Trailer light on dash not working...???

[mvpagent1]

Hy, I have a DII with factory Tow package. I thought that the light is supposed to come on in the dash and readjust brake bias and so forth when towing. Is this true or not... I see that I have the light on the dash and it comes on when I start the vehicle but thats all. BTW I don't have ACE or SLS. Any comments appreciated.

 

[RoverRon]

The trailer light on my DI flashes once when I first turn the blinker on. On my wifes DII it dosn't flash at all with the blinkers.

 

[mvpagent1]

Thanks for the reply, if anyone else has experience comments would be appreciated..Thanks!!!

 

[edthediscoman]

I wish mine would stay off when I turn on the blinkers...
Its kinda distracting, as you think you might have a trailer following you.
Or something else is going wrong and there is an idiot light flashing on the dash.

 

[Rocky]

Trailer light merely reflects the turn signal. There is no built in electric brake adapter. Euro trailers use surge systems and a completely different method of wiring.

IMHO the US system with multiple different types of connectors are nasty and cheap in comparison to EEC systems

 

[jaacina]

Trailer light in dash

What the trailer light in the dash is telling you is that when you have a trailer plugged into your vehicle that the trailer's turn signal is working too. If you don't have a flashing trailer with you turn signal, that side light on your trailer is not flashing too.

This only works when you have the Land Rover plug. My '95 Disco worked that way. My '00 Disco II worked that way. The only problem being that both shorted out due to the left turn signal being the terminal on the bottom and water getting into the plug and shorting the controller out. I fixed the one in me '95 by buying the part from Radio Shack and soldering it in. The dealer replaced the other one under waranty with a generic flat 4 pin with an amber turn signal to turn/brake light convertor. I would of fixed it myself if I had known that they were going to do it that way.

 

[Matt Kendrick]

mine flashes too. i believe with an aftermarket bumper (i have an arb) that has incorporated turn signals, the computer senses an extra signal an assumes "trailer". i've had it reset three times and it keeps appearing, although, at this point i don't give shit. just like stoplights and the rest of the dash lights, i really can't see them anyway.

 

[thalassa]

i purchase a flat 4 connector plug from british american. the trailer dash light does not operate . is it in fact true that you must hava the oem trailer wiring kit to affect this operation ?

 

[syoung]

No- that's not true- ANY extra load on the turn signal circuit will set off the flashing trailer icon. That's why people without any tow wiring who wire in their ARB blinkers etc will get the flashing trailer lamp. It's a useful tool if you're towing- it's nice to know if the trailer wiring has disconnected or if the load of the trailer has blown a fuse or something. Not having that working was the first indicator I got while on a trip that the cheapo non-Genuine trailer adapter in my G4 had melted and I had no trailer lamps at all.

 

[S Marks]

For those with aftermarket bumpers with turn signals, if you replace the bulb with a low wattage one, i.e. 5w, then the trailer light symbol on the dash will not come on when you turn your turn signals on.

 

[syoung]

That's true- I shouldn't have said ANY load- they can handle LED's or low power bulbs without triggering the trailer indicator on the dash.

 

[edthediscoman]

While on the subject....I printed a wiring schematic from the archives, and wired in a standard 4 pin to the existing wiring harness at the back of the truck. However the trailer had no brake lights....(94 DI - now with standard 4 pin at the back). It was not exactly as the diagram in the archives, but damn close. Turn signals work and we have lights, just no brake lights.
Any thoughts?....(sorry to WTC your thread).

 

[sven]

While on the subject....I printed a wiring schematic from the archives, and wired in a standard 4 pin to the existing wiring harness at the back of the truck. However the trailer had no brake lights....(94 DI - now with standard 4 pin at the back). It was not exactly as the diagram in the archives, but damn close. Turn signals work and we have lights, just no brake lights.
Any thoughts?....(sorry to WTC your thread).

Are you using the convertor box like in the tech article? Cause you need that.

 

[thalassa]

it is a statement of fact that if you are using LED Trailer lights they wont trigger the trailer icon due to the low current draw.

 

[psg]

On my '99 disco 2, I made my own flat four harness using a generic converter(to go from euro separate signal/ brake on the LR to NAS combined brake /signal on the trailer) and my trailer light flashes only when the trailer is hooked up and the left or right signal is activated.

 

[pm_wizard]

I have the factory wiring harness in my 04, and recented twice rented U-haul box trailers, one with LED and the other with conventioal lights. I got out and checked all the lights, so I know the brake and turn lights worked. At no point did I get a lit trailer icon on my dash. This is using the supplied 4 wire adapter to the EC style plug.

As pointed out above, the LEDs do not put enough load to trigger the icon, but it may also have been that the regular lights on the other trailer weren't bright enough to trigger a response either.

John