Troubleshooting Vehicle and Trailer Taillights Not Functioning After Towing Trailer

Question:

Guys, I ordered a wiring kit for my 2009 Dodge Journey. I installed the kit and pulled a trailer with it. Now, the left rear brake light on the vehicle stays on all the time and the trailer lights will not work. I pulled the fuse out of the wiring harness kit and put it back in to see if that helped, and it did not fix the problem. Any idea what the problem could be? Thanks!

asked by: Adam K

Expert Reply:

It sounds like the trailer wiring harness part # 118474 that you have installed on your 2009 Dodge Journey shorted out due to a short in the trailer's wiring and is in need of being replaced.

First thing you want to do is remove the wiring harness to make sure that your vehicle taillights go back to working correctly. There may be fuses on the vehicle's fuse box that need to be replaced.

These harnesses are designed as fusible link between the trailer's wiring and the vehicle's wiring so that if something were to short out on the trailer's wiring the converter box would fail and prevent the short from being transferred to the wiring of the vehicle.

Before you replace the trailer wiring you will want to determine what caused the short on your trailer's wiring and fix as necessary. Common things to check for are cut or exposed wire and corrosion on connectors.

expert reply by: Jameson C