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  1. #1
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    Ranger Trailer Wiring/Backup Lights Problem

    Trailer Backup lights not working, and Trailer brake lights go off when I put truck in reverse... I just re-connected my 5-pin pigtail, wanted to tidy it up and put heat shrink tubing on (it looked crappy with old electrical tape wrapped on it). Everything else works properly - brake lights, turn signals, running lights/markers.

    I use an adaptor for the 5-pin flat connector to the round receptacle on the truck. Trailer has 6 wires coming up to the harness - two brown (I believe it's one for each side of trailer for tail and marker lights), one green and one yellow (left and right turn/tail lights), and two red (which are actually blue, one is spliced from the blue coming off brake solenoid and one is spliced to reverse lights blue wire). The attached picture is "before", I have double/triple/quintuple checked that the "after" current connections are the same, and are solid.

    The two brown trailer wires are connected together to the brown wire from pigtail; green and yellow to green and yellow; and the two red (blue) are connected together to the blue from pigtail.

    The pigtail has a white ground wire that was/is not connected to anything. I don't understand why there is a ground coming from the harness that wouldn't be connected to anything? It was just wrapped under the tape.

    To the best of my knowledge, everything was working how it should before I re-did the connections.

    Any ideas what would cause the issue(s) with the backup lights please? Thanks!
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    2004 Ranger 619VS

  2. Member
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    #2
    White is ground. The reason your lights are going off in reverse is the brake solenoid is energizing, and that is basically a coil of wire. Without a good trailer ground, that coil conducts 12 volts easily to the trailer frame which raises the volts from zero to nearer to 12 volts which is the voltage your lights need to illuminate. Without a difference of potential, electrical stuff doesn't work. With say, 12 volts on one side and zero volts on the other things work fine, but if the frame volts raises to say, 8 volts, there is only 4 volts (12-8=4) to do the work. Hook the white wires up to the frame.
    While you're at it, at a minimum, buy some Liquid Electric Tape and paint those splice ends to seal them.

  3. Member
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    #3
    I put new backup lights on my trailer, and in the process shorted one out and blew a fuse. Finished the work, then replaced the fuse, everything works fine. So I'm saying check the fuse if you haven't yet.

  4. Member
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    #4
    Quote Originally Posted by billnorman1 View Post
    White is ground. The reason your lights are going off in reverse is the brake solenoid is energizing, and that is basically a coil of wire. Without a good trailer ground, that coil conducts 12 volts easily to the trailer frame which raises the volts from zero to nearer to 12 volts which is the voltage your lights need to illuminate. Without a difference of potential, electrical stuff doesn't work. With say, 12 volts on one side and zero volts on the other things work fine, but if the frame volts raises to say, 8 volts, there is only 4 volts (12-8=4) to do the work. Hook the white wires up to the frame.
    While you're at it, at a minimum, buy some Liquid Electric Tape and paint those splice ends to seal them.
    Ok I'll give that a try - thanks so much! Sure seemed strange that the white wire was not connected to anything... I replaced the splices with heat shrink connectors, and have the entire length from the plug to where they split off under the trailer frame inside a 4' long heat shrink tube... just waiting to seal everything until I had the problem fixed...
    2004 Ranger 619VS

  5. Member
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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Super 91 View Post
    I put new backup lights on my trailer, and in the process shorted one out and blew a fuse. Finished the work, then replaced the fuse, everything works fine. So I'm saying check the fuse if you haven't yet.
    I will check... fuse in the truck, for the trailer connection?
    2004 Ranger 619VS

  6. BBC SPONSOR
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    #6
    Ground

  7. Member Ranger519VS's Avatar
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    #7
    Ground connection. The white wire needs to be connected to the trailer frame. I always connect a ground to one of the screws that hold the backup solenoid to the frame. I have had problems with the solenoid when there gets to be a little rust on the frame. Placing a ground connection there eliminates the problem
    Butch Derickson
    2011 Z521 w/250 hp SHO
    Traverse City, Michigan

  8. Member
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    #8
    Problem solved! Thanks for all the advice. I did complete the ground connection to the trailer, and I re-re-did the splice connections for the backup lights/solenoid and tail lights and everything worked as it should. I believe that I probably caused my original splices to pull loose when I was pulling the un-shrunk heat shrink wrap over the connections. Still amazed that the ground was not connected in the first place.

    When I was going through all of this, I did notice that where the blue wire comes out of the solenoid (that is attached inside trailer frame) it seems a bit fragile... it's just the wire going in to a hole on the side of the solenoid. I couldn't figure out any way to make it more secure, I made sure there was no stress or pull on it. I'm thinking of getting some liquid electrical tape to put on it to seal it and hopefully secure it. Any thoughts?
    2004 Ranger 619VS

  9. Member
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    #9
    Quote Originally Posted by mibassranger View Post
    Problem solved! Thanks for all the advice. I did complete the ground connection to the trailer, and I re-re-did the splice connections for the backup lights/solenoid and tail lights and everything worked as it should. I believe that I probably caused my original splices to pull loose when I was pulling the un-shrunk heat shrink wrap over the connections. Still amazed that the ground was not connected in the first place.

    When I was going through all of this, I did notice that where the blue wire comes out of the solenoid (that is attached inside trailer frame) it seems a bit fragile... it's just the wire going in to a hole on the side of the solenoid. I couldn't figure out any way to make it more secure, I made sure there was no stress or pull on it. I'm thinking of getting some liquid electrical tape to put on it to seal it and hopefully secure it. Any thoughts?
    2 part epoxy.

  10. Member
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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by billnorman1 View Post
    2 part epoxy.
    That seems like a good idea - I can't see any reason why I would ever have to take the wire out of there (doesn't seem like I could if I wanted to?)...
    2004 Ranger 619VS