TOAD turn signals/brake lights stop working

[afmedic]

Towing a 2003 Honda CR-V behind Class A motorhome with Blue Ox tow bar and brake assist. Brake lights and turn signals on TOAD work fine until connected to motorhome, then they stop working. Motorhome brake lights and turn signals continue to work fine with TOAD connected or disconnected. Any ideas on what problem may be?

[walt2137]

Check your ground

[Old Scout]

Believe Hondas have Euro-style [separate/amber] turn signal lights while most American made vehicles have combined brake and signal [red] lights. Assuming your tail-lights ARE working, you probably need to add a converter box on your coach to allow it to "talk" to your toad......This will also depend on the degree to which your Honda's wiring harness has been modified for towing....

[l1v3fr33ord1]

afmedic-

If your lights worked before this, then a poor or intermittent ground is likely the cause, as Walt said.

One of the common places for grounds (or other wires) to fail is inside the coach's hitch connector.

Old Scout-

A standard trailer hitch connector has pins for combined left-turn/brake and right-turn/brake. If a converter is required to meet the needs of the toad, it should be installed in the toad, so that the coach's hitch connector (and the umbilical, and the toad's hitch connector) are all standard. Converters should not be installed in coaches if they result in non-standard wiring at the hitch connector.

[afmedic]

Thanks for the replies and advice. I see a ground wire attached to the negative post of car battery and it appears ok. Is there some other ground wire or connection which I should check for poor or intermittent connection?

Another RVer told me that mice sometimes eat away at wiring and that could possible be the root cause.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by afmedic

Towing a 2003 Honda CR-V behind Class A motorhome with Blue Ox tow bar and brake assist. Brake lights and turn signals on TOAD work fine until connected to motorhome, then they stop working. Motorhome brake lights and turn signals continue to work fine with TOAD connected or disconnected. Any ideas on what problem may be?

afmedic,
First, you don't say what kind of year/make/model/engine coach you have. Second, you don't say whether or not, the toad lights used for towing, are the same actual bulbs that the CRV uses for daily driving. You see, some folks add their own sockets and bulbs to the toads tail light housings.

So, to help you with issue, there's some clarification needed. The primary reason we need to know the coach is, some coaches, namely many Winnes and Itascas, utilize a completely different set of fuses for the output of the trailer plugs turn/brake/running lights, than they use for their own turn signals and brake lights. So, it's possible, based on what kind/year/make/model of coach you have, that you're output of turn/brake/running at that trailer plug, is dead, due to blown fuses but, the chances of all of them blowing at once, is highly unlikely.

The first test I might do if I were you is, get your trusty little test light out of your tool box and, connect the aligator ground clip on it, to a known, good ground, near the trailer plug on your coach. Once you've found a good ground, begin to run tests, at that trailer plug.

Start by checking each pin for a designated signal that you're feeding it from the drivers seat. Make sure that all signals, right turn, left turn, running lights, brake lights etc. are all there, at the appropriate pins. If you've got all appropriate signals, at that plug, then, the next test will be to insert the pig tail and, do all the same tests, at the other end, the one that plugs into the CRV.

If you have all the appropriate signals there, your pig tail is good. Now, from this point on, it can get complicated. I say that because, if your CRV has Amber turn signals and, those ambers are being used, then someplace on that CRV, is a "TAIL LIGHT CONVERTER". And, it's possible that your tail light converter has some issues. You see, if it's gone south, your tail lights on the CRV will still work, because they receive signals from the Hondas system, and are not effected by the tail light converter, if you have one, and it is determined to be bad.

And, Your coaches tail lights will still work, and maybe even try to send signals through the pig tail but, if that converter is bad, it is there that the signals will stop. And, it's also possible that what you've been advised of a bad ground, is possible too. So, good luck, and please post what you find out.
Scott

[afmedic]

Thanks for the response FIRE UP. My coach is a 2014 Tiffin Allegro RED, 6.7 ISB diesel engine. To best of my knowledge the toad lights are the same actual bulbs the CRV uses for daily driving. The CRV does have amber turn signals and they are being used when towing. I'm not familiar with a "tail light converter." What would that look like and where might it be found on the vehicle?

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by afmedic

Thanks for the response FIRE UP. My coach is a 2014 Tiffin Allegro RED, 6.7 ISB diesel engine. To best of my knowledge the toad lights are the same actual bulbs the CRV uses for daily driving. The CRV does have amber turn signals and they are being used when towing. I'm not familiar with a "tail light converter." What would that look like and where might it be found on the vehicle?

Hey afmedic,
Well, thanks for supplying the info on your coach. I'm not familiar with the Tiffin coaches in terms of whether or not, they build into the lighting system, an independent Fuse box/panel, for the trailer plug, separate from the fuses etc. for the coaches tail lights. A Tiffin tech (or savvy Tiffin owner) might have to chime in here for a bit of help on that.

But, not to be repetative but, do check your output of each pin, on that trailer plug so that you eliminate any chance of your problem being in that area of the system. Once that's checked and ok'd, then insert the pig tail and check the other end of it, to make sure your pig tail has no issues.

Now, I'm going to link a drawing I made when we were towing an '11 Honda CRV EX-L 4WD. I wired that Honda for toad lights, like I do all my other toads for decades. And that is, what appears to be, the same way your CRV is wired, to utilize the Hondas stock bulbs, as toad lights.

Now, in short, the tail light converter can be one of two designs. It can be a "combiner", in which it takes separate turn signals and brake lights and combines them, to have an output at the trailer plug of a Right turn/brake and a Left turn/brake.

Or, it can be of a design that is a "Separator". In that, it will take a combo-right turn/brake and a left turn/brake and separate the turn signals from the brake signals and, therefore, you'll have the ability for your "Amber" turn signals to work as they should.

Now, what that Tail light converter looks like is small black plastic box, about 1/2 the size of a pack of cigarettes. In your case, it will or, "should" have TWO wires going in and THREE wires exiting. The two going in will be, one for Right turn/brake and the other will be, Left turn brake. The three coming out will be:
1. Right turn
2. Left turn
3. Brake lights

Now, as to it's location. Well, that's all up to who did the install. When I did it on ours, I installed that little black box, right behind the left rear tail light housing where, I did most of the work. Where it is in your Honda, you'll have to investigate by tracing the wires, from the front of the Honda, where the pig tail attaches, all the way along, to the rear tail lights, to see just where someone's installed it.

But, before you go digging around trying to find it and possibly blame it for your issues, do your tests I suggested to eliminate any and all possiblities prior to it. Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.
Scott