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91-95 Trailer light hookup? Tail light harness?


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Hello, 

 

I am trying to hook up a 4 pin trailer light kit  to my 93 Subaru legacy. 

 

I have Probed out:

