Will T-One Vehicle Wiring Harness 118410 Drain the Vehicle Battery

Published 04/10/2014

Question:

My battery keeps going dead and the dealer says its the wire to the hitch. What can I do about this, and is it needed ?

asked by: Pat

Expert Reply:

The T-One Vehicle Wiring Harness # 118410 is not going to drain the vehicle battery unless there is something plugged into the 4-Way that is drawing power. If the power wire for the harness is touching bare metal somewhere it could be shorting and that would draw power. But if it is installed correctly and nothing is drawing power when plugged into the 4-Way then it will not drain the battery because the power has no where to go.

The wire that connects to the vehicle battery has to be there for the harness to work. That is what powers the trailer lights. If you had the harness installed by someone they will need to look at the connections they made. If that power wire is pinched or frayed somewhere it could be shorting.

An easy way to determine if there is some wiring issue or a short on that wire or with the harness in general is to remove the fuse on the power wire (when not towing). If the battery is then fine then there is something wrong in the wiring to the battery or the harness converter box itself and it needs to be repalced.

expert reply by: Michael H