after I cleand up all the plugs and re did the ground wires it was all good again.  so pull the ground wires to the frame, clean up the surface, use a contact cleaer on the plug termanals and hope for the best.  

  • One other item that I should note. The 7 pin connector doesn’t have separate fuses for the towing lights. For instance, if the right turn signal on the vehicle works, the right turn signal post in the 7 pin connector should also work - they are protected by the same fuse. Same with all the other “towing” lights. This may not necessarily be true for all vehicles, but to the best of my knowledge this is generally true; exceptions could exist especially if this is an after market 7 pin setup.

    • Grit_dog's avatar
      Grit_dog
      Trailblazer

      Is there power to the 12v hot pin and the trailer brakes?

      I would suggest starting at the plug and working your way forward until you find the culprit. Most likely wires are under the chassis and not run up into the house. 

    • Grit_dog's avatar
      Grit_dog
      Trailblazer

      Good point. I’m sure a 15 year old RV mostly likely has the trailer lights just piggybacked to the chassis lights. Probably at the back somewhere just spliced into the tail lights on the chassis. 

  • do you have the owners manual, it should show a diagram and everything the fuse powers.  

    it generaly it is 30 or 40 amp in the main distrubuion fuse block under the hood.  it should be in the chassis manual.  

    untill you figure that out, you could be waisting your time jumping to other issues.  the basice rule for trouble shooting is eliminate the easy stupid things first.  that is generaly fast and simple, but when you run into road blocks like you just did, they are a good thing to figure out so if you have an issue next time you know where to start looking right away.  

  • I gotta agree with both of you to an extent. I don’t have the fuse box memorized on a whatever rv that is and neither do the rest of us. 
    But I agree, more info needed. Typical reply to most “help me” posts. 
    Also not all lights on the same circuit so unless multiple fuses simultaneously then I wouldn’t start there if the whole plug is dead. 
    Most likely if worked yesterday, all dead today scenario (again, very sparse info provided) I’d be looking at the grounding. 
    Is 7pin grounded to chassi or pass thru to trailer. Is trailer ground connection(s) good?  Is the ball grounding good to the tongue (or too full of rust or grease to make a reliable connection)?

    OP needs a test light and or a multimeter and a basic understanding to 1.  Provide more info. And 2. Actually use the tools and suggestions to diagnose. 

  • The 7 pin connector has, you guessed it, 7 pins. What pins are functioning the way they should be and what pins aren’t. You need to know the function each pin provides and whether or not each is functioning correctly in order for us to help you diagnose the problem, and tell you where to look for the proper fuse to check (if that is indeed indicated as a likely problem. No Power to me indicates nothing is working, that wouldn’t likely be a fuse issue.

    • way2roll's avatar
      way2roll
      Trailblazer

      Why couldn't it be a fuse problem? Fuse protects the circuit from a myriad of things. Fuse pops, nothing works. The root of the issue may be another problem, but it absolutely could be a blown fuse preventing power. 

      • Grit_dog's avatar
        Grit_dog
        Trailblazer

        It’s possible but not probable imo. Although it’s much more likely that a 16 year old semi weatherproof electrical connector/harness/splices may not be in the best shape any longer. 
        I’d figger out first how the wires to the plug are powered. (Separate, T taps, decent splices etc). 
        My money’s on ground though if all quit at once.