2005 Pathfinder Trailer Lights, Turn Signals

Tiny
FRD1952
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 NISSAN PATHFINDER
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 85,000 MILES
I have a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder with towing and the OE wire harness. The trailer lights stopped working and put in aftermarket wiring on the Pathy including the converter piece to handle the 5 wires to 4, as I also have this on my 95 Pathy. Trailer lights now work, EXCEPT that the turn signals (on the truck and the trailer) now flash twice and then quit, no matter if the lights are on or not when I put the turn signals on. HOWEVER, if I am on the brake (and again ALL of the trailer/truck lights work, including the brake, except as noted above) THEN the turn signals on the trailer/truck work fine. Almost like some relay or something is kicking out the turn signals during normal use, but allows them to work when brake lights are on. Thoughts?
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 AT 6:51 PM

10 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Have you tried a heavy duty flasher?
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Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 AT 7:13 PM
Tiny
FRD1952
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  • 6 POSTS
Hmmmm. Not thought of that one, where would it be located please, and would a hvy duty one be available at any parts store and would it be above a certain voltage or watts or something? I will try this and keep ya posted. Thanks. Frank
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Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 AT 9:48 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
You should be able to get one at any parts store.
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Thursday, December 23rd, 2010 AT 1:03 PM
Tiny
FRD1952
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
WOW.A guy at the local U-Haul place helped me at his store and finally hit upon the solution. He found it on-line (why my searches did not find it I am not sure)and it turned out to be 2 small 10amp fuses up under the dash, above the gas pedal, that were just in-line type in small clear plastic holders/cases and taped to one of the cable bundles. Both were burned out and when replaced the turn signals were back in business. How they worked without the trailer hooked up, why they worked when I applied the brake, etc. Who knows. But in case the issue comes up for others, please know these 2 fuses are up there, and somehow control something that allows trailer turn signals to work.

Thank you guys for your suggestions and efforts to help me out.

FRD
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Friday, December 24th, 2010 AT 2:38 PM
Tiny
FRD1952
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
FYI. There is NO listing at Nissan or any parts store for a flasher for the 2005 Pathy, so flashing must be controlled by some other part or some combo switch/etc. Type part. Even the dealer parts guy could not explain, nor could their service dept lady, how there is no flasher. Oh well, just thought I would pass this along.

FRD
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Friday, December 24th, 2010 AT 2:41 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Chances are it is built into the switch. As far as the fuses, I wonder how it worked at all? Isn't electric wonderful? Thanks to the guy at U-Haul. I wasn't thinking anything fuse related because they worked part time.

Take care and I hope you had a good Christmas.

Joe
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Sunday, December 26th, 2010 AT 6:41 AM
Tiny
FRD1952
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Yeah Joe.I too would have NEVER thought there were fuses totally separate for ANYTHING related to the draw for trailer turn signal lights only, especially when the truck turn signal lights worked, as did those on the trailer when I had the brake pressed in. Technology is great, and even better when I can understand the logic, but sure that the engineers at Nissan had a good reason to do it this way. Just good to know I guess. Thanks Frank.
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Sunday, December 26th, 2010 AT 5:32 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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Glad it's fixed. Take care and let us know if you have questions in the future.

Happy New Year! (And pray for a bettery economy!)

Joe
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Monday, December 27th, 2010 AT 2:17 AM
Tiny
BOBBIDOLLPDX
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
Having the same problem with my Nissan Altima and a Utility trailer, going to go check the fuses right now. Glad I found your post. I'm going to tag this with my search terms in hopes it will help others find it as well.

Here's hoping it works for me too! Thanks for posting!

Tag: turn signal only work when braking with trailer hooked up
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Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 AT 12:32 AM
Tiny
FRD1952
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  • 6 POSTS
Wow. Your note was out of the blue Bob since it seems like years ago that I had this going on, and my setup/fuses/trailer lights have all continued to work fine since the above fix was put in place. Hope it worked out for you? FRD
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Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 AT 5:00 PM

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