Toad Electrical Gremlins

[Brooks]

I have an electrical question for you. Two days ago the wife and I packed up and took off for the summer we hooked the car up and checked the lights all was good now today we hooked the car up and when I turn either signal on both taillights on the car flash and both backup lights on the RV flash ( along with the proper taillight ) and when I put the brakes on the lights on the car work but both backup lights on the RV come on along with the taillights but when I unplug the car the RV lights work fine. Could the diodes I installed on the car taillights ( 7 years ago ) be bad?

[Morich]

I would lean more toward a fault in the tether between RV and car or at one of the connections before the diodes.
I don't think of the diodes as being involved with the backup lights on the RV.

Maybe do some sorting by disconnecting the car, verify the RV wiring is working right. It could be as odd as something like a rock mashing the connector right on the RV but I suspect not. Just good to check and find which way to move.
If RV all good without tether, then connect only the tether before adding the car and retest.
If RV and tether are both working without car connected, then you may need to move to some method of connecting only the ground from tether to car and then a small jumper on each section of the tether wires like one turn signal and then the other as you move through the connections one at a time until you find which work and which fail.

This is a place where some jumper wires with alligator clips on each end can help a lot as it helps avoid running out of hands to hold things! Small clips that can fit into the connections are nice??

Do you know if you have a drawing in the lid of the RV trailer connection? That would be a big help on ID of which wires in the tether serve which function.

If not labeled, this is a drawing that is considered "standard" but not always used! Check before trusting!

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by Morich

I would lean more toward a fault in the tether between RV and car or at one of the connections before the diodes.
I don't think of the diodes as being involved with the backup lights on the RV.

Maybe do some sorting by disconnecting the car, verify the RV wiring is working right. It could be as odd as something like a rock mashing the connector right on the RV but I suspect not. Just good to check and find which way to move.
If RV all good without tether, then connect only the tether before adding the car and retest.
If RV and tether are both working without car connected, then you may need to move to some method of connecting only the ground from tether to car and then a small jumper on each section of the tether wires like one turn signal and then the other as you move through the connections one at a time until you find which work and which fail.

This is a place where some jumper wires with alligator clips on each end can help a lot as it helps avoid running out of hands to hold things! Small clips that can fit into the connections are nice??

Do you know if you have a drawing in the lid of the RV trailer connection? That would be a big help on ID of which wires in the tether serve which function.

If not labeled, this is a drawing that is considered "standard" but not always used! Check before trusting!
Attachment 185842

The backup lights are the most confusing but yes I disconnect the tether first from the RV itself and the lights on the RV all worked correctly then plugged back into the RV and unplugged from the car and all lights on the RV worked correctly so I eliminated the tether. Wait I forgot! When connected to the car when I put the brakes on my backup camera would come on when I disconnected the car it went back to normal

[Mtn Charlie]

If ALL of the rear indicator lights are acting strange on a vehicle, it is typically a grounding issue, because that is what all the lights have in common. All the grounds are connected together, so when it is open the activated circuit seeks a ground through the other circuits. That causes different circuits to give different symptoms when activated.

[Cheryl Bisson]

Have you taken apart each of the plugs on both tether, RV, and toad to make sure there are no loose connections at any of the screws securing the wires? Loose screws was a recurring problem for us solved with blue locktite.

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by Cheryl Bisson

Have you taken apart each of the plugs on both tether, RV, and toad to make sure there are no loose connections at any of the screws securing the wires? Loose screws was a recurring problem for us solved with blue locktite.

I actually replaced the tether but like I said the Strang thing is when I unplug the tether from the car the lights on the RV work fine

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by Mtn Charlie

If ALL of the rear indicator lights are acting strange on a vehicle, it is typically a grounding issue, because that is what all the lights have in common. All the grounds are connected together, so when it is open the activated circuit seeks a ground through the other circuits. That causes different circuits to give different symptoms when activated.

Ok so it would have to be a ground on the car because when I disconnect the tether from the car everything on the RV goes back to normal......right?

[cruizerEd]

If your diodes are shorted then you are feeding voltage back into the harness.

I'd start with the diodes.

[Mtn Charlie]

That is because there is probably an open ground on the toad side. The voltage going to the toad lights doesn't see a ground. The closest thing it find to ground is through the circuits of the unactivated lights. That voltage back feeds through those bulbs causing them to illuminate also. When thetoad is disconnected, all the circuits on the RV side have a good ground.

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by cruizerEd

If your diodes are shorted then you are feeding voltage back into the harness.

I'd start with the diodes.

One of my first questions on the forum was if it could be the diodes and I was told no so thanks for the confirmation that's where I will start I will definitely keep you informed

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by Mtn Charlie

If ALL of the rear indicator lights are acting strange on a vehicle, it is typically a grounding issue, because that is what all the lights have in common. All the grounds are connected together, so when it is open the activated circuit seeks a ground through the other circuits. That causes different circuits to give different symptoms when activated.

Thanks for putting it into layman's terms it turned out to be a ground all is well
Thanks again

[Mtn Charlie]

Originally Posted by Brooks

Thanks for putting it into layman's terms it turned out to be a ground all is well
Thanks again

Glad that you figured it out. Happy to have contributed.