I correctly spliced and installed a 3 pin trailer (3 male 1 female) light adapter to my 2001 Chevy Blazer to hook up to a trailer for my in-laws small fishing boat.
The right and left blinkers work when the trailer is hooked up. The tail lights and brake lights do not.
I double/triple checked my connections on the truck, they are correct...I am convinced of that...mostly.
My father-in-law said the trailer lights worked on his truck the same day I picked up the boat.
Do I doubt my in-laws? Am I missing something on my hook up on the blazer (white to white wire, brown to brown, etc.)?
Before I go and either pay a mechanic to take a look or rewire the trailer, I want to exhaust all other possibilities. The last thing I want to happen is to replace something that doesn't need to be replaced only to find out I didn't do something correctly.
Any recommendations/suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
Just on the basis on common trailer light problems:
I always suspect a grounding issue. Your issue sounds weird.
In this scenario, some lights can work as they are grounded; other may not work as they are not making ground. It is a nasty issue to clear up sometimes.
It is very strange that blinkers work and brakes do not on a 4-wire (3 male, one female) connector. Does this trailer have electric brakes? Are they a surge brake system?
It's a small boat, 14 ft. so the trailer doesn't need the brake system. I am trying to see if ground is an issue. The grounding wire on the vehicle shouldn't be a problem, correct? I spliced the ground wire on the harness with the ground wire on the truck.
If the blinkers work, then the problem is the truck because the blinkers and brake lights share the same wires on the trailer. Check your fuses close. Most trucks have separate fuses for the trailer lights.
I wanted to say thank you to Keith for helping out. He was more than willing to talk to me and help me isolate the problem to the trailer. Much easier to fix now!
