Trailer light malfunction error message

MattG said:

So, I added two 1N5408 (3 Amp, 1000V) diodes to the two tail light cables in the trailer wiring loom (joining them together downstream) before I then completely rewired the 7 pin flat plug with wire colours that suit the Australian standard. Unfortunately this didn’t initially fix the problem. I was still getting the “Trailer light malfunction” error/warning. So I then I added in the “jumper box” I made (that contains five 21W Narva LED Load Resistors across the 5 light circuits) and hey presto, the error message/warning has disappeared! I can easily mount the jumper box on the drawbar of our camper trailer and use this with any other trailer with LED lights. Phew! Fingers crossed it keeps the Grenadier happy!

Click to expand...

Rainydaytoast said:

I am not an electrician or an artist but this is how i see your set up.

View attachment 7857405

Click to expand...

MattG said:

Yep, the resistors are all connected in parallel with the trailer wires from the Tail lights, Stop lights, Left and Right Indicators and Reverse lights. The trailer wires each connect to one terminal of a 21W resistor AND to the corresponding wires exiting the setup heading for the vehicle. The other end of each of the 21W resistors is connected to ground along with the ground wire from the trailer and the ground wire heading off to the vehicle. There is no resistor on the ground wire nor on the electric brake wire. I have since simplified my setup (having worked out that I only need resistors to the tail and reverse lights). The attached photo probably shows the setup a little better. Hope that helps?

Click to expand...

Mountain4x4 said:

Everything is LED these days, seems odd

Click to expand...

MattG said:

Having changed my 13 pin Euro towing plug to a 7 pin flat plug and installed a Redarc Tow Pro Elite electric brake controller (with diode kit), with the headlights turned OFF, the trailer lights and electric brakes all work as expected. When the headlights are switched on, although the trailer lights and brakes still all work as expected, a warning light comes on in the heads-up display and a "Trailer Light Malfunction" warning message appears on the centre display. As all of the lights in our trailer are LED lights, I suspect this is a CAN BUS error related to the much lower resistance associated with LED lights. Has anyone else experienced this error? I'm hoping that with enough consumer pressure, Ineos might get to work on a software patch. If our LED trailer lights are the cause of this issue, it seems strange that Ineos haven't thought about this already, given that most modern trailers have LED lighting as standard.

Click to expand...

MattG said:

Having changed my 13 pin Euro towing plug to a 7 pin flat plug and installed a Redarc Tow Pro Elite electric brake controller (with diode kit), with the headlights turned OFF, the trailer lights and electric brakes all work as expected. When the headlights are switched on, although the trailer lights and brakes still all work as expected, a warning light comes on in the heads-up display and a "Trailer Light Malfunction" warning message appears on the centre display. As all of the lights in our trailer are LED lights, I suspect this is a CAN BUS error related to the much lower resistance associated with LED lights. Has anyone else experienced this error? I'm hoping that with enough consumer pressure, Ineos might get to work on a software patch. If our LED trailer lights are the cause of this issue, it seems strange that Ineos haven't thought about this already, given that most modern trailers have LED lighting as standard.

Click to expand...