Trailer Light Connections

[k4tmc]

Can I connect trailer lights directly to the wires inside the VX tail-lights without concern about affecting some computer function within the VX somewhere?

Some previous vehicles I have owned required trailer light special adapters that protected any potential impact on other vehicle computer-controlled features. At least, that is what the trailer hitch sales person said.

Henry

[mdwyer]

I don't know if it is strictly required, but Tone sells a trailer wire kit at http://www.tonemonday.com/vxparts.html for $24. It appears to involve a mystery black box.

[etlsport]

that sounds like a sales pitch for the adapter to me... i dont have a whole lot of experience with trailer wiring.. but ive wired just about everything else you can think of in a car and well.. brake lights and turn signals are just wires and switches.. no computer interaction that i know of.. the wiring tone offers is just connected in the tail lights and ive had no ill effects from it (of course i also havent hooked it up to a trailer yet) but ill go out on a limb here and say his trailer wiring.. like all of his other products.. works well

[Bulldoggie]

The "Black Box" converts a three bulb tail / brake / turn light to a double lamp trailer light (trailer lamps turn filament is the same as the brake)

[k4tmc]

Thanks for the responses.

Looks like I need to provide more details. The previous owner had already installed Tone's hitch and wiring adapter. However, there is something wrong - not enough voltage arriving at the trailer connector. I have confirmed that the correct wires have the right signals, but there is only around 7-9 volts, which is not enough to get the trailer lights on.

To avoid disassembling the rear bumper clading, to get to all of the wiring, I was just going to go back inside the rear light housings and make some new connections and bring the wires inside the rear storage area. Then, when needed, I could let them hang out through the door gasket. Not pretty - but functional.

Henry

[Ldub]

I'm pretty far from being any kind of expert when it comes to wiring...or anything else for that matter...but it sounds like your current "black box" may be malfunctioning.
If you do as you say, & snip the wires to the existing trailer wiring harness & install a new one, this theory could be proven, one way or the other.

Also, it could be as simple as corroded connections on the one that's there. Maybe a poor ground connection?

[circmand]

I am new here but have owned a 2001 Proton from new. I always wanted the ability to use a trailer but the Owners Manual says the VX is not designed for Trailer use. Am I missing something. Any photos or spec on what people are hauling and weight limits? Where is Tone located and where is St Charles Isuzu they sound like good resources.

[tom4bren]

I'd agree with what's already been said: check the original connections, if they were just pigtailed & taped then you could lose significant voltage across the corrosion - or the black box could be bad (I've experienced both). When you install a new one, remove the old because it could still drag down the voltage if it's bad.

Always, always solder your connections. It's a pain but worth the effort just for the reason you are experiencing now.

I tow a twin pack of SeaDoos with mine and it does great (but then I also tow the SeaDoos with an Eclipse and it does fine so maybe my set up isn't worth mentioning). I'll be towing a utility trailer with a Dingo in it tomorrow. If I run into any problems I'll post.

A lot will depend on what you are towing, not just the gross weight. Trailer length, width & load distrobution will all play important rolls in how it handles.

[Ldub]

I am new here but have owned a 2001 Proton from new. I always wanted the ability to use a trailer but the Owners Manual says the VX is not designed for Trailer use. Am I missing something. Any photos or spec on what people are hauling and weight limits? Where is Tone located and where is St Charles Isuzu they sound like good resources.

Need stock parts cheap with FREE freight?
1-800-727-8066 St. Charles Isuzu - ask for Merlin!

Need mods / accessories? tonemonday.com

St.Charles IL., I think... ;)

Tone is in Austin, TX

[tom4bren]

Didn't tow the utility trailer with the Dingo - they messed up on my reservation. Reserved it for a couple of weeks out so I'll let you know.

