Strange intermittent fault on 13 pin socket

[Mike Johnson]

Check the news. It’s been p1ssing down all weekend in Scotland.
Yellow warning, don’t travel if you don’t need to, all that.

I got soaked just hooking the caravan up.


Different world down here in engerland.

40 deg's in my Greenhouse today.

 

[littlespark]

40 deg's in my Greenhouse today.

That’s not a surprise.

That’s like saying it’s 200 degrees in my oven.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Except my greenhouse does not have any electrical heating elements.

 

[littlespark]

Except my greenhouse does not have any electrical heating elements.

No… but it’s designed to not lose heat very fast.
The whole point of a greenhouse is to grow stuff better than it would left to the outside elements….

 

[Mike Johnson]

My tomatoes did better outside this year.

 

[mainline]

my caravan isn’t lighting up tail lights, but all other lights work fine.

However… while testing, I got a strange sequence of events.

I’ll also point out that the 13 pin socket has the left and right tail lights on different pins, so whatever it is, is affecting both sides.


Ok.. with vehicle engine running and headlights on, my trailer lights work. Unplug the trailer, plug it back in, lights still work… unplug trailer and plug caravan in, lights on caravan don’t work. Unplug caravan, plug trailer back in, trailer lights now don’t work.
Turn engine off, back on, and trailer lights come back on….

This can be repeated a number of times.


The trailer plug is a 13pin plug, but with only the 7 pins needed for lights. Caravan is full 13 pin


Either the relay in the vehicle is faulty, or could there be a relay box in the caravan?

Trailer is just plug, wires and lamps.

I’m going to buy a new 13pin plug for caravan and replace that, and maybe get a tester unit. Quite cheap on Amazon, so see how it goes.

Peugeot even the older ones will shut down the circuit in the case of a fault
some modern stuff has to be programmed to tell the modules that it has a trailer as abs, esp etc is effected also it turns off certain lights on the rear of the vehicle when trailer socket is connected.
Some others need a relay interface when running non led lamps
Some others when swapping to led need resistors to get the correct load

 

[brianmoooore]

It's not clever shutting down all the tail lights on a trailer without a very visible dash warning, even if it is protecting the vehicle wiring. Could lead to a very nasty rear end collision.

 

[Mike Johnson]

some modern stuff has to be programmed to tell the modules that it has a trailer as abs, esp etc is effected also it

Oh extra sensory perception.

 

[littlespark]

I know it’s not clever.

I’ve tried very hard to travel only in daylight, so I don’t need the lights…..

 

[mainline]

Oh extra sensory perception.

ESP is a system designed to help counter a loss of traction on the road. Another commonly used term for such systems is ESC (electronic stability control). You'll find different manufacturers have their own names, but most systems work in a very similar way

 

[nicebutdim]

ESP is a system designed to help counter a loss of traction on the road. Another commonly used term for such systems is ESC (electronic stability control). You'll find different manufacturers have their own names, but most systems work in a very similar way

Mitsubushi's AYS was unnerving. Just as the car should have been headed sideways it suddenly straightened itself. Downright dangerous I thought.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I only know about the use of a LSD not necessarily on a car.

 

[nicebutdim]

I only know about the use of a LSD not necessarily on a car.

You surprise me

 

[Mike Johnson]

Teenage years in the 60's where really something you had to be there.

 

[mainline]

It's not clever shutting down all the tail lights on a trailer without a very visible dash warning, even if it is protecting the vehicle wiring. Could lead to a very nasty rear end collision.

If a lamp has gone, then it's not going to work anyway.

It only shuts down the faulty circuit.

 

[mainline]

my caravan isn’t lighting up tail lights, but all other lights work fine.

However… while testing, I got a strange sequence of events.

I’ll also point out that the 13 pin socket has the left and right tail lights on different pins, so whatever it is, is affecting both sides.

The 13 pin is exactly the same wiring as the 7 pin.

Left and right tail lights are separate, one side also supplies the number plate light.

The 13 pin sockets have extra pins for reversing lights + supply etc.

 

[littlespark]

I found it a little weird that replacing only some of the lights on one side then allowed the other side -where I hadn’t changed anything- to work.

If my thoughts are correct, and it’s some sort of overload protection in the vehicle relay, it must be on the shared earth that serves both circuits of side lights.

Or maybe not. Thinking.

That same earth serves ALL the road lights… and they all worked. Just the side lights were off.