Running light problem

I have a 2010 Tacoma and when I hook up to a trailer my brake lights and blinkers work but my running light do not. The reason they do not work is because where you plug in the trailer lights to the trucks hook up one of the leads is dead. Meaning no power. It worked up until last week. So my real question is "is there a fuse somewhere that controls only the running lights but not the brake and blinker lights?"

 

Your trailer lights should be wired independant of the truck's lights via a converter. It uses a separate power lead from the battery to power the trailer's lights. It uses the truck's lights as a signal.
Running the trailer lights off the truck's lights will lead to blown fuses, and burned up blinker relays if the load is too great.

 

If it's a factory unit then yes in the fuse box under the hood. Also some years had a fuse under the dash also but yours should have 2 uner hood. If it's el cheepo aftermarket who knows how it was put in.

 

I have the same problem on my 99 Tacoma 4x4 TRD SR5. First time I hooked up a trailer to the flat 4 wire connector, I got working brake and signal lights but no running lights. Traced it to "No Power to out of factory trailer lights converter". I do have LED Tail Lights on the trailer. Could that be a problem? Anybody have any advice as to a good solid converter with surge/wiring short protection?

 

my problem was is that plug in on the truck side has gotten greese on it and the greece was acting as insulator and also i was counting on the trailer to ground itself on the ball but there again the greese was acting like an insulator and i was not getting a good ground.. and also i simple blow fuse

 

Grease is a good and necessary thing for the electric contacts, but use the right kind of grease. Some grease can insulate, but this is NOT that important of property to actually consider, because the two sides of the socket should exert enough pressure on each other to make contact past the grease. In a pinch, I use bearing grease to protect trailer connectors.

The best/proper stuff to use is called dielectric grease, which is actually an insulator:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease#Dielectric_grease

"It can be applied to the actual contact as well, because the contact pressure is sufficient to penetrate the grease. Doing so on such high pressure contact surfaces has the advantage of sealing the contact area against corrosion."

You should NEVER rely on the trailer ball offering negative for the trailer. A combination of dirt and RUST will almost guarantee a flickering tail light experience.

Note: "ground" is the wrong word. This circuit is not grounded. "Ground" is called "ground" because it is literally a circuit tied in to the dirt you walk on. You are dealing with a self contained ungrounded DC circuit, you have POSITIVE and NEGATIVE. When dealing with AC power distribution networks, often ground is used as negative when a direct current positive potential is established relative to it.

 

The 4 conductor wire from the converter to the hitch was sliced up about midway on the wire. Then it was stuffed back into the wire loom. I think it must have shorted out and blown that part of the converter circuit. I repaired the wire and bypassed the converter for the running lights. Dont think it will be a problem but if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know. Thanks all.
Ron