# Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (already searched and need help ASAP)



## PJF (Feb 28, 2004)

I recently had VW install the factory hitch and I just had a chance to hook it up today. First, the "Check Trailer Lights" and "Please Check Brake Lights" warnings came up in the display. The lights seemed to be fine in on the trailer and the turn signals worked. The trailer turn signal indicator even switched on inside the speedo. It was daytime and I was by myself, so I could not see if the trailer brake lights were working or not. Also, the lights seemed to have a faint flashing in them when the turn signals were on. 
Also, I bought a Tekonsha Envoy and followed the forum instructions for making the factory plug in harness. I looked under the dash and found the connector and hooked it up no problem. Here is the thing though. Even with the trailer hooked up, I seemed to be getting no power to the Envoy. It should have a green light when hooked up to the trailer and the lights should turn red when the brakes are applied. I was getting no light at all. I had only twisted the wires to test the controller and had not soldered them yet, but I think they all had good connection with each other.
So, my question is what is the issue with the light warnings and why no power to the factory plug it seems? I plan to take the trailer this weekend, so help ASAP would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Pat


----------



## PJF (Feb 28, 2004)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (PJF)*

No one that can offer any help?


----------



## henna gaijin (Jun 30, 2005)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (PJF)*


_Quote, originally posted by *PJF* »_No one that can offer any help?

I only have guesses without more info:
If you have LED lights on your trailer, that would account for the warnings and flickering. The solution would be to add resistance somewhere in the light circuits.
There is also the strong probability that your brake module is set to Europe spec, not NAR spec. This was the case with my '05 V8 after the dealer installed the hitch. I used a VAG-COM to change the setting, but a dealer can do it in about 5 minutes.
Beyond that, I have nothing.
HTH


----------



## [email protected] (May 22, 2007)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (henna gaijin)*


_Quote, originally posted by *henna gaijin* »_
If you have LED lights on your trailer, that would account for the warnings and flickering. The solution would be to add resistance somewhere in the light circuits.

HTH


If your trailer has LED lights there is a very minimum power draw to the trailer. By adding resistors there will be enough current draw that the truck recognizes there is in fact a trailer hooked up.


----------



## leebo (Dec 17, 2003)

Is there a resistor that is suggested? Perhaps something that would fit in-line between the connectors?


----------



## Mr. Bill (Mar 7, 2004)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (PJF)*

Both devoman and aircooled have posted a lot of information on the subject of brake controllers and led tail lights. They both own Airstreams and I believe one of them posted a wiring diagram and proceedures for installing the resistors. I had a lot of questions because I was buying an airstream and these guys provided all the info I needed. Search, brake controller, airstream, LED tail lights. Yes the display will give you a message to check tail lights and brake lights and the symbols will display in the MFI, but a visual check will tell you all is working fine. I just live with it.


----------



## sd986 (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: UHaul VW/Porsche Resistor*

Here is the site where you can purchase the component you may need. https://store.uhaul.com/produc...=4089
You may want to check with MAG to see if they reprogrammed your system to the North American standards. This is the most overlooked step when having dealers install the hitch. I believe you will still need the above component if you are towing trailers with LED lights.
I have the UHaul component if you need to borrow one for this weekend. I live in NW Columbus.


_Modified by sd986 at 6:23 PM 5-25-2007_


----------



## aircooled (Jul 30, 2003)

*Re: UHaul VW/Porsche Resistor (sd986)*

You don't NEED to have the resistor pack when towing a trailer with LED's on it, but it will eliminate the annoying CHECK LIGHTS errors on startup.
As for the brake controller, check voltage at the plug, pin 2 and see if you have 12V with meter. The brake problem may very well be in the trailer.


