Well, this was strange. I went to get the fifth wheel today and when I plugged in the wiring harness, I checked the turn signals, and they were not working. They were not working on the truck or camper. When I unplugged the trailer, they started working on the truck.

Then I noticed something else strange. The radio was completely dead. No clock...nothing. Unplug the trailer, and the radio is back.

Another thing I noticed when I was checking the turn signals is that the running lights were on. This was really strange since my headlights were not on and obviously the DRL's were not on since the truck was in Park. They were much dimmer than normal.

The other thing that was out of place was that the Prodigy brake controller was not showing a connection.

Several attempts and un-plugging and re-plugging yielded no improvement. Same stuff with the turn signals, radio, brakes, running light, etc.

Finally, I shut the truck off and restarted it. Plugged the trailer back in and everything is working normal.

No corrosion in either the trailer plug or truck receptacle.

Any idea what the gremlin is?

My best guess would be a loose/corroded battery connection or even a battery going bad, especially if they are the originals.




Gary

Gary,

I'll check the connections. Thanks! The batteries are only about 9 months old. Optima Yellow Tops.

Well, no problems with the battery connections. Any other takers?

Usually weird electrical problems, especially intermittant ones seem to be related to a loose ground somewhere. Sorry I can't help more than that, just don't forget the grounds when checking wires.

Roger that, a64pilot. Almost all automotive electrical anomalies are grounding related, and the weirder the symptoms the more likely it is a ground issue. I've ran into a couple dandies with headlights/ gages/ low voltages that came back to a crappy ground connection between the engine and chassis. Check, clean, conductive grease, all body grounds. Good luck and keep us posted.