Pressing the brake pedal when I have my fairly recently acquired ABI Manhattan attached causes the reversing lights to come on at the same time as the brake lights. In the meantime the reversing lights do not operate when reverse is engaged. Unplugging the 12s plug stops the reversing light coming on with the brake lights but of course the reversing lights still fail to operate when reverse is engaged.. I anticipate the problem is related to the change of 12s wiring circa 1998/9. Can anyone please suggest what might be going wrong and how to cure it please.
Is this a new fault or has it always been there, my bet is faulty earthing on the brake lights but as said it could be a wiring issue if it's planned to feed reverse lights on a trailer.
It is not a new problem on this caravan which I have had since June this year. I did not have the problem with my previous caravan which did not have reversing lights and which was wired on the pre-1998 pattern! The towcar (a 2006 Mondeo TDCI) has not changed. My previous caravan was a 1983 ELdiss Hurricane.
It's likley to be a wiring issue, can you find and copy a dia for the caravan plug and check it as it sounds like a wire in the wrong place but it could just as easily be earthing, any dampness in the light fittings.
I am still looking and becoming more desperate. I have checked the caravan plugs and car sockets. They were correctly wired. I have checked the light clusters and yes I did find them wet / dirty inside but remedying this has left the problem still present. I have visually inspected the caravan wiring and can find nothing obviously amiss although of course it is party hidden from easy view and I do not have the advantage of a wiring diagramn to work from. I am still left with a situation in which the reversing lights operate in sympathy with the brake lights and fail to respond to engagement of reverse gear. As a temporary expedient I have disconnected the yellow wire in the caravan 12s plug and insulated it. Now I no longer get the problem of the reversing lights coming on with the brakelights but of course I still have no reversing lights.
so if the yellow wire is plugged to the wrong pinn in the first place!! trial and error try putting in some of the other pinns with reverse selected just to see if it works from one of those.
however reversing lights arent actually a necesity but i would be wanting them working if i had them