[ericwarren]

T2 Displaying "check lights symbol" on dash when I plug in Airstream's 7 Pin Rec

Hi All,
On my Touareg i just stared seeing a light illuminate when i plug in my 7 prong connector telling me to check trailer lights.
In the message display area it then says check right turn signal, check left turn signal, check brake likes. I checked everything and all lights are working fine.
I've also cleaned the prongs on the receptacle, checked for tight fit, etc.
Hasn't done this at all the past 9 months....just started today.
Any idea why this would all of a sudden start and how to potentially correct?
thanks!!!

 

[aircooled]

What trailer do you have and does it have the LED tail lights? If LED, ake sure the entire array (all bulbs in the housing) are lit. They have a tendency to fail in strips and if this happened, it could drop resistance just below the threshold. Also, check the license plate light for operation. It's an easy one to overlook.

 

[V10]

Change the bulbs in the trailer - could be a resistance difference...easy enough to change and if they are original you may want new ones anyway for safety. Reason I say this, my Thule trailer hitch cargo box which has rear tail lights/brake/turn function which appeared to function well but I could not get the warning to go out so I change the bulbs anyway and it fixed the issue.

 

[ericwarren]

hi aircooled,
thanks.
i have a 2006 19ft international.
it does have led tail lights. as best i can tell all lights that make up the tail lights are working fine. license plate also working. one marker light was out (noticed that earlier today and thought i had an easy fix) but after replacing it didnt make the dash light go off.
i'll try cleaning the connectors on the 7 pin again.
any other ideas?
thx!!!!

 

[ericwarren]

thanks v10.
tail lights are LED. not sure how easy these are to change.
i could change-out more marker lights...would those send a signal to my dash?

 

[Rickanns]

When all else fails, spray a little WD40 into the pins. This often worked for my old boat hook up.

Rick

 

[ericwarren]

silly question but will this go away when i id/resolve the problem or does this light need to be "reset"?

 

[jankovig]

Hi All,
On my Touareg i just stared seeing a light illuminate when i plug in my 7 prong connector telling me to check trailer lights.
In the message display area it then says check right turn signal, check left turn signal, check brake likes. I checked everything and all lights are working fine.
I've also cleaned the prongs on the receptacle, checked for tight fit, etc.
Hasn't done this at all the past 9 months....just started today.
Any idea why this would all of a sudden start and how to potentially correct?
thanks!!!

LED tail lights present a very little load to the output of the controller. Controller uses what's called an open load detection (no current draw) to detect a burned out bulb. In order to rectify the problem, you need to add a resistor in parallel to your lights in order to increase the load. Here's a good resistor to use Digi-Key - TMC25-15-ND (Huntington Electric Inc. - TMC25-15)

This will give you just under 1A draw, while dissipating about 12-13W of power. The resistor itself is rated for 25W, so you don't have to worry about it overheating

 

[ericwarren]

great, thanks! sounds like a good solution, i will do this.
two questions...
1) any reason why it would work without it for the last 9 months?
2) where do i actually wire the resistor? and do i just need one?

thanks again

 

[jankovig]

great, thanks! sounds like a good solution, i will do this.
two questions...
1) any reason why it would work without it for the last 9 months?
2) where do i actually wire the resistor? and do i just need one?
thanks again

1) any reason why it would work without it for the last 9 months?
hmmm...not sure...did you check your wiring from the 7-pin trailer plug to you lights/turn signals? If you have a digital multimeter it would be easy to check for continuity.

2) where do i actually wire the resistor? and do i just need one?
You would need a resistor for each light/turn signal. The resistor would be wired in parallel to the existing light, between +12V and GND.