[Solitude]

I had a hitch installed and the wiring done at U-haul. now.. the cruise shuts off if I use my turn signal and when its raining the left turn signal stays on.. so much for the mythical black box

[etlsport]

yea spike had his done at u-haul too.. and we have had a crazy time figuring out whats going on with his lights... when he uses his 4 ways the 3rd brake light flashes... and when his brake lights are on his turn signals work like normal, but when the brake lights are off the tail lights flash with the turn signals and the turn signal conversion for the side markers doesn't work at all

[Tone]

Our system (like many newer vehicles) is a five wire system since we have separate tail and brake lights instead of simply making one bulb brighter for
brakes. You can tag the wires outside right behind the tailights. Or, inside the jack compartment on the driver's side and the jack compartlment on the passenger side.
RT Turn Signal Wire Color (only avail on the Passenger Side): Green/Blue
LF Turn Signal Wire Color (only avail on Driver's Side): Green/Blue
Parking/Running Light Wire Color: Green/Red
Brake Light Wire Color: Green

I usually mount the converter on the driver's side and run the long green wire on the converter over to the passenger side light harness. Be sure to firmly ground the White wire on the converter - I include a self tapping screw and star washer - scrape the paint off of the body where you attach it or secure it under an existing stud or bolt that has been scraped.

[etlsport]

figured this was a pretty good place for this question/problem

i got a tester for the trailer wiring lights... hooked it up on my vx's trailer wiring to see how it worked... tail light was fine.. couldnt test brakes because i was alone... turn signals worked ok, but when i turned my headlights on, the turn signals didnt work anymore... is that normal?

[JAMAS]

I searched and found some help in this thread, so I am reviving it for another question....


I have my hitch installed (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK Tom4Bren!!!!) but havent installed a light hookup yet.

Can someone tell me if this will work....
http://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-48925-Light-Converter-Extension/dp/B0002Q81XK/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1279227058&sr=8-1-fkmr1

[psychos2]

I searched and found some help in this thread, so I am reviving it for another question....


I have my hitch installed (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK Tom4Bren!!!!) but havent installed a light hookup yet.

Can someone tell me if this will work....
http://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-48925-Light-Converter-Extension/dp/B0002Q81XK/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1279227058&sr=8-1-fkmr1

this website says it will. I used the universal one listed and got it at walmart.

http://www.hopkinstowingsolutions.com/application_guides/vehicle_wiring_kits.html

[vt_maverick]

Well it says it will if you use the "Does this fit my vehicle link" but I don't know how much you can really trust it. When I tried to hook up my cargo box with the wiring/converter that Tone provided, I had a similar problem to etlsport above, only that I got running lights, turn signals, but no brake lights. Took it to a trailer shop and they said that Isuzu's actually used a European style wiring system, so the converter need to be a 5-way instead of a 4-way (I think). Note that's the converter, not the plug - there are always four wires in the plug.

Don't know if that helps much. :_confused

[psychos2]

Well it says it will if you use the "Does this fit my vehicle link" but I don't know how much you can really trust it. When I tried to hook up my cargo box with the wiring/converter that Tone provided, I had a similar problem to etlsport above, only that I got running lights, turn signals, but no brake lights. Took it to a trailer shop and they said that Isuzu's actually used a European style wiring system, so the converter need to be a 5-way instead of a 4-way (I think). Note that's the converter, not the plug - there are always four wires in the plug.

Don't know if that helps much. :_confused

The only reason we need a converter is because of the independent turn signal bulbs. And that is what that is for so it will work if hooked up correctly. shawn

[DeepSilentComplete]

I am in the market for a small daysailor or similar boat to sail on the Potomac and as soon as my VX gets out of the shop (in a month!!! AAARRGGHHH), I want to look into getting a hitch put on.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Marc

[vt_maverick]

Wait on Tom4Bren's updated Tone-style hitch, since the hope is that it will handle more tongue weight than what we all have now. Tom's down in Fredericksburg so you might even be able to get it installed at the same "welder guy" shop.

[tom4bren]

Wait on Tom4Bren's updated Tone-style hitch, since the hope is that it will handle more tongue weight than what we all have now. Tom's down in Fredericksburg so you might even be able to get it installed at the same "welder guy" shop.

Welder Guy's shop prolly ain't an option. I work with him at Fort Belvoir but his shop is alla way out at Colonial Beach.

I'm a tried & true 'shade tree mechanic'. Yer welcome to the T4B pad some Saturday & we can get it done tho.

I hope to re-install my hitch this weekend & get all the measurements needed to make the beefier hitch.

