Trailer Indicator Light - Broken by Bullbar Installation

[user 1279]

Hi Guys,

I've recently had a bull-bar installed, and the installers have connected indicators on the bullbar which now causes the TRAILER DIRECTION INDICATOR light (as referenced in the manual) on the dash to be activated each time I use my indicators rather than just when trailer lights are connected (which is a feature I use because I tow quite a bit).

I'm sure the Nissan Genuine bars have indicators on them and that they would install them so that this function still works.

Does anyone know if the ECU can be adjusted to account for the additional electrical load these additional indicators have put on the system so that the indicator would still function only when a trailer is connected … or alternatively if there is some other way that Nissan installs to ensure this function still works ?

Any advice appreciated. I've emailed the installers however I don't I will have any luck with getting them to correct it.

I've attached a photo to show the indicator function I'm talking about (not sure if it's on all models).

http://www.navara.asia/attachments/...ar-installation-img_0727_trailerindicator.jpg

Cheers ... Gregg.

 

[4 naving]

when i had my arb bar installed they had to put in an extra relay as the original one cant cope with the extra load and a trailor connected. This all came as part of the install kit so it must be a common thing. Mine works as it should...

 

[bm0]

4 naving is correct.

I removed my factory bullbar recently and had to remove a rather excessive nissan wiring loom that was installed with the bullbar. Basically for the indicator it uses a relay to fire the additional indicator in the bullbar

basically if you just wire in a relay that uses the factory indicator wire to fire the additional indicator, it should all work as normal.

 

[user 1279]

when i had my arb bar installed they had to put in an extra relay as the original one cant cope with the extra load and a trailor connected. This all came as part of the install kit so it must be a common thing. Mine works as it should...

Thanks ... so you think that when I connect my trailer the relay or fuse will cut out ?

 

[user 1279]

So essentially I'll need to wire in a relay so that the additional bullbar indicators are powered and activated by the activation from the blinker.

Unfortunately I think the electrician who wired them has cut the new blinkers right in behind the headlights. Will this affect my ability to do this?

Is anyone able to knock up a quick diagram about how I'd do this?

Thanks for your help ... Gregg.

 

[bm0]

Mate i have an idea in my head, but to make sure i dont give you a bum steer i will have a look at the factory loom that i pulled out of mine when i took the factory bar off.

I think you will need a relay for each indicator, basically the coil of relay (pins 85 and 86) will be ground one side and existing indicator loom on the other, pin 30 will be 12V+ and pin 87 will be to the bullbar indicator.


ALTERNATIVELY, you might find that by replacing the existing bulbs with LED bulbs (which draw less current) the flasher circuit will go back to normal (because the load will be lower)

 

[user 1279]

Thanks for your help. The lights are already LED so I'm gonna have to go down the path of a relay unfortunately.

Cheers,

 

[Aussie Frontier]

I have the factory bar and the crap harness and relays that go with it . Easiest way is just to repalce a pair of your globes like say the rear indicators with LED globes. Problem solves. If you go more than the 2 main indicator globes you get that extra set of arrows in the dash. Installing 1 pair of led with the other 2 normal globes will solve the problem. I have both front indicators , headlight and bullbar as standard globes and my tail lights are all led

 

[bm0]

I agree...

By the time you buy 2 relays and do the associated wiring you have probably paid half the cost of replacing everything with LED.

The other option for a quick fix is to pull out the indicators in the headlight assembly (which are probably obstructed by your new bullbar) especially if you want to order LED replacements online.
Not sure on the legality of that though, I think if you have a light fitted it has to work.

 

[Aussie Frontier]

Unfortunately you have to keep both lights each side working up front.
The other way that quite a few owners do of 4x4 in general is replace the lights in the bullbar with LED.That will also solve the issue.The only globes that arent LED on mine are the front indicators , everything else is LED.So in the back I have LED for brake , reverse and indicator. The other thing I found is that the wiring in mine to the headlight indicators was actually reverse polarity so LED wouldnt even work in those lights.Easy enough to fix but easier to just install LED globes in the back and they are cheap as chips on EvilBay

 

[Old.Tony]

I agree with the LED solution BUT you need to make sure that they don't have the resistive load on the unit.

The problem with LED lights is they use a very small amount of current, and many flasher cans rely on the amount of current drawn to provide the flash rate. If you don't draw enough current, the flash rate buggers up - so they make LED replacements that draw the same amount of current (dumb, yes I know, but that's how it has to be).

Shop around and try to get replacement globes without that extra load. It will solve your problem.

The only way to do it (otherwise) is to get a relay (one will do, single pole like a horn relay is fine). Put pin 30 to the positive battery terminal (fused, please - 10A is enough). Remove the wire heading to your indicator light (cut it!) and connect the live (not the part connected to the light) to pin 85 on the relay. Connect pin 86 on the relay to earth (chassis). Put pin 87 to your indicator lights.

Pins 85 and 86 energise the coil in the relay, so one is earth and one is to whatever the load is you're trying to switch. Pin 30 connects to battery and pin 87 is the output.

Hopefully describing it two different ways helps everyone to follow - I am a master at confusion sometimes!

 

[joe2006]

What the other guys have said or otherwise take it back & tell them to do it properly.

 

[user 1279]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will try the following options in this order

1) Ask the installers to do the job correctly
2) If no luck with (1) I will name and shame and move onto installing a relay myself as per Old Tony

I think LED is a good suggestion but as mentioned there may still be a risk anyway.

Thanks for the help.

Cheers .... Gregg.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

My ARB Sahara bar did that on my king cab, I just learnt to live with it, interestingly enough though, it only did it in one direction (can't remember which), don't think I ever checked if the indicators actually worked come to think of it though

 

[Hazza]

This may be too little too late but I found this thread while finding out info about a similar issue i'm having.

I recently installed LED indicators in my factory bullbar. They look great and the circuit board is encapsulated in resin so no more problems with water getting in.

BUT... now the indicators flash fast. I was towing a trailer yesterday and the indicators behaved as normal, not even the trailer light was coming up while indicating. Just the right number of bulbs to keep the thermal flasher happy.

I have been looking into electronic flasher units. They are spose to be for when you change globes to LED but some are still good for 20 odd amps. Doing some quick calcs 16-17A gives you 200W worth of globes. Not sure the wattage of standard indicator globes.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-Pin-El...=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ad4bdd6c1

As far as i can tell a chip controls the time of the flash not the current draw of the circuit. Not sure if the one above is the right pin out I need to do more research, there's heaps of them on ebay. Better grab a spare too coz i don't know how reliable they are.

Hope that helps and i don't set your cars wiring on fire

If anyone has played with these electronic timers I'm keen to hear an outcome. At 12 or so bucks hopefully this is an easy solution to both our problems.


Cheers.

 

[Aussie Frontier]

As per Euro spec the traficators are actually current driven.Thats so that of a globe breaks the unit flashes faster to indicate there is a problem. We do not have a timer circuit unfortunately. Most people install a load resistor which negates the purpose of the low current led globes anyway