I have a mate who has just bought a new Ford Ranger ute to tow his van. All lights on his van ( clearance and blinkers and tail ) work with no problem, but when the brake pedal on the tug is applied the brake lights on the van will not work. He has had the vehicle back to the dealer and they have replaced the computer which controls the trailer lights but still there is no brake lights.
The lights are globe operated and not LED. Auto electrician assumes after testing that maybe there is a current drop because of the globes and suggests that he change over to LED.
CAN ANYONE OUT THERE HELP WITH IDEAS. THANKS GUYS. Regards Vince
Only a guess, but I recently had a similar issue (side and clearance lights) and it turned out to be a poor earth on one of the lights. Easy enough to check. Also if he can find someone else with another vehicle get them to plug in and see if they work, at least that would isolated whether the fault is the tug or van. Does the van have a fuse for the brake lights as mine does but guess you may have already looked at that. My light fuses are in the front boot of the van. Others may be able to help more.
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Cheers Jeff
Ticking off the bucket list before we kick it!
200 TTD with Evernew 22'6" and 40+ years in the oil & gas industry, now retired. CMCA Member.
I have a Mazda BT 50 which is essentially the same as the Ranger and I know a lot of people with either BT 50's or Rangers used for towing and I have never heard of any of them having problems with the lights. However, when I had the tow-bar installed I had to pay almost $200 for the genuine wiring loom because of the electrical system used in these vehicles - incorrect loom, I was told, would mean problems with the lights. If the problem was a voltage drop then it wouldn't just be happening to your mate. Maybe its a problem with the wiring in the van and/or its interaction with the tug's wiring and electronics.
I forgot to put in the first post, that all the wiring and connections have been checked and found to be OK. Apparently when the footbrake is applied the brake lights on the van flash on for an instant and then go off and if applied again that same thing happens. Because there are two brake light globes in each unit one on each side, the auto electrician took out a globe from each side and then they worked. So do you think the answer is to replace them with LED which will not drag as much power or persist with what he has not forgetting that the trailer control unit on the Ranger has been replaced. Thanks Vince
Looks like a fault in the caravan wiring Is the truck on his own OK ?? ( must be as it was checked to be ok )so as soon you connect the van it is playing up
I would check and recheck all the wiring in the van
Cheers John
PS who put the brake controller in ???
-- Edited by Cruising Cruze on Wednesday 13th of August 2014 10:07:02 PM
Yeh, howya goin john.
All the wiring in the van has been checked and all the lights are working except for this problem with the brake lights. The brake controller was put in by the dealership where he bought the vehicle together with the towbar. All the system in the vehicle is working OK right through to the 12 pin plug. I don't know too much about electrics but would it be possible with the current system on the van to put a heavier wire through and change the fuse and keep the 4 globes or just change it over to LED and take pot luck that the problem will be solved. Vince
Yeh, howya goin john. All the wiring in the van has been checked and all the lights are working except for this problem with the brake lights. The brake controller was put in by the dealership where he bought the vehicle together with the towbar. All the system in the vehicle is working OK right through to the 12 pin plug. I don't know too much about electrics but would it be possible with the current system on the van to put a heavier wire through and change the fuse and keep the 4 globes or just change it over to LED and take pot luck that the problem will be solved. Vince
HI
IF the wiring is correctly connected then ,even with small cables & voltage drop you should see some glow.
THIS Quote "the auto electrician took out a globe from each side and then they worked.'[end quote] leads me to suspect there is a bad earth /neg connection in the brake light system
Any reasonably qualified Auto electrician should have no problem in locating the problem
Do a voltage check AT each light fitting !!
Before you jump , THAT should be your first step.
If no voltage then check at the van plug from the brake light terminal to the NEG term ...If voltage 12V+ there, check between the brake terminal & the VAN Draw bar[ [ needs to be to clean metal]
IF 12v+ there you may have a fault in the van stop lights earthing wiring
The only way to find the problem is a step by step process
But LEDs could be more problems.
PeterQ
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Thursday 14th of August 2014 12:07:13 AM
I picked up my new 12x6 cage trailer a few months ago hooked it all up and no brake lights or left blinker, checked every thing ,the bulbs changed the conector plugs
So in desperation I pulled the pluge on the trailer apart and found the when they wired it up they did not stip the insulation of the wire so the was no power going to
the brake lights or blinkers. so I pulled all the wise out and striped them all back rewired and fixed the problem . Some times it is the simple thing that gets overlooked.
Cheers
The Hats
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It is better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. :D
If you put led's on the caravan, then you will also have to fit resistors to the led's or get a wiring loom from ford that has the resistors in it
The canbus system in the ranger does not recognise the power load of the led's and makes the lights blink
Ken
The adaptor adds resistors in parallel with the LED lights to simulate the current draw of the correct sized incandescent globes to fool the BCM into thinking that globes are being used so that you don't get the globe failure errors.
Good onya Phil, thanks for the info. I will let my mate know what's going on and I will post you as soon as he gets a positive result.
Thanks again. Regards Vince
Hey Phil C
My mate got the auto sparky back and he has replaced the 4 globes with 4 LED, no extra equipment installed and it seems that the brake lights are now working OK. I thank you and everyone else for their input, this is a good way to obtain very helpful information and a solution.
Thanks again, Vince.
