I plug in my brand-new trailer....all of ITS lights work fine...but it causes the truck's backup lights to come on.
I have the static rear-view camera, and IT comes on as well. It is programmed to come on whenever the truck is in reverse, so that is in a way understandable.
Except that, the next time I go into reverse (225 miles later), the camera no longer comes on. But the reverse lights still are on, until I pull the plug on the trailer.
The truck is a few days old, but before I head back to the dealer, any clues, anyone? It's Christmas Eve....not sure they're even open....
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Sold: 1999 White Lariat CC SB F-250. Sold to next-door neighbor in 2001....received final payment 2007! Still going strong at 198Kmiles as of Dec'07
Sold: 2001 Bright Amber Lariat CC LB F-250 with 4 million candlepower of LightForce lights in the bow. Line-X bedliner. Dual alternator. Clearance lights. Glass-tite cap. 250-gallon auxiliary tank for trips to the Lesser 48. 70-gallon auxiliary for trips around Alaska. Rec'd Dec'07: '08 ForestGreen/Gold F-350 CC LB. Handshaker, as always, Rear stabilizer, rear static video, rear step, dual alternators. B&W turnover ball on its way; soon to be Line-X'd. LightForces on their way.
You are backfeeding the circuit. Check inside the trailer plug. You might find a strand of wire touching the center pin of your 7-Pin RV Connector. (My first guess)
Secondly, get a test light and check each pin inside your truck plug. Get a helper to turn each item off/on, and put the truck in reverse (without it running, please). You can find the diagram in your owner's manual.
If you have had no problems to date with the truck wiring (i.e. it has worked everyday since it left the factory), the problem is in the trailer.
Are you using any type of adapter?
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2007 F-350 Crew Cab King Ranch SRW 6.0L FX4 -100% Stock. B&W Turnover GN Hitch.
And a bunch of other stuff with engines... all of which require a wrench.
It could also be that whoever wired the trailer switched the connections for the battery charge and B/U lights. Typicaly, the B/U lights are usually wired to the AUX terminal.
I have also seen some toyhaulers that have the exterior floodlights connected to the B/U light circuit. The idea being when you are backing into a spot at night you get lots of light. The downside is that the truck's B/U lights come on if the exterior floods are turned on and the tuck is connected to the trailer. If your previous truck didnt have it's B/U lights connected to the plug you never would have noticed this.
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Cranky old guy with a '05 F250 C/C shortbed.
You guys are great. Now get off this forum and enjoy the, uh, pre-Xmas....uh..."fun". [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif[/img]
Hiding from it is probably why you're here in the first place.
Well, as soon as I can convince bro-in-law of the same idea, I'll have him help me out with those above ideas. Inasmuch as the trailer also is all-but-new - an '07 the PO had used once (!!!!!) - my first thought was the truck, not the trailer. But I'll bet it's in that connector. Will check and report back.
Thanks again and Merry Christmas!
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Sold: 1999 White Lariat CC SB F-250. Sold to next-door neighbor in 2001....received final payment 2007! Still going strong at 198Kmiles as of Dec'07
Sold: 2001 Bright Amber Lariat CC LB F-250 with 4 million candlepower of LightForce lights in the bow. Line-X bedliner. Dual alternator. Clearance lights. Glass-tite cap. 250-gallon auxiliary tank for trips to the Lesser 48. 70-gallon auxiliary for trips around Alaska. Rec'd Dec'07: '08 ForestGreen/Gold F-350 CC LB. Handshaker, as always, Rear stabilizer, rear static video, rear step, dual alternators. B&W turnover ball on its way; soon to be Line-X'd. LightForces on their way.
I assume this only happens with the 7way RV connector? Are you using a 7 way trailer plug or going through an adapter? Some adapters like the 7way-6rounds can be opened and changed around a little but those are only brake and power wires. I thought the trailer connector had all separate fused and powered wires. I blew my backup lights on my trailer once and they were on a separate 10 amp fuse under the hood and the truck lights still worked. I like to know how input from the trailer connector is triggering the camera.
Hey get a fused jumper or piece of wire and fire up the truck. Open the trucks RV plug socket and apply 12 volts to the backup light pin and see if the same fault occurs. That will let you know if it is coming back from the trailer.
Or pull the backup light fuse for the trailer and see if it stops. On my F250 there is a separate fuse for the TRAILER BACKUP lights under the hood.
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2005 F250 FX4 SuperCab SWB in DSG
Buckstop rear bumper American steel!
Daystar baja bar with PIAA Racing 80's
Quad pillar Air, trans temp, pyro, boost
Magnaflow 15954, ATS studs
Transfer Flow 46gal midship tank
Firestone Airbags 2400 kit ViAir 250C compressor
Eaton TruTrac, Rancho 9000's, Skyjacker 1.5" rings
ViAir 380C@200psi, 5gal tank, Siege Anvil train horns say move *****!
(First: I haven't done anything to the truck's wiring in the three or four days I've owned the truck. So am clear of any guilt in that regard. Second: the trailer's plug is from-factory, un-openable. Third, I am NOT using any adapter).
Phase 1. Bro-in-law and I mapped out the trailer's wiring diagram, and the truck's diagram.
Phase 1.5 I come back into his house and compare the two diagrams. I then change my underwear and take a stiff five drinks, because nothing!!! coincides.
Phase 1.6 The drinks clear up my head, and on a hunch, I make a mirror image of one of the diagrams.
Phase 1.7 Bingo! All coincide perfectly. The plugs are wired as they are supposed to be.
Phase 2. Except, as noted in some of the thread's replies, there is that interesting case of the center pin, #7. As most reading this thread apparently know, that is the truck's back-up light pin; on the trailer it is "Aux".
So here is where we are now: the trailer has a built-in winch; its power comes from a trailer-mounted 12V battery. Hmmm - so how is that battery charged? Perhaps via that #7 "Aux" pin? Perhaps the trailer plug had a jumper popped into it between the #7 Aux and the #4 Hot???? That would allow the winch to operate w/o draining completely its otherwise standalone battery....but at the price FarmerK suggested: I am backfeeding the truck's reverse lights.
Now, if the above is NOT the case, what should I do next? If it IS the case, my options are -
a) do nothing. When am running down the road with the trailer harness connected, my truck's backup lights are on. Is this a problem? I should think some LEOs might think so....
b) make a pigtail with male and female 7-pins, and not wire the #7 pin. This means that putting the truck into reverse does not translate into anything happening in the trailer...but also that I would not be able to illuminate the trailer with its own set of aftermarket lights, e.g. (Or I could wire them off the #4 "Hot +" wire, and provide a switch. Would do nothing for, eg., illuminating a back-up situation, but would allow me to switch it on/off when working at the trailer).
Now I'm really putting myself into a corner. Time to break open another scottle of Botch.
__________________
Sold: 1999 White Lariat CC SB F-250. Sold to next-door neighbor in 2001....received final payment 2007! Still going strong at 198Kmiles as of Dec'07
Sold: 2001 Bright Amber Lariat CC LB F-250 with 4 million candlepower of LightForce lights in the bow. Line-X bedliner. Dual alternator. Clearance lights. Glass-tite cap. 250-gallon auxiliary tank for trips to the Lesser 48. 70-gallon auxiliary for trips around Alaska. Rec'd Dec'07: '08 ForestGreen/Gold F-350 CC LB. Handshaker, as always, Rear stabilizer, rear static video, rear step, dual alternators. B&W turnover ball on its way; soon to be Line-X'd. LightForces on their way.
I know I have my trailers wired so the #4 hot, as you call it, is my battery charging feed. It Should only be hot when the ignition is on in the truck. The Center pin is the back-up lights on my trailer, but it would be many things, ie why it is "aux". As far as I can tell this is how most wiring diagrams tell you the RV 7 prong should be layed out.
Maybe the trailer is wired with the battery on the center pin? or it has a jumper?
Unhook the battery and all of the winch accessories. Recheck it. I think you are on the right track that the charge feed is being energized by the battery. Open the circuit to see if it breaks the connection.
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2007 F-350 Crew Cab King Ranch SRW 6.0L FX4 -100% Stock. B&W Turnover GN Hitch.
And a bunch of other stuff with engines... all of which require a wrench.
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