Mike196 wrote:

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G'day Pete,

         there's a particular way the cabling for the LED lights needs to be done on the Colorado. Most if not all new vehicles suffer the same fault when trailers with LED's are connected up. Your Dealer should be able to make it right.

Regards,

 

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 To the best of my knowledge the lights are not LED. - I'll check tomorrow though.

I do not know about other vehicles, but on the discovery the car computer pulses both indicators every second or two to find out if there is a trailer connected, it then disables the reversing alarms, and enables the anti sway logic in the Discovery.

While there are boxes you can buy to solve the problem for hundreds of dollars, I solved the problem with two resistor as Jim suggested. The resistors need to be connected in parallel with the LED lights (thus they simulate an old fashioned light bulb which has a lower resistance than the LED).

The resistors I used are metal cased 25W resistors, and from memory they were 18 ohms.

Good luck with solving the problem.

Ok folks, I went to check the rear lights this afternoon and could not workout how to take them apart or even off!

 

I have also taken a shot of both rear and brake light showing if that helps.

I have also looked from within the caravan and there is no access to the wiring from behind the pantry either!  I am rather hoping someone knows how to remove the lights so that I can access the wiring to put the parallel resistor on if needed.

Do you think I am right in also thinking that the lights aren't easily opened would mean they are LED - although I thought that the photos showing the lights on looked more like a central incandescant globe (twin filament) ?

 

TIA

Pete

Pete,

when we first fitted the resisters we were worried they may get hot, so we fitted them inside a small die cast aluminium box from Jaycar that we then mounted on the chassis under the van, and we connected it to the indicator wiring there.

Actually I cheated, I made up the box, and I got the mechanic at the dealers to fit it under the van for me before we picked up the van.

I think I would be asking Redarc about this issue before doing anything else.

I can remember a voyager brake controller on one of my vehicles used to turn the stop lights on every now and then with no trailer connected. Turns out it was a fault in the controller and was a known issue.

frank

Cadpete wrote:

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PeterD wrote:                                                                                                                                                                                        

        By the look of your photos they are not LED. In that case the resistors will not help. What model and age is your van

                                                                                                                                                                         

Hi Peter,  The van is a 2005 Trailcraft 540 Panorama.  I have tried checking google and have not come up with anything for this van other than ads for sale.

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 LED lights generally have multiple light sources within the fitting. Your picture looks like one large globe. I reckon 2005 would have been a bit early for LED navigation lights. What do the rest of the members think.

Trailcraft vans were built by Trailcraft Boats. I can't find any reference to them either. They were WA based as I remember.

-- Edited by PeterD on Wednesday 21st of January 2015 02:32:50 PM

Cadpete wrote:

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KFT wrote:

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I think I would be asking Redarc about this issue before doing anything else.

I can remember a voyager brake controller on one of my vehicles used to turn the stop lights on every now and then with no trailer connected. Turns out it was a fault in the controller and was a known issue.

frank

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 Hi Frank,

 

I have already asked Redarc - they say it is the car CAN bus checking the lights.

 

 

    Thanks Cadpete, in that case then there is the possibility the holden people have connected the controller brake input to a canbus wire instead of a brake light wire. It is very likely that the brake light switch is merely a computer input connection.

frank

Interesting chat to the service manager this morning - evidently this is not an isolated case and probably derives from the fact that the rear lights are probably incandescent while the side of van lights are probably LED.  When the CAN is interogating the circuit it can't decide what is connected. They have switched off this check on my car so should be OK now, although there are a lot of 'probablies' in that statement.  Haven't had time to check as I fly out to Brisbane tomorrow and need to get other stuff done first.

Thanks again all for your input.

Pete

i had to put resisters on everything i put less on the back of and plendo they do get hot never herd of them on a brake light .

dibs