LVDell

So I finished all my mods last week (see my thread about climbing Mt. Cayenne) and am trying to cut this off at the pass by doing a little "prep" work with respect to the trailer lights "issue".

The tequipment towing system "seems" to be fully functional. I have checked ALL the connections on the pollak 7 pin connecter and verified all connections. There are 7 points of contact and they all work (done with a test light)

Postive pin....check
Negative pin....check
L Turn....check (would flash the test light in unison with the turn signal)
R Turn...check (performed just as the L)
Lights......check (lit up test light when lights are turned on)
Brake.....check (lit up test light when brakes are depressed)

So all of those are verified. I then went to a buddy's place and hooked up his trailer to the Pepper (I am borrowing his trailer this weekend to trailer my car to the track) and guess what??? That's right, you guessed it. FAILURE. I knew this was too good to be true. L and R turn signal worked but no brake lights or running lights. So I took apart the rear brake lights to see exactly what was going on and lo and behold but the brake light was a single bulb with 2 filaments that function for brake and turn signal. The housing has the colored wire that is the turn signal fed into it as well as the brake wire. Each housing has the same brake wire (color) which tells me that the single wire somewhere along the way of the trailer split in half to share when the single wire lights hot both will illuminate. Each turn signal had its own dedicated color from front to back.

So we did a little experient. In the junction box on the trailer where the wiring harness it tapped into everything we hooked the brake wire up to one of turn signals to see what would happen. Sure enough, the brake AND turn signal worked as requested. But.........there is NO way to get the brake signal to BOTH turn signal wires without a small problem being introduced. That problem? Well, we split the brake wire to run into BOTH turn signal wires and of course the brake both illuminate but regardless of which turn signal you select they BOTH blink (like flashers).

As for the running lights. At first we thought they were NOT lighting up but upon closer inspection they were flickering on faintly every few seconds. Can't figure that one out. I guess start removing bulbs from running lights until they illuminate?

So, this is starting to scare me since I am going to drive 2 hours to pick up my trailer I ordered which will be ready at the end of the month. What happens if I get there and I have these problems? What stumps me is that all the pins check out on the connector on the Cayenne's side of things.

All I really need is brake lights and functional electric brakes on the trailer since I will NOT be drving this during the night but I can't ever promise that.

For all I know that trailer will work like I champ when I go pick it up. It is a Pace Rallye Auto Hauler.

Any thoughts???

mudman2

Boy someone must be asleep or on vacation with a set up like this.

I had one problem, actually the dealer did, they wired it up. It was a simple ground issue near the pollack or as they described it bollack. It sank the dc down to the point where the running lights were out for all intents and purposes.

LVDell

Next course of action then for me on the Cayenne side of things? I realize that all 7 pins respond properly with a test light on the Pollak connector at the hitch but can I verify anything else better than the test light?

mudman2

There is a 150mA limit on load, may now be 500 (PAG promise). test lights are low draws so they will come up ok. You need to create a load similar to your lights to see if it sinks it.

Build a string of bulb holders ? just a thought.

LVDell

I think what I am going to do first is swing down to the local Pace Trailer dealer this week and hook up to one of the exact trailers I am buying that they have in stock to see what happens. Then go form there.

wingless

Michael is correct. With a problem as described, the likely cause is that the trailer ground has failed. That is, the trailer plug connection includes a wire that connects trailer chassis ground to the vehicle ground. That wire is terminated somewhere on the trailer frame. All the trailer lamps then use the trailer frame for the electrical return.

Whenever I've seen the problem, as described, the fault has been a bad trailer ground connection.

LVDell

Thanks for the input

Guess it is probably due to the fact that is an older trailer? I can check it out next time I head over to pick it up on Friday.....but I wouldn't have the slightest idea where to look.

skl

I can't believe Lewis hasn't chimed in yet

LVDell

I've got him locked down in the basement with the Gimp

Crazy Canuck

We find most of our trailer light problems are attributable to either lack of proper ground or corrosion in the tow vehicle plug. In Vegas, I wouldn't imagine corrosion is much of a problem.

So you did get the Pace. Nice to see they could accommodate your timeline.

LVDell

Hey Chris! 99% sure the Pace will be available in time. It's pushing it but they (UT) don't see what it won't be ready in time.

As for your input on the lighting, since my towing system on the Cayenne is brand new (1 week old) I don't think the problem is on my end I would tend to believe it is the trailer is not good. I am going to swing by the local Pace dealer tomorrow and hook up the 20' Rallye they have and see what happnes.......cross your fingers.

BTW, have you hooked up and of your trailers to a Cayenne? Curious to hear if you have seen any of the issues reported here.

JFScheck

Bring in the "Gimp"!!!!!!!!!!! (woops - there's those exclamation points)

Toby Pennycuff

LVDell,

I assume that you installed the complete factory kit including the infamous towing control module? Did you get the dealer to properly program the module for you? Mine came and was apparently programmed for a european vehicle which caused many of the symptoms you described. Once the module was reset using the PSTIII, it worked for about 10 minutes and then the module flaked out on me. After a warranty repair and replace of the towing module, followed by proper US-spec programming, I have had ZERO issues with lights on my 28' Haulmark. Granted I have no LED's, so I am not experiecning any sort of excessive electrical demand (which seems to send these units out into orbit "!"). I run the lights fine and drive the two interior lamps as well as the exterior light in the trailer with absolutely no problem. YMMV.

Toby

LVDell

Yes it was the Tequipment towing kit and yes it has the towing control module. There was no programming since it is an 05. I was told that the programming is required on the 03-04 models but not 05. I might just for ****s and grins swing by and have my SA take a look and make sure everything is programmed properly.

However, before I waste anybody's time, I am going to swing by the trailer place and hook it up to make sure that there is/isn't a problem. If all checks out, then I know it's my friends trailer that might have a bad ground connection, etc. If not, and both trailers do the same thing, then a trip to the dealer and then a return trip to the trailer place is in order.

Crazy Canuck

Checking out another trailer an easy way to test out where the problem lies. A new trailer could have a wiring issue (it does happen occasionally) but not that often. Make sure your trailer wiring harness is functioning. Every once in a long while we get a faulty control box.

We've done a lot of things to some very diverse equipment but no Cayennes yet. Strange come to think about it as we had one guy who wanted a hitch on a 911 Turbo S Cab. We talked him out of that. We've done a few Tourags and the service bulletin they give to wire trailer wiring is WRONG.