----------



## asherkobin (Jun 5, 2006)

*Re: UHaul VW/Porsche Resistor (aircooled)*

I have the exact same issues you are experiencing. There was no 12volt coming through so the RV dealer hardwired a new connection from the fuse box. As for the LEDs, just ignore the errors, but you have to put your headlight setting on the "always on" position otherwise your trailer tail lights will blink erratically which is unsafe and can probably get you pulled over.
--
Asher


----------



## DicknNancy (Nov 6, 2004)

The other option is to just add a non-LED light to your trailer (extra running light, license light, turn signal, etc.) and wire it into your trailers lighting harness.


----------



## leebo (Dec 17, 2003)

*Re: (DicknNancy)*


_Quote, originally posted by *DicknNancy* »_The other option is to just add a non-LED light to your trailer (extra running light, license light, turn signal, etc.) and wire it into your trailers lighting harness.

That's a good idea.


----------



## pilottim (May 7, 2006)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (PJF)*

Here's a new one. Hooked up my trailer this weekend, first time hooked up to the Touareg, and the brake lights did not work, nor did the right turn signal. Left signal worked fine. I turned on the headlights, and all the lights on the trailer worked correctly, but still no right turn or brake lights. I bought the Waytek 7 to 4 pin adapter 37680. Think the trailer settings were not changed to NA when the hitch was installed? The truck is going in for service on Monday and I'll have it checked out.
Tim


----------



## henna gaijin (Jun 30, 2005)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (pilottim)*


_Quote, originally posted by *pilottim* »_Here's a new one. Hooked up my trailer this weekend, first time hooked up to the Touareg, and the brake lights did not work, nor did the right turn signal. Left signal worked fine. I turned on the headlights, and all the lights on the trailer worked correctly, but still no right turn or brake lights. I bought the Waytek 7 to 4 pin adapter 37680. Think the trailer settings were not changed to NA when the hitch was installed? The truck is going in for service on Monday and I'll have it checked out.
Tim

Prototypical symptoms of a brake module not set to NAR specs.
Easy fix at the dealer or with a VAG-COM.
HTH


----------



## jtringale (Jun 14, 2007)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (PJF)*

I've got my TReg in the dealership right now with no trailer brake lights. They've replaced the electronic control module twice. I've got a brand new trailer and they're telling me the problem is with my trailer!! They're saying the VW hitch, etc. was not designd for my simple little trailer!


----------



## jtringale (Jun 14, 2007)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (PJF)*

Was there a fix for your's?


----------



## jtringale (Jun 14, 2007)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (henna gaijin)*

Did you get this fixed? What was the problem?


----------



## VegasMatt (Aug 30, 2006)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (jtringale)*

If you have no trailer lights, make sure your trailers ground connections are all good and tight, with no paint interfering with the connection. I went through this at first, only to find out the trailer grounded when attached (thru the ball) because of a clipped ground wire on the trailer. Without the trailer coupled, with only the harness plugged in, there were no lights. Couple the trailer, and the lights worked.
To for sure rule out the trailer, try hooking it up to a known good tow vehicle.
Good luck, 
Matt


----------



## wkaml (Jan 12, 2003)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (jtringale)*


_Quote, originally posted by *jtringale* »_I've got my TReg in the dealership right now with no trailer brake lights. They've replaced the electronic control module twice. I've got a brand new trailer and they're telling me the problem is with my trailer!! They're saying the VW hitch, etc. was not designd for my simple little trailer! 

I would tend to agree that the problem is with your trailer - in terms of the electronics. It may be that the wiring is too simple and has no wires back to the car confirming the circuit is working.
I just had the 2006 Touareg V10 in for servicing and I reported that the trailer turn signal confirmation light in the dash is not working. To my surprise, VW eliminated the programming in the trailer module compared to a few previous 2004 Touareg models. 
The problem truly lies within the N.A. specifications for trailer wiring that nobody adheres to or that simply do not exist. Yesterday I confirmed that two different trailers have two different wiring setups and that is just frustrating to say the least.







