Troubleshooting Failed Hopkins Powered Taillight Converter 46255 in 2013 Toyota RAV4

Published 02/09/2017

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Question:

2013 Toyota Rav 4. Purchased new in March 2013, the dealer installed an aftermarket hitch U-Haul and a Hopkins 46255 Power Taillight Converter. In March 2016 the taillights failed so I took it back to the dealer. Vehicle factory installed 10AMP taillight fuse was blown - they said the converter was faulty and installed another Hopkins 46255. In March 2016 the taillights failed again and there was an electrical burning smell in the car so I took took a look at the converter. Again the vehicle factory installed 10AMP taillight fuse was blown and this time the ground wire to the converter was melted see picture. I remover the converter and taped off the wire ends. Note - The converter was never used, since the vehicle was purchased I have never plugged the harness into a trailer. Before I contact the dealer - was the wrong converter used? Is this the root cause for the failure?

asked by: Don

Expert Reply:

The Hopkins 4-pole harness we offer for your RAV4 is part # HM11141820 and this installs by plugging in at your taillight wiring connectors and via a single 12V power wire connection at your vehicle battery. If your vehicle taillights failed after these harness installations this suggests a problem in the converter module itself or a short in the connectors/wiring between the vehicle and the module. The good new is that the unit did what it was intended to - fail before it allowed any damage to the vehicle's own internal wiring. A harness is much less costly than vehicle repairs.

Hopkins part # 46255 is a universal-fit powered harness that has to be hard-wired for installation; it does not have the same custom-fit plugs as the kit noted above. Since this part requires hard wiring there is a chance for incorrect installation.

We have found that Tekonsha brand wiring products have very good reliability so I suggest you replace the Hopkins with part # 118578. It will install via the custom-fit taillight connectors and the one single power wire to the battery.

For your harness white ground wire to fry that way the unit had to have seen a very high current draw, again most likely from internal damage or a short circuit. Since you state you have NEVER connected a trailer, the cause for the failure would then have to be in the vehicle. Check your vehicle taillight connectors for signs of corrosion, bent or damaged contacts or for worn or damaged insulation - anything that could explain the short - and repair or replace as needed. Since the vehicle taillights failed I would pay particular attention to those connectors.

If you had connected a trailer with a wiring issue then that too could cause the harness to fail in the same way. In this case you want to find and fix the wiring issue on the trailer before installing a new wiring harness or the new one may suffer the same fate.