Power to trailer

[RonD]

No, you need another 3 to 2 wire converter

ASSUMING................your trailer has a 4 wire plug in, so is a 2 wire setup

 

[Jimmyt321]

Waiting for the Hopkins converter to get in at auto parts store. And now I notice I have no tail lights.
Blinker, brake, and reverse all work. All electrical works except the tail lights. Tested with circuit tester.
Underneath, where I cut out the old converter, 5 trailer wires. All tested good with the tester except the tail wire. I grounded the white ground wire on the truck, still same result.
All the wires are in good shape as far as I can see.
Thanks

 

[RonD]

Brown wire is the tail lights, Park lights
Are the front lights working?

If not check fuse 3 in cab fuse box

 

[Jimmyt321]

Yep.
Nothing coming from the brown.
Red, yellow, green all power.
Headlights work.
Fuses all good. Bulbs good.
I typed the situation into google. Exact scenario more common than I thought. But it always seems to be associated with trailer wires/harness. Didn't see any real solutions but ground problems. Inside the tail light itself, the white ground is firmly grounded to the truck.
Looking at the ground and the wires leading away from where the 4 flat would be, all the wires are in good shape...no cracks, splices, etc.

 

[RonD]

So do the FRONT Park lights work?




Just FYI I tested my trailer lights today and the left signal has no output on trailer connector, it does have 12v for brake lights, so my 3 to 2 wire converter is bad, its factory so 28 years old, I tell you NOTHING LASTS any more

Just ordered this one: https://www.trailerjacks.com/image/cache/catalog/118325-1000x1000.jpg

It is what is in there now, a Tekonsha 118325 was the part number I used, for 1993-1999 Rangers, 3 to 2 wire
No wiring needed, unplug the bad one and plug in the new one, hopefully, lol

Truck lights all work and trailer lights just no left turn flash, but its no ones business but my own on which way I will be turning, right?
LOL

 

[Jimmyt321]

I take it all back. Evidently I didn't know to check both sides of the fuse. Just checked the one side with the circuit tester.
( That's my electric no how).
Yes, # 3 was burnt.
Geez. Sorry.
Thanks!

 

[don4331]

So do the FRONT Park lights work?




Just FYI I tested my trailer lights today and the left signal has no output on trailer connector, it does have 12v for brake lights, so my 3 to 2 wire converter is bad, its factory so 28 years old, I tell you NOTHING LASTS any more

Just ordered this one: https://www.trailerjacks.com/image/cache/catalog/118325-1000x1000.jpg

It is what is in there now, a Tekonsha 118325 was the part number I used, for 1993-1999 Rangers, 3 to 2 wire
No wiring needed, unplug the bad one and plug in the new one, hopefully, lol

Truck lights all work and trailer lights just no left turn flash, but its no ones business but my own on which way I will be turning, right?
LOL

It keeping you out of the fast lane and saying you $$$.

 

[RonD]

Just trying to help out, after all whats life without a little mystery

"Jeeze, which way is that A-HOLE with the trailer turning???"

Just trying to improve one life at a time

 

[dirtymike]

Wisdom is spoken soft and slow, Most hear but fail to Listen.

 

[Jimmyt321]

Well, got the converter, spliced it in. Blinkers, tail light, brakes all powered up on 4 plug tester.
Trailer plug was in bad shape looked like they dragged it on the concrete. Spliced in a new 4 wire. Trailer lights didn't work until (as shown in picture) I took the black wire that was loose and connected it to the white two spliced grounds. Everything worked then. That black wire was loose. Well, it all works, but is that a ground? I did notice, that before I connected it to the white wires, it showed power with the 12v tester. Should I keep it connected to the two white grounds?
Thanks!

 

[RonD]

Good work on getting it going

On a 4 wire trailer connector
White is ground
Brown is Park/tail light
Yellow is Left turn/Brake
Green is Right turn/Brake

Not a Ford thing just a Trailer thing, lol

 

[Jimmyt321]

I know. That's how I have it wired.
What I want to know is, there is a 5th wire, coming from the trailer. Black wire (as shown in the pic)
All works fine, like it should, only when I connect the black wire to the white. grounds.

 

[sgtsandman]

If you have a basic trailer with no brakes, all you need is the four wires for the lights.

From a quick internet search, it looks like the 5th wire is for trailer brakes but it’s supposed to be blue. The 6th wire in a 7 pin is red or black for the trailer battery.

Trailer Wiring Diagram: A Complete Tutorial | Edraw

This article contains everything you need to know regarding a trailer wiring diagram, its applications, its different types, color codes, its different pin diagrams, and connectors.

www.edrawsoft.com

 

[RonD]

+1 ^^^

While there are "standard" wire colors used and accepted by most trailer builders there are no "must use" rules

Black is not a "standard" color used on trailer wiring, but people often use black wire as a ground color, like red is a 12volt color

So a previous owner may have added a ground wire to fix a problem
But all just guessing since the Black wire wouldn't be a "factory" wire from a trailer maker

 

[Jimmyt321]

Yep.
It was such a mess back up by the tongue. Red and white spray paint. The white ground that connected to the 4plug led to a cut. The black wire was spliced into the ground wire right up where they disappeared, and like you said Ron, the black is now the ground.

(I see an old cut blue wire, but this 50 year-old popup is small. 9 ft closed and right about 900 lbs. Can't imagine it had brakes).

Thanks for all your help everybody, very much appreciated!
Jim