(Both being brand new trailers - Diamond and Load Trail)
With the Diamond trailer the lights and the feedback to the car seem to have worked as intended. On the Load Trail that I have, it seems that the lights and signals are working but the car would not confirm any of these.
As posted yesterday on the 'Towing With Air Suspension' thread, the 2004 Touareg V8 model displays a second green turn signal indicator light in the dash when I use the turn signals and the car is connected to the trailer. No confirmation on the break lights and tail lights though - and that has been designed that way, as far as I know. You are only supposed to get a warning message when one of the later lights does not work. 
These images were taken with my 2004 Touareg V8 connected to the Load Trail trailer. The trailer module shows programming code 2.
(click images to enlarge)

Turn signal indicator with trailer attached.

Turn signal indicator no trailer attached.
When I switch the programming to 1 on the 2006 Touareg V10, then I get a warning message on the break lights for the trailer not working and in fact, the break lights do not come on any more.

However, I am getting a new confirmation light in the dash that I have only seen for the first time yesterday at the dealership, when we connected the Diamond trailer to the 2004 Touareg V8. Since that confirmation light does not come on neither on the 2004 V8 nor on the 2006 V10 with my Load Trail trailer, I experimented with the trailer module programming on the V8 and changed the programming from 2 to 1. The result was this:

This is the exact same light I saw on the 2004 Touareg V8 with the Diamond trailer connected at the dealership when the programming of the trailer module was set to 2. But in my case, with the Load Trail trailer, I only get this light with the programming of the trailer module set to 1, unfortunately with the warning message about the break lights. When I leave the programming at 2, I get no confirmation light on the V8 with the exception of the second green turn signal indicator, which remains with programming code 1 of the trailer module.
It seems as if the trailer module coding 1 is intended to be for European trailers only that have a loop back to the car confirming individual lights working or not. The trailer module coding 2 seems to be intended for N.A. trailers and the amber confirmation light will come on in the center display with trailers that have the check light confirmation wires installed correctly. However, with this coding 2 the warning messages will not come up. I guess this is to eliminate the ton load of complaints we had with earlier Touaregs being connected to trailers that simply did not adhere to one wiring standard which would be required if you want to check if individual light bulbs are working or not. The coding 2 seems to be the 'safe mode' for VW not getting any complaints, however, you will have no confirmation either, it seems like, unless the trailer is wired as the module would expect it.
Wow, that was a ton load of info. Hope it may help one or the other day to figure out the wirings for trailers. BTW: The trailer module would accept the coding set to 3 but pretty much acts as if it were 1. No idea what the intention was for the setting of 3.


----------



## asherkobin (Jun 5, 2006)

new discovery for me is that there was no 12v power to the break controller or 12v for the RV system. The RV guys did something to get 12v to the break controller (because they installed the break controller). So whatever they did for the break controller, I need them to do with standard 12v pin.
BtW, all the trailer lighting wiring worked fine out of the box. Of course there is the LED issue in which I just ignore the errors and go on with my trip.


_Modified by asherkobin at 6:20 PM 6-14-2007_


----------



## sutter1961 (Oct 12, 2007)

*Re: Travel Trailer Lights and Brake Controller Woes (wkaml)*

Hi- re: your great post of 6/14/07, if you could offer any help to me I would greatly appreciate it. Yesterday I had Camping World of San Bernardino install a brake controller on my '04 V8 to pull a new 24' travel trailer, no LED lights. They tried the Tek. Prodigy and could not get brakes lights for the trailer. I had everything else. They took it off and installed the cheaper Tek. Voyager model. Exact same thing. The controller works fine, I have all lights, except no brake lights on the trailer. We left the Voyager installed. I also have the EXACT warning lights lit when connected as you did with your '04. If I go to my dealer and have my trailer module programmed to #2 from #1, I guess that may take care of my warning lights. Do you think that might give me trailer brake lights as well, or is there something else that needs to be done? I see on other threads something about a brake pedal wire- I told Camping Worlds's installer that and he said a wire was already going from the brake switch. I hope this makes sense.















Much appreciated- Chuck Sutter, Rancho Mirage, CA


----------

