No Tail Lights on Pop-Up Camper Trailer

Published 12/17/2018

Question:

Thank you Conner I’ll do that. The tow vehicle is a 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac I had previously looked at the wiring briefly and it seems like there is no brown wire coming from the trailer. Only 4 wires go into through the assembly connection I think.

asked by: KC

Helpful Expert Reply:

If the tail lights in both tail light assemblies on your pop-up camper are not working then the first thing I would check is the trailer parking light fuse on the tow vehicle. If you can provide me with the year, make, and model of the tow vehicle I would be glad to look that up for you otherwise, you can check your vehicle's owner's manual.

If the fuse checks out then the next thing you are going to want to do is check the trailer connectors for corrosion and the wires leading into them. If there are no issues here then it would be beneficial if you could narrow down which side the issue is occurring on, trailer/vehicle. In order to do this you will need access to a different trailer or tow vehicle. Once you find out which side the issue is occurring your last steps would be to trace the tail light wire (usually brown) back to the point of origin.

If you have a circuit tester you can pinpoint exactly where the power starts and stops.

expert reply by: Conner L

click to enlarge

12/17/2018

Conner L.

12/17/2018

The fuse you will need to check on your 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac is in the interior fuse box. The #5 15 amp fuse in this fuse box is responsible for the trailer tow park lamps, aka tail lights. If there are no brown wires on either of the trailer connectors and you have a standard 4-way flat with four wires then you will want to check the third pin (see photo).