Trailer lights for WOF

[MaxCannon]

Can anyone give me the lowdown on the WOF requirements for a light trailer.

Mine is playing silly buggers. Stop lights are fine. Indicators are fine.
Stop lights and indicators together cause the opposite indicator to flash.

Sounds like a faulty ground but no amount of stuffing about with it has resolbved the problem.

However - checking http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/ro...uirements.html
Seems to tell me I only need brake lights on the trailer if the ones on the car can't be seen.
All the signals on the car can easily be seen, even with a bike loaded.

Can I front up to the WOF station and tell them to pass it with just the indicators working.

[Virago]

...Can I front up to the WOF station and tell them to pass it with just the indicators working.

No - if the lights are there, they must work.

They sure as hell aren't gonna pass it with the wrong indicators working when you hit the brakes.

Check for water in the plug (or socket on the car).

[Taz]

Have you spread the pins on the trailer plug? sometimes they need this to make a decent contact.

[notme]

Even if it was legal, since the lights are all there, it would be better to get them all working properly....anything you can do to prevent someone ramming you from behind (ooh er) is a good thing.

The fault is likely to cost you nothing but time to track down, so have at it!

Again I'm going to shamelessly refer you to my thread here - points 1 and 2 specifically which i have reworded for your situation below:

1. When does the fault occur? You said brake and indicator together - one indicator only? either? both (as in hazard lights)? Does it happen on another vehicle? (if that's easy to test) And when the indicators or brakes are working separately, are they working WELL? i.e. bright, flashing at the correct rate.... When the fault happens, are they flashing at the correct rate and bright or do the brakes go dim when the indicators flash?

2. Have you recently done anything to the trailer or car? As above, you can make sure it's the trailer not the car by using another car. Or for that matter another trailer. See if the fault follows the car or trailer. I realize that may not be practical, but hey if the neighbours have a trailer connection on the car it might be a quick way to save you some effort tracking down a problem on the trailer when it doesn't exist!
Mention if the trailer has been sitting all winter outside and this is the first time you have come to use it. Mention if the last time you used it you took it across speed bumps at such a speed that it bounced 3 feet in the air (and possibly broke a fitting, connector, or wire). It doesn't sound like it's a boat trailer (or is it???) that gets dipped in the sea...if so I would say you should be looking at the connector pins and the bulb sockets for evidence of corrosion.

It might sound silly but do you have the right bulbs in the trailer? Putting dual or single filament bulbs in the wrong places can cause issues. Are the bulbs the correct wattage? If nothing has changed and the fault has come up then this is not likely but worth asking.

It DOES sound like a bad earth - you need a multimeter or test light or both to confirm.

[Taz]

So how'd ya get on?

[Motu]

Trailer lights are earthed through to the car,make sure you don't have them earthed to the trailer frame.