Help - toad lights just stopped working

[JerryKelly]

My toad lights just stopped working. I have checked the following:
1. Inline fuse in battery compartment for tail light plug ok
2. 7/4 way plug and wire from MH to car is ok
3. toad tail lights, brake lights and flashers ok

Any ideas?

[JerryKelly]

My toad lights just stopped working. I have checked the following:
1. Inline fuse in battery compartment for tail light plug ok
2. 7/4 way plug and wire from MH to car is ok
3. toad tail lights, brake lights and flashers ok

Any ideas?

[soricobob]

When it happened to us, our bedroom slide switch was faulty, and was shorting out the relay to the toad (go figure). We had no idea the switch was faulty, except our batteries kept draining down when in storage. When they replaced the switch, the toad lights worked again!

[Norm Payne]

Jerry,

Can you give a little more information? Does your toad have separate bulbs or does it use diodes? You said the 7/4 way plug and wire from the MH to the car is OK. Did you check each wire with a voltmeter or did you just look at them?

If you lost all the lights you either blew multiple fuses or you lost the ground wire. The best way to troubleshoot is to check the outputs at the motorhome with a voltmeter and if you have the voltages there the problem is in the cable or car. If you don't have the voltages at the rear of the motorhome the problem is in the motorhome.

[GaryKD]

Hi Jerry,
Make the check Norm mentioned. If power is at the coach, plug the cable in and check for power at the car end of the cable. If you do not have a meter, take the car end of the cable apart and see if the screw holding each wire is tight and the wire is actually in place. The cables are notorious for having the wires come loose.

[Hillbilly2]

With all of the lights quiting at the same time I would venture to say you lost the ground connection.

[JerryKelly]

Answers to some of the questions:
1. Toad tail lights are wired using diodes
2. I have a spare 7/4 plug and wire for the toad lights and it did not work.
3. Toad turn signals and break lights were working and then i tested the flashers and everything quit. All of my tail lights, turn signal and flashers work on the MH.
4. The only fuses I am aware of are in the Spartan wiring harness in the battery compartment and they are ok.


I have a multimeter but do not know how to test the MH tail plug. Please provide some direction.

[Norm Payne]

I don't know how your motorhome is wired and I hope some one can jump in and help you. My Dutch Star has fuses for the lights in the bay compartment in front of the drivers side wheel. If you have wiring there you will find the fuses either labeled beside the fuses or on a chart pasted in that area. Good luck.

[JerryKelly]

I had everything checked out by my tech today. Trailer light plug on MH is fine. The problem was with my toad ground. He ran a new ground and the problem was solved. The wiring for the toad lights was installed 12 months ago. Incidentally, the wires in the 7 way plug were loose and came apart when we checked the plug.

[Norm Payne]

Jerry, thanks for posting the fix. It is always a simple fix once the problem is found.

[Hillbilly2]

The ground will do it every time!

[JerryKelly]

I will always remember that the WHITE wire is the ground. Finding the faulty ground was just a process of elimination. The tech cut the white wire about 1' away from the flat four wire connector and attached a new 12 gauge white wire and fastened it to a bolt.

[KenC-TX]

Sometimes the plug connectors oxidize. You might try using an electronic deoxidizer spray such as Rid-ox. It did the job for me when I had a similar problem.

[JerryKelly]

The toad plug connectors were fine. Since the original ground wire connection could not be found, the tech cut the ground from the flat 4 wire connector and installed a new ground. Everything worked immediately. The tech suspected that the original ground connection was corroded from road salt.