Sled Deck Light Issue

[armascott]

Good day, I know there is a few threads on sled deck wire issues I scrolled through them but I didn’t find anything that relates to my issue.

So I just transferred my Marlon deck to my new truck today ( which has the factory 5th wheel wiring in the box ). I plugged the wiring in and the lights work fine but the issue is when there is no lights on in the truck no key in it no nothing the sled deck light strobe very faintly. No idea why, any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[09 arctic cat m8]

I’m not sure I know my sled deck is a 4pin flat and I plug it into a 7way style plug and into my truck box plug and it works well sounds maybe like a grounding issue or a light bulb

 

[tex78]

Bad ground 100%

 

[armascott]

Bad ground 100%

On the truck side or deck side? Truck is brand new, and the sled deck was on my last truck until this morning with no issues. I literally picked the deck up with the forklift and went from one to the other.

 

[tex78]

On the truck side or deck side? Truck is brand new, and the sled deck was on my last truck until this morning with no issues. I literally picked the deck up with the forklift and went from one to the other.

Your 100% sure it's wired right eh, meaning to code as far as pin locations

 

[armascott]

I'm pretty sure, went from a 16 Chevy in which I had a hitch shop put a 7 pin connection in the box for me to a 19 Ford with the factory plug in the box. And let the Ford jokes start now lol

 

[catinthehat]

I'm pretty sure, went from a 16 Chevy in which I had a hitch shop put a 7 pin connection in the box for me to a 19 Ford with the factory plug in the box. And let the Ford jokes start now lol

There is something wired different in the new fords.
My brother in law had issues with his when he tried to hook up his sled trailer, there is constant power on the signal or brake pin.
Sorry, can't remember exactly which it was. Probably wasn't paying much attention when he was telling me.

 

[TROLLCAT]

Do you have a trailer brake control ?

in the new ford prolly leakin electrons

 

[freeflorider]

Led lights (if deck is equipped) will do funky things too with low voltage etc. I’m thinking catinthehat is onto things here, best way is shut the truck down and use a multi meter to see if there is any current coming from the truck. Don’t think your deck is the problem but may have to rewire the plug for it to work properly.
if I’m not mistaken Ford has the wiring diagram right on the cap.
congratulations on the new ford...a real truck lol, yah going to get picked on for that comment.

 

[tex78]

I'm pretty sure, went from a 16 Chevy in which I had a hitch shop put a 7 pin connection in the box for me to a 19 Ford with the factory plug in the box. And let the Ford jokes start now lol

Speaking of that

Yes I have seen my buddy's new Ford do the same thing, real faint but you can see it

I. D ask the dealer whats up

 

[tex78]

I bet a trailer will do the same thing plugged in too

 

[brew_doo]

Flip Over Read Directions

 

[cattechsummitrider]

on some new trucks the way the trailer plug works is it needs to sense a load to supply power in that circuit and your deck LED's might not give enough resistance, figure out what terminals in the truck plug are - and tail light and use a good old fashioned test light between them it should light up

 

[armascott]

So I’m still having a issue with my lights. Went to the dealer and according to them the truck side is fine. I looked over my wiring and didn’t find any bad wires etc. On my deck there is only a brown, green and white wires. What terminals on the 7 pin connection should each wire go to?

 

[Dawizman]

Probably not a wiring issue. It's likely because the lights on your deck are low power LED, and the truck is applying a low voltage to detect a trailer hooked up. I bet if you wired in a 4ohm 50watt resistor in the light circuit on your deck, the problem would disappear.

Link to a resistor:

 

[armascott]

Sorry I’m not much of a electrician (as you can probably tell). I’m guessing this resistor would go on the running/park light wire correct?

Also with the deck plugged into the 5th wheel connection the truck thinks that there is a trailer attached. This is turning off the park assist, blind spot detection stuff etc. I’m wondering if I remove all the brass connections on my sled deck plug that aren’t being used would this make the truck not recognize that something is plugged in and just power the running lights.

 

[Dawizman]

Sorry I’m not much of a electrician (as you can probably tell). I’m guessing this resistor would go on the running/park light wire correct?

Also with the deck plugged into the 5th wheel connection the truck thinks that there is a trailer attached. This is turning off the park assist, blind spot detection stuff etc. I’m wondering if I remove all the brass connections on my sled deck plug that aren’t being used would this make the truck not recognize that something is plugged in and just power the running lights.

Yes, the resistor would wire in just the same as you would wire in another marker light on the deck. Tap in to the hot wire from one side of the resistor, and ground with the other. The resistor I suggested is basically just a 50watt load, no different than a 50 watt incandescent lightbulb, except it doesn't produce any light.

I'm not entirely sure what the Fords look for when detecting a trailer, but it's a reasonable assumption that it's looking for marker lights. I doubt removing the unused ( and assumingly unconnected) pins will change the truck detecting a trailer.

 

[LBZ]

Or just pop a taillight out and tie into the wire for tail lights nicely (not a scotch lock) and everything will be a ok.

Did this in my last two trucks with a small 2 wire plug just inside the box for the deck to plug into for when I want to take it out.

 

[Dawizman]

Or just pop a taillight out and tie into the wire for tail lights nicely (not a scotch lock) and everything will be a ok.

Did this in my last two trucks with a small 2 wire plug just inside the box for the deck to plug into for when I want to take it out.

Exactly how mine is done as well. I just assumed the OP didn't want to modify his new truck.

 

[armascott]

Thanks for the replies, I have a few things to check. I don't want to wire into my taillights because I use my truck for work also and am taking the deck off and on a fair bit.