Coachmen Freelander 21 QB tail light fuse?

Question

I am at my wit's end and if any of you folks can help you'll be a hero!

Our 2016 Freelander 21QB had a bad passenger-side tail light which now seems to have shorted out the entire tail light circuit by blowing a fuse. The brake lights, blinkers, stop lights and backup lights all work on both sides, but the tail lights (both) running lights (on the side of the house) and license plate lights are all dead.

My conclusion is a blown fuse and the assignment is to find and replace it. Should be simple, right? The Chevy 4500 chassis manual has an excellent diagram of the two fuse boxes and tables indicating what each fuse does. Unfortunately, there is no apparent entry for the Tail light, running lights or license plate light! I have removed, checked and replaced the dozen or so best candidates but none of them were obviously blown, meaning that the little metal "U" wasn't melted.

I believe the Chevy 4500 chassis is sold without tail lights since they assume the end product will have an RV house, or delivery van with tail lights added by the manufacturer before sale to an end user like me. So maybe they have some oddball fusing strategy.

I'm at a total loss and don't even know who to ask. Thus far Coachmen / Forest River has been unresponsive to my inquiries.

Help!

-Grouchy

j-d · Answer

These cutaway chassis (at least Ford) don't have rear lights as you said. But they come with TRAILER wiring back to the rear. It seems like a common practice for the Class C builder to wire the Coach Body as a Trailer. So check for anything having to do with "Trailer" or "Tow" etc.

Check also, to make sure the Lamp Assembly is properly GROUNDED to the Chassis, and that none the hot side wiring (Stop, Tail, Turn, Backup, Marker) is Grounded or Shorted to one of the others.

grouchyoldman · Answer

Thanks for the quick reply. I have already checked all of the fuses that indicated "Trailer" because that seemed a likely candidate but none of those fuses were blown. The RV also has a wiring harness and plug for adding a trailer, so I figured that's what those fuses were for.

I don't think the grounding could be the problem because the same ground wire is used for the back and turn signal light.

It is so odd that the turn sigs and backup lights work fine because those lights are part of the same tail light assembly (Command Electronics 03-30).

I didn't notice any fuses labelled "Tow" but I'll look again.

Perplexed...

dougrainer · Answer

Have you checked the fuse box up front by the engine?  There a 2 fuse boxes. The engine area fuse box and the fuse box inside by the drivers feet. I NEVER pull and visual check a fuse regardless of what I do. I ALWAYS use either a Voltmeter or 99 percent of the time a 12 volt test light. With RV's, you can never assume that the fuse that is labeled for the appliance you are troubleshooting is the correct fuse for your defect. Within 5 minutes, I can have all the fuses tested and verified which ones are good and which ones are bad. Also, they SEPERATE the "trailer" section from the main body. They have done that for almost 20 years. They decided that if you have a short in the tow/trailer system, you do NOT want that to kill your main lighting also. Doug

grouchyoldman · Answer

Hi Doug, thanks for the helpful tips.

I have checked both fuse boxes and looked at every fuse related to lights or "Trailer," but there were none that were obviously blown.

Your comments about using a Voltmeter is valuable. From past experience I just figured that I could tell visually if the fuse was burned out and none of the ones I checked looked bad. I assume you use the meter to check continuity across the fuse?

Do you have a method of testing them without actually removing the fuse? The "Five Minute Method" would be a lifesaver!

Regards,

-Grouchy

drsteve · Answer

GrouchyOldMan wrote:Hi Doug,  thanks for the helpful tips.  I have checked both fuse boxes and looked at every fuse related to lights or "Trailer," but there were none that were obviously blown. Your comments about using a Voltmeter is valuable.  From past experience I just figured that I could tell visually if the fuse was burned out and none of the ones I checked looked bad. I assume you use the meter to check continuity across the fuse?Do you have a method of testing them without actually removing the fuse?  The "Five Minute Method" would be a lifesaver!Regards,-GrouchyGet a 12v test light, $5 at any auto parts store. Test procedure for fuses is shown in this YouTube vid: Clicky

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Coachmen Freelander 21 QB tail light fuse?

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