Troubleshooting Trailer Light Malfunctions on a 2009 Honda CR-V

Question:

The install was fairly simple once the panels were off. The two connectors mated up with a click and the ground wire attached to the ground post that already had 5 or 6 wires attached to it. BUT none of the trailer lights work. Where do I start troubleshooting?

asked by: James T

Expert Reply:

From what I understand, at first, none of the lights worked. Now, with a trailer connected and the running lights on, you get a hot signal with every connection. First, you will have to disconnect the trailer to do some testing. Start by using a circuit tester to test the wires going in to the converter. Test each function separately. Turn signals, tail lights and stop lights. If these are all correct, move on to the wires coming out of the converter.

Test each function again for these wires. The Green wire on the harness should be right turn and stop. The Yellow wire should be left turn and stop. The Brown wire is running lights. White is ground. If they do not match the signals coming in to the converter, then you have a bad converter that will have to be replaced.

If everything checks out on the vehicle side, you most likely have a ground problem with the trailer. Check all the ground connections, the ground at the front of the trailer, where all taillights are mounted to the light brackets, and where the light brackets are mounted to the trailer frame.

One other possibility is if there are too many lights on the trailer, the amperage draw might be too much for the converter to handle when the taillights are on. If this is the case, you will need the Tekonsha # 118427.

expert reply by: Michael H