Trailer marker lights

[GypsySpirit]

Today I pulled the broken tail lights and wiring off my trailer and put new everything on.  Hooked it up to my truck and I've got brake lights, turn signals, everything I'm supposed to, except the marker lights on the side.   The directions for installing them were vague, and this is the first time I've done wiring but I have no clue.   The directions simply stated to connect them to the other wiring.  One brown wire, one white.   White has been ground all along, so I grounded it and spliced in the brown.  Turned on the lights and nothing on those side markers.   It's probably hard to figure without seeing it, but did I miss something?

 

[Trebor English]

Did you connect the brown wire to the wire for the tail lights?  Do the side lights come on with the turn signals or brakes?  

Are the new lights LED or regular incandescent?

 

[GypsySpirit]

Brown to brown. side lights do not come on at all. They are regular incandescent.

 

[highdesertranger]

sounds to me like you did it right. get your meter out and check for hot and ground at the lights. highdesertranger

 

[tx2sturgis]

Is this an old trailer?

Are you sure that the marker light bulbs are good? Sockets are clean and not rusted or faulty? The ground wires, are they grounded to the trailer frame or to a plastic insulated washer or screw or something? If so, is the trailer frame well grounded? 

Do you have a test light?

 

[closeanuf]

Grounds will drive you CRAZY!!!!  Bare metal is the key.  Painted metal is not your friend.

 

[Trebor English]

Brown to brown.  side lights do not come on at all.   They are regular incandescent.

Is the left side marker light brown wire connected to the right side marker light brown wire?  They also need to be connected to the tail light wire.  Did the instructions say which color wire is the one for tail lights?  It is likely brown.  The 4 pin plug has one pin different from the other 3.  That's ground.  The one next to it is tail lights and marker lights.

 

[GypsySpirit]

Going to try sanding the frame in a spot and ground there. Thinking that's probably what my issue is. Thanks!

 

[highdesertranger]

the white wire must be grounded on both sides of the hitch. if it's not grounded to the trailer frame the trailer must ground through the ball, not the best situation. highdesertranger