Partial Trailer Light Failure: Check This First

[ncridgerunner]

My tail lights on my trailer quit working.  Brake and signal lights worked fine.  All lights on my truck worked fine.  Being old school I immediately began looking for problems with the trailer lights and specifically for a ground problem.  After spending 1 3/4 hours with my volt meter checking continuity and checking for worn spots in the wiring insulation i realized the problem was not with my trailer lights.  After checking the fuse diagram I found that there are fuses that are specific to trailer lights.  (GM calls the tail lights "running lights") 

 

Took less than 5 minutes to locate and replace a blown fuse. 

 

I'm sure there are several threads that point to this situation but I didn't find a thread specifically relating to this problem.

 

So if you have partial trailer light failure save time and trouble by checking the fuses first.

[dieselfan1]

They have had fuses for trailer lights since 1999 I believe. I had a 2001 2500 HD that had the same trouble. I took it to the dealer since it was new and it had a blown fuse. Boy did I feel like a dumbass.

[HeySkippyDog]

Uhaul's idiot employee blew mine on a 3 day old truck. I sent them an invoice for the diagnosis and "repair" because the vehicle warranty protects ME, not them. I wanted to test the trailer lights using the actual trailer plugged in, but they used a test light with probes and shorted it.

Being a dense idiot should be painful so you don't do it anymore.

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[ncridgerunner]

I can assure you I felt plenty dumb after wasting all that time over a blown fuse.  Live and learn!

 

The only positive is maybe my mistake can save others some hassle.