Short Circuited Trailer Wiring Harness on 2007 Jeep Patriot

Question:

Hi there, at one point in time the installed harness was working with our boat trailer, but now is no longer working...even a tester will not illuminate. The fuse is not blown, the power wire is fine to the converter. The ground was a bit corroded to the frame, but I scraped bare metal on the lead and frame, reconnected, that did not help. There was a burned piece of insulation on the green wire of the harness exposing the wire, but the wire was not cut, taped it, still not working. I am at a loss as to why it stopped working. Can you give me some direction?

asked by: Steve

Expert Reply:

Since the converter has power entering but not exiting it, it has been shorted out and will need to be replaced. The exposed piece of wire on that right turn circuit could certainly have caused the problem by contacting a metal surface under the vehicle and causing a short.

The vast majority of the time, when a converter fails it is due to a short circuit on the trailer itself. Take a few minutes and closely examine each lighting circuit on your trailer, from the connector itself to the lamp where it terminates. If you can find any breaks in the insulation that would allow the copper conductor to contact the trailer frame, this is where the short occurred. It is important that any wiring problems that exist on the trailer are repaired before replacing your converter, or the problem could occur again. I would also suggest examining the trailer connector on the trailer, to ensure it is not damaged.

When the new converter is installed, make sure that zip ties are used to keep all wiring away from any hot components like the exhaust system.

expert reply by: Mike L