Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

Hello Fellow MOC Members,

I am looking for help with fixing the trailer light connection on my 2010 Santa Fe. Here is the background info:

The harness is a 7-way blade which worked well all last summer. It uses the pre-wired (tow package) connections for the lights and has a power line from the battery for the electronic brakes. The brakes are currently working fine, but none of the lights work.

I verified that I am not getting power from any of the blades except the brakes (acc.) with a voltmeter.

I visually checked the fuse after the pre-wired trialer harness, the fuse under the engine, and the fuses off the battery for the brakes.

I also hooked the boat trailer up to a separate vehicle and all the lights worked.

Last night I looked through the wires and found the brown one to have a small frey. I cut out this section and spliced it with a butt-crimp connector with heat shrink tubing. Still no voltage shown on the blades except the brakes.

SO...what can I do now. Am I safe to assume that the ground is OK because I can link the blade for the brakes and the blade for the ground and get 12 volts.

Or, is it possible I have some other process from the vehicle shutting down flow to the trailer wiring.

Or, do I need to clean off the dielectric grease that I applied to the connections on the 7-way plug in the back. The instructions specified applying the grease to all electrical connections, but maybe they intended this to be done after the wires were connected.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank for your time in advance,

Kris

Re: Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

I would clean the grease off that you applied to the connectors, make the connection and then apply the dielectric grease. Dielectric grease is an insulator!

Re: Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

Thanks for the response. I find it odd that the brakes and the ground connections seem to work because I applied the grease to these as I did the other connections. But, those two wires are larger gauge, so they may have enough surface area to work through the grease.

I plan to wipe off the wires, then spray with electrical cleaner, and then reconnect. If anyone has any other thoughts before I get to it this weekend, please let me know.

Thank you and have a great day,

Kris

Re: Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

If the cleaning doesn't work. What tow vehicle are you running and is the 7 pin a factory installed version or after market?

Re: Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

I had the same problem with mine. It ended up being the trailer light adapter that plugs into the vehicle and the trailer. I replaced it at walmart and now they work fine. Did you use your adapter or your friends?

Re: Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

Updating this thread:

It appears to be the electric device that connects the pre-wired conections at the vehicle and then to a black box and then to the trailer plug-in. I have power prior to the black box, but none after it.

I am hoping to get a replacement under warranty and all will be right with the lights again.

The vehicle is a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, and it is an aftermarket 7 pin because the prewired connection is only for a 4-blade.

Thank you all for your help,

Kris

Re: Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

Good luck Kris had a feeling thier was an after market box in there some where even if its the box on a 2010 it should have some warranty wether factory put it in or they sourced it out prob just a bad part.

Re: Trailer Lighting Not Working
 

Final update (hopefully):

I received the new electric device that connects to the pre-wired connections and hooked it all up. All lights are now working!

The nice thing about this new pre-wired connection converter is that all the connections are inside the vehicle now. Before, the connections and black converter box were under the vehicle. This is a nice new option that was not available when I first purchased the equipment.

Thank you all for your help,

Kris