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Electrical Problems - Troubling
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KiterJoe
New User
Feb 24, 2011, 5:22 PM
Post #1 of 6
(1923 views)
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Electrical Problems - Troubling
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I have a car and a tear drop trailer and I keep loosing the lights on the trailer. Here's what I have:
- 2005 Subaru Legacy GT, Turbo, Manual Transmission, Sedan, 76,000
- Tear drop trailer - SignaTour ( link deleted, not allowed)
- Tow Ready Wiring Harness from E-Trailer (link deleted, not allowed)
I installed the wire-harness and everything seemed to work fine for a while (I think!) then all of the sudden I'm blowing fuses (20 amp) that feed from the battery to trailer lights. I had regular incandescent lights on the trailer and swapped them over to LED thinking that the older lights were just junk and maybe pulling too many amps. I rewired everything ensuring not grounds. Still the same problem exists and I keep blowing fuses, but in a very strange way...
Here's what I did today. I checked the ohms reading to ground on all four wires on the car side & on the trailer side with no abnormal readings. Next I hooked up the car and trailer together placed a clamp on amp meter on the wire to the lights from the battery and started the car. Lights work fine. I pressed the brake, hazards, individual turn signals; turned the lights on and off nothing abnormal. I even rev'd up the engine several times thinking there may be voltage spike from a poor voltage regulator. No problems. The highest amp reading I read was .9 amps. Everything seemed normal, but then...
As soon as I would place the car in gear (manual transmission) and start to creep forward the fuse would pop. One point I think it jumped to 40amps. I recorded it with my video camera and the meter only showed 7amps and it popped, but I think it was a function of the meter not being able to display as fast.
The same thing happens when I place the car in the reverse gear. When I renew the fuse and keep the car in neutral all the lights work perfectly. I can't figure it out.
I tried disconnecting the trailer ground as each light on the trailer has its own ground, but that didn't make a difference. There seems to be some sort of ground within the car when the gears mesh. I just can't understand what is going on. Is there something wrong with the wiring harness? I don't know what is inside that little black box off the wiring harness. I have no other electrical problems in the car just this.
Please help! I'm supposed to be taking my girlfriend on a surprise camping trip this weekend. Can I put a current resistor in series to help "absorb" some of this stray current if this is only a momentary surge when the gears mesh? If so what size? Thanks for all your support!
-Joe
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Feb 24, 2011, 5:31 PM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 24, 2011, 5:33 PM
Post #2 of 6
(1915 views)
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Re: Electrical Problems - Troubling
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First, unplug the trailer and see if it still blows. If not, the problem is in the trailer. If it still blows, the problem is in your truck. You can disconnect individual circuits one at a time until you figure out which one is causing it.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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KiterJoe
New User
Feb 24, 2011, 6:26 PM
Post #3 of 6
(1907 views)
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Re: Electrical Problems - Troubling
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The fuse doesn't blow when it's unplugged. The doesn't blow when its plugged in and I'm idle. It only blows when I place the car into gear.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 24, 2011, 8:24 PM
Post #4 of 6
(1902 views)
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Re: Electrical Problems - Troubling
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That suggests that the problem is in the trailer and when you put it in gear, it makes a better ground connection through the hitch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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KiterJoe
New User
Feb 24, 2011, 10:11 PM
Post #5 of 6
(1896 views)
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Re: Electrical Problems - Troubling
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Thanks, found it grounding on the rear driver side axle! On the car end, not the trailer end. Don't know how I missed that. Thanks
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