I have an 01 Accord that I put a hidden hitch on it. I bought a wiring harness that plugged right into a pre-existing plug on the tail light harness.
Everything works fine on the trailer, the combo turn/brake/running light and two side markers. If I turn the running lights on the fuse blows after 10 minutes, killing my dash lights and running lights.
It had a 10 amp fuse in it so I tried a 15 amp one, it blew that as well. It currently has a 10 amp fuse back in there.
Whats the deal? I am using a factory connection so they must have planned for the amp draw of trailer lights. And I dont have anything excessive on the trailer, just the required lights from a kit.
I had the same setup on my civic and it was fine, never blew a fuse once.
I was thinking a short somewhere, but it works for about 10 minutes with everything on and working before the fuse blows.
Check all the bulbs very carefully on the trailer.
One of the side marker lights on my boat trailer got a small crack a couple years ago, letting water in. Flipped the headlights on to go home from the launch and “pop”, there goes my running lights.
I’d be willing to bet somewhere you have a bad connection that’s causing the current draw to spike. Either a short or a bad ground. If you’ve got quicktaps in there cut them out and splice, solder and seal the wires properly. Quicktaps on trailer wiring that is exposed to the elements is just begging for corrosion.
Go back to a 10 amp fuse because that’s what the circuit was designed for before you cause major problems with the wiring in the car.
PS, I’ve owned and towed with an 85 Tercel, 92 Tracker, 98 Ranger, 00 Expedition and never had to size up on a single fuse. 15 or more different trailers in all that time, not one had a draw the factory fuses couldn’t handle if the wiring was good.
Since it takes some time before the fuse blows it’s probably not a short, but rather a shitty connection somewhere causing a voltage drop and thus the higher current draw Jay mentioned. Check all your connections and redo/clean/fix any that look corroded, have broken strands of wire, etc.
I agree with JayS, check out the bulbs for damage. I once bought a wrong bulb (off by a number) and having that plugged in shorted out my entire lighting system.
Step 1: Isolate the problem. If you connect the trailer, and let it sit with the lights on without moving does it still take 10 minutes, or is the problem caused by the vibration of the trailer going down the road?
If vibration is the cause, check bulbs and wiring for shorts. If a wiggle test (actual term from Ford manual) doesn’t identify the short then I would disconnect lights one at a time and wait for the problem to stop happening.
If it is truly time related, check all of your connectors and bulb sockets. A corroded connection will heat up and become more resistant as over time.
I had trailer light problems with a bulb in the wrong way. the bulb my trailer uses have 2 little metal nubs on the sides, and one is higher than the other side. I had them in the wrong way. It was the harbor freight light kit. You would think the bulbs would only go in one way, but apparently you can put them in either way.
check the wires going to the bulbs on the trailor, my trailor liked to pintch one of the wires when it was loaded causing a short that would take out the fuse.