7 Way Camper Wiring Issue

Hey all,

So I have a 97 Coleman pop-up camper with a 7 way wiring plug. When I plug it in to my Tacoma, all I get is the running lights and ALL the lights on the camper light up when I turn the trucks lights on. I got no blinkers, left or right and I also get no brake lights when I apply the brakes in the truck. The electric brakes on the camper also do not seem to work either...

One thing to note: I was rear ended about 3 months ago (no damage luckily, the reese hitch took the brunt of it!) but did have to replace my 7 way plug as it was snapped off in the hit. When I was replacing it with a new Toyota 7 way plug harness, I found that one of the plugs under the bed was rusted and one of the prongs within the plug was so rusted, it pulled out when I unplugged it. So before I plugged the new one in, I cleaned it and took a staple out of my staple gun and bent it to fit in the plug to replace the rusted out prong and secure a connection to the new 7-way wiring harness. I am not sure though if its working given the limited lights on the trailer once I plug into it...

Anyone have any ideas as to things I could check to see if its the truck or the camper that has the disconnect? I frigged around with it this afternoon but got no results... I have a buddy coming over with his truck with a 7 way to test and help tomorrow but I wanted to throw it out to the community to see what you all think.

Thanks ahead of time!

 

Probably not working.
Staples are normally coated in plastic or lacquer to make them stick together and prevent rust.
It is also a good insulator.

You need to have that connector repaired properly.

 

Yeah I was afraid of that... Are there any other options other than replacing that whole plug?

 

It could be replaced with any number of different connectors, but waterproofing is obviously an issue (and the OEM plug obviously wasn't up to snuff, or perhaps wasn't assembled properly).

Replacement options are going to depend on how the connectors are situated and how much slack there is in the harness.
Is there enough wire to cut the old connectors off, properly strip, solder, and replace with new connectors? You're going to lose a minimum of 2" plus the length of the original plug... so likely 4-6" loss total.

 

Well I went out this morning and tested the plug on the truck and it all checked out and everything worked correctly. Guess my fixed worked!

Now that leaves me with the camper... I'm not sure how to begin to trace the issue on the trailer side of things. Anyone have any tips or recommendations?

Thanks!

 

Tested with a load or simply tested for voltage?

If you have a poor connection, everything may look normal until you actually load it down.
The only way to be sure is to have two trucks or two trailers and verify that the problem exists on one or both trucks. Problem on both trucks, it's the trailer, problem on one, it's the truck.

It does sound like a bad ground between the connector and the trailer's main panel.

 

I tested her with both a load and voltage.

I think your on to something with the bad ground. I'm gonna check it out tomorow.

Thanks!

 

UPDATE: I finally got it all fixed. Swapped out the staple plug on the truck for a new one (pain in the ass, there was barely enough slack in the harness to get by) On the camper, it turned out to be 2 bad grounds. I also changed out the 7 Way plug on the camper too as it was old and loose. Now everything works great!

Thanks for the help!

 

When I installed my 7 pin, I made wire very long and put it in the drivers side bed storage area. I just enlarged the middle prong hole of the three and broke off the middle prong on the cover.

I just pull it out and attach to my trailer, over the tailgate. Protect tailgate with a towel. I only tow twice a year and it has solved the rust problem once and for all.