Lights on Toad

FIRE UP wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:

FIRE UP wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
We have a PT Cruiser, professionally wired with Blue Ox equipment.

The towing lights are hot and working through the connection cable. I get nothing to the PT lights.

Please tell me what to test and look for? Is there a fuse I am not seeing? I replaced a 20 amp in the fuse box for what I think was the tow lights?

Thanks

bigred1cave,
Ok, let's see here. First you say it was professionally wired. Well, something is not too professional here. Second, you say the "Towing lights are hot". What exactly dose that mean? Does it mean the lights on the motor home are working correctly? And you say the they are working through the cable. Does that mean you've checked the pins on the male end of the pig tail, not plugged into the toad? If so, do you get all the signals, running, LF turn, R/turn, brake, etc?

If so, then, how exactly did your professional wire it? Did he use auxiliary bulbs and sockets inside the tail light housing of the PT or, did he tie into the factory wiring which, means you'd be utilizing the stock lights for toad lights? If he setup auxiliary sockets and bulbs, there's no need for diodes. If he didn't do it that way and, tied into the factory wiring, then yes, diodes are needed to prevent back feed to the front of the toad.

If any diodes were used, is it possible that they were placed in the wrong lines or, in the wrong polarity? And, are you sure the wires are connected on the back side of the plug, on the front of the toad? You might be plugging into an empty plug. He may have just forgotten to insert the wires into the back of that plug. Just some places to start your investigation here. Good luck and please post back with what you find out so that others may learn. Thanks.
Scott

Chief: I was a cop not a FF? All I know about electric is stick your finger in a socket pull it out fast.

The cable from the MH works the lights test when touched by a tester. The PT lights work plugged into the MH or not. This is an older PT 2003 and was bought used by me. It all worked fine then. After my Brake Buddy had a brain fart the lights stopped working. I think it is a fuse or something like the diode whatever that is you all have spoken of.

Where would you test the plug on the PT that receives electronic orders from MH? Then how would you do that?

Thanks

Well Big Red,
Not sure what being a cop or a fireman has to do with anything, all I was trying to do was lend a hand in analyzing your situation here. And, in short, if all the lights on the motor home work correctly, and, all the lights(signals) in the trailer plug (on the back of the coach) work correctly and, those correct signals are transmitted through the pig tail to the end that plugs into the toad and are correct at that point, it's logical that, something's amiss in the toad wiring.

So, with all that being said, my original question still stands, "What did your installer do for toad lights"? If he utilized the stock tail light bulbs as toad lights, then there's a certain set of problems that can crop up. But, if he installed separate sockets and bulbs, then the problems may be easier to analyze. The reason is, because the wiring and lights would have nothing to do with the factory wiring and bulbs and, it would be a straight shot from the pig tail plugs, to the independently installed sockets and bulbs.

Just someplace to start.
Scott

P.S. BY the way, I was no Chief, I enjoyed my job.

They used factory lights. Thanks

bigred1cav wrote:

FIRE UP wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
We have a PT Cruiser, professionally wired with Blue Ox equipment.

The towing lights are hot and working through the connection cable. I get nothing to the PT lights.

Please tell me what to test and look for? Is there a fuse I am not seeing? I replaced a 20 amp in the fuse box for what I think was the tow lights?

Thanks

bigred1cave,
Ok, let's see here. First you say it was professionally wired. Well, something is not too professional here. Second, you say the "Towing lights are hot". What exactly dose that mean? Does it mean the lights on the motor home are working correctly? And you say the they are working through the cable. Does that mean you've checked the pins on the male end of the pig tail, not plugged into the toad? If so, do you get all the signals, running, LF turn, R/turn, brake, etc?

If so, then, how exactly did your professional wire it? Did he use auxiliary bulbs and sockets inside the tail light housing of the PT or, did he tie into the factory wiring which, means you'd be utilizing the stock lights for toad lights? If he setup auxiliary sockets and bulbs, there's no need for diodes. If he didn't do it that way and, tied into the factory wiring, then yes, diodes are needed to prevent back feed to the front of the toad.

If any diodes were used, is it possible that they were placed in the wrong lines or, in the wrong polarity? And, are you sure the wires are connected on the back side of the plug, on the front of the toad? You might be plugging into an empty plug. He may have just forgotten to insert the wires into the back of that plug. Just some places to start your investigation here. Good luck and please post back with what you find out so that others may learn. Thanks.
Scott

Chief: I was a cop not a FF? All I know about electric is stick your finger in a socket pull it out fast.

The cable from the MH works the lights test when touched by a tester. The PT lights work plugged into the MH or not. This is an older PT 2003 and was bought used by me. It all worked fine then. After my Brake Buddy had a brain fart the lights stopped working. I think it is a fuse or something like the diode whatever that is you all have spoken of.

Where would you test the plug on the PT that receives electronic orders from MH? Then how would you do that?