Tom

[PA-99]

After issues with the old 4 flat wiring harness, I picked up a universal wiring kit that included the 5 -> 4 wiring converter box. The problem is that the trailer brake lights are coming on very slow, and very dim. The turn signals are not working at all. It appears like the trailer was not getting enough power fast enough. After comparing the voltage between my car and another working vehicle, I found that I am getting about 2-3 volts less on the brakes and turn signals than the working car. I even pulled the tail light and tested there. I appear to only get about 9 volts on the brake lights with no external wiring hooked up. My vehicle lights are working fine through. Any ideas???

[Y33TREKker]

After issues with the old 4 flat wiring harness, I picked up a universal wiring kit that included the 5 -> 4 wiring converter box. The problem is that the trailer brake lights are coming on very slow, and very dim. The turn signals are not working at all. It appears like the trailer was not getting enough power fast enough. After comparing the voltage between my car and another working vehicle, I found that I am getting about 2-3 volts less on the brakes and turn signals than the working car. I even pulled the tail light and tested there. I appear to only get about 9 volts on the brake lights with no external wiring hooked up. My vehicle lights are working fine through. Any ideas???
Aside from double-checking that you've tapped into the correct vehicle wiring (as follows) for your trailer harness, I would also double-check your ground connection. Make sure you are metal to metal (most surfaces are painted or coated in some way) with whatever connector you've used for your ground-wire to vehicle-chassis connection, or at least use a self-tapping screw that you are sure is tapping into some part of the VX's metal frame. There are also a lot of rubber grommets used on various pieces of the VX that isolate that part electrically from the chassis, so sometimes even though it may seem that a good ground connection is being made, that's not necessarily the case. A simple test meter check will let you know for sure.


RT Turn Signal Wire Color (only avail on the Passenger Side): Green/Blue
LF Turn Signal Wire Color (only avail on Driver's Side): Green/Blue
Parking/Running Light Wire Color: Green/Red
Brake Light Wire Color: Green

[PA-99]

I'm pretty confident that I have the harness connected to the correct wires, as I am able to see in increase voltage when I activate the feature. When I test and get the low voltage, I am testing using the ground wire attached directly to the turn signal. That is also the ground wire that I am connecting the harness to. I honestly do not know how the lights on the car working, because they are showing less than 12 volts

[SlowPro48]

Is this with the engine running? What's the voltage across the battery? (engine running and not runnning)

[PA-99]

The low voltage was tested the car was not running. I will check the voltage across the battery when I get home later.

[PA-99]

Got some interesting results, but not sure what they point to. Possibly a bad battery?

@ battery with engine off: 11.65v
@ battery with engine on: 13.33v

@ brake light wires with engine off: 9.76v
@ brake light wires with engine on: 11.4v

Any ideas?

[tom4bren]

Take your VX (or just the battery) to your local parts store. They'll usually check it for free.

[SlowPro48]

Weird.

There's no way the voltage should be dropping that much between the battery and the back of the car. It's natural to get some voltage loss due to resistance in the wire but the VX isn't very long so we're talking miniscule voltage drops here. You wouldn't even be able to measure the difference with the x000 count meter you're using. Something's wrong in your wiring or connectors. Do you get that much voltage drop at the parking lights? Head lights?

I'd start with wire brushing the battery posts and terminals and checking your grounds. See Y33TREKker's post above. If that doesn't fix the voltage drop problem, start tracing wires. You've got too much resistance somewhere...


You might want to check the voltage regulator after you figure out the voltage drop problem. Assuming the meter is accurate, your readings across the battery are slightly low. Ideal lead acid SLI charging voltage is 13.9V - 14.3V, below that you're sulfating too much and above 14.4V you're gassing (and if you don't stay on top of the water level you'll soon be stinking like a rotten egg!) Ideal fully charged resting voltage is 12.6 volts but that's open circuit potential. With terminals connected, 12.5V - 12.3V is more realistic. So at 11.7 you're a little low there too. Maybe because it's going bad or maybe because it's not getting a full charge...

But - although your battery won't last as long charging at 13.3V - your voltages are high enough to take care of your Starting, Lighting and Ignition needs so - I'd delve into the weird part first and then do what Tom said - get battery checked at a parts store. If it's bad, throw a new one in there and see if that wakes the alternator up. If not, parts store will usually check your alternator/VR too so take advantage of that before your battery gets sulfated - whether new or old.