LED Trailer Lights Stay on Dim with Curt Wiring Harness C56217 on a 2013 Toyota Highlander

Question:

I have the Curt C56217 trailer light harness on my 2013 Toyota Highlander. All trailer lights work fine when tested but the rear LED trailer lights stay on when the car is off. The LED lights are very dim. Less than running light intensity. No other running lights on trailer stay on. Only the two rear lights. Is there an easy fix for this?

asked by: Gary

Expert Reply:

Curt trailer wiring harnesses that have a powered converter like # C56217 do have this issue on trailers with LED lights. What is happening is because the converter is using 12 volt vehicle power to power the trailer lights, it is always energized. When the vehicle is off and the trailer lights are not activated normally there is a small amount of power flowing through the system.

Since LED lights draw very little power the slight amount of juice flowing through the system will light up LEDs slightly.

The easiest way to correct this issue is to just unplug the trailer. Another option is to install load resistors, # DI34ZR, on each affected circuit. A load resistor will increase the amount of draw on the system and should be enough to cancel out the tiny amount of power that is going through the system.

expert reply by: Michael H