Thanks

Well Big Red,
Not sure what being a cop or a fireman has to do with anything, all I was trying to do was lend a hand in analyzing your situation here. And, in short, if all the lights on the motor home work correctly, and, all the lights(signals) in the trailer plug (on the back of the coach) work correctly and, those correct signals are transmitted through the pig tail to the end that plugs into the toad and are correct at that point, it's logical that, something's amiss in the toad wiring.

So, with all that being said, my original question still stands, "What did your installer do for toad lights"? If he utilized the stock tail light bulbs as toad lights, then there's a certain set of problems that can crop up. But, if he installed separate sockets and bulbs, then the problems may be easier to analyze. The reason is, because the wiring and lights would have nothing to do with the factory wiring and bulbs and, it would be a straight shot from the pig tail plugs, to the independently installed sockets and bulbs.

Just someplace to start.
Scott

P.S. BY the way, I was no Chief, I enjoyed my job.

take it to a repair shop,or start tracing wires back from plug to lites.
Way to many things could be problem,not knowing if pro installed any extra fuses or how it is wired.could even be a bad connection at plug,this happens to mine sometimes.

You could un-plug from the cruiser and test the ambilcal cord. What type of connector is there? four or six pin?
I would follow the wires in the cruiser to locate where the ground is connected. Since nothing works from the coach, I am betting on the ground.
Has someone changed the battery in the cruiser and forgot the ground lead from the MH connection?

FIRE UP wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
We have a PT Cruiser, professionally wired with Blue Ox equipment.

The towing lights are hot and working through the connection cable. I get nothing to the PT lights.

Please tell me what to test and look for? Is there a fuse I am not seeing? I replaced a 20 amp in the fuse box for what I think was the tow lights?

Thanks

bigred1cave,
Ok, let's see here. First you say it was professionally wired. Well, something is not too professional here. Second, you say the "Towing lights are hot". What exactly dose that mean? Does it mean the lights on the motor home are working correctly? And you say the they are working through the cable. Does that mean you've checked the pins on the male end of the pig tail, not plugged into the toad? If so, do you get all the signals, running, LF turn, R/turn, brake, etc?

If so, then, how exactly did your professional wire it? Did he use auxiliary bulbs and sockets inside the tail light housing of the PT or, did he tie into the factory wiring which, means you'd be utilizing the stock lights for toad lights? If he setup auxiliary sockets and bulbs, there's no need for diodes. If he didn't do it that way and, tied into the factory wiring, then yes, diodes are needed to prevent back feed to the front of the toad.

If any diodes were used, is it possible that they were placed in the wrong lines or, in the wrong polarity? And, are you sure the wires are connected on the back side of the plug, on the front of the toad? You might be plugging into an empty plug. He may have just forgotten to insert the wires into the back of that plug. Just some places to start your investigation here. Good luck and please post back with what you find out so that others may learn. Thanks.
Scott

Chief: I was a cop not a FF? All I know about electric is stick your finger in a socket pull it out fast.

The cable from the MH works the lights test when touched by a tester. The PT lights work plugged into the MH or not. This is an older PT 2003 and was bought used by me. It all worked fine then. After my Brake Buddy had a brain fart the lights stopped working. I think it is a fuse or something like the diode whatever that is you all have spoken of.

Where would you test the plug on the PT that receives electronic orders from MH? Then how would you do that?

Thanks

bigred1cav wrote:
We have a PT Cruiser, professionally wired with Blue Ox equipment.

The towing lights are hot and working through the connection cable. I get nothing to the PT lights.

Please tell me what to test and look for? Is there a fuse I am not seeing? I replaced a 20 amp in the fuse box for what I think was the tow lights?

Thanks

bigred1cave,
Ok, let's see here. First you say it was professionally wired. Well, something is not too professional here. Second, you say the "Towing lights are hot". What exactly dose that mean? Does it mean the lights on the motor home are working correctly? And you say the they are working through the cable. Does that mean you've checked the pins on the male end of the pig tail, not plugged into the toad? If so, do you get all the signals, running, LF turn, R/turn, brake, etc?

If so, then, how exactly did your professional wire it? Did he use auxiliary bulbs and sockets inside the tail light housing of the PT or, did he tie into the factory wiring which, means you'd be utilizing the stock lights for toad lights? If he setup auxiliary sockets and bulbs, there's no need for diodes. If he didn't do it that way and, tied into the factory wiring, then yes, diodes are needed to prevent back feed to the front of the toad.

If any diodes were used, is it possible that they were placed in the wrong lines or, in the wrong polarity? And, are you sure the wires are connected on the back side of the plug, on the front of the toad? You might be plugging into an empty plug. He may have just forgotten to insert the wires into the back of that plug. Just some places to start your investigation here. Good luck and please post back with what you find out so that others may learn. Thanks.
Scott

Somewhere the installer placed diodes to prevent back feeding into the cruiser's electrical system. They could be bad or connections have failed.
I am guessing that the cruiser's lights work when not connected to the MH.
Next thing to check is where they connected the MH's ground to the cruiser's ground system.