Reversing and Fog lights on caravan don't work
Just bought new Bailey Unicorn IV. On hitching up and testing lights, all were found to work except reversing and fog lights (i.e brakes, indicators, hazards, lights). All lights work on the car. Local caravan service engineer disconnected caravan hitch cable from car and found that all lights worked and suggested fault may lie with the socket on car towbar or fuse. Had the same problem with Bailey Unicorn Seville and garage found no problem with socket - suggested fault lay with the caravan!!!!! Anybody come across this problem? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Glutenfree
Comments
-
Could be that some
car electrics fail to recognise the led bulbs in a trailer. Read somewhere that the addition of a relay within the towing loom in the car helps to overcome it. Best check with the car dealer or a towing centre
0 -
Fog lights is pin 2 and reversing pin 8. I would suggest cleaning the 13 pin plug and receiver. Have you tried wiggling the plug about slightly when connected, to see if you get a connection. I recently had it on my Tiguan, and a good clean sorted it.
0 -
Dont mess about with it. take it to a specialist tow bar fitting place, they will identify the problem very quickly and probably fix it quicker than its taking me to type this. Its their bread & butter and they will have done it many times!
TF
0 -
Thanks everyone for your comments. Much appreciated. Think I'll take the car to a tow bar fitting specialist!!!! As you say TF, why mess about!
0 -
Fair enough Gluten-free, just seems to me that if garage has checked car tow bar electrics, which is a very simple job to confirm that these pins are live when reversing/fog lights are on on car, and caravan engineer has checked caravan then it’s probably where they meet. I only say it because I had exactly the same thing with my Pegasus, and then my Unicorn. I bounced between caravan and tow bar specialist with no joy. Both were adamant that it was working. Eventually I got hold of the towbar manager and complained. Chap listened and then called me back to say they had cleaned connections in car towbar electrics, asked me to do same with caravan, and then see if they worked. He told me he was sure they would, I was far from convinced, but they did. I felt a bit stupid, but the towbar manager was very good, and said that the 13 pin electrics suffered a bit with poor connections at the pins.
0 -
Despite the number of pins and small diameter compared with the old 7N/S plugs the DIN plugs have done remarkably well. I still remember how sceptical the Club were about the switch and I wrote many times on the subject. I had been using the plugs successfully for years on my BMW but they were slow to embrace the technology. Fortunately the market were ahead of the Club as usual.
0 -
A multimeter will not show a poor connection that only fails when subjected to a load.
0 -
a multimeter will not show a faulty connection that only fails under load!
0 -
Actually it will, if you measure the load side of the connection and compare it with the feed side, both readings should be equal. Or even put it across the connection and if it shows a reading then you’ll know that you have a resistance in the connection.
A common problem with the plugs is corrosion on the terminals. If it’s given you a problem, I’d be inclined to remove the rubber boot and look for rust, as the pins and screws are steel. Also check that the drainage holes are clear, so that any water that get in through the pins can drain out.
A good coating of waterproofing spray over both sides of the plugs does help.
It’s also a good idea to park the plug in the receiver on the A frame as this helps drain any water that may collect in the plug.
Certain makes are more prone than others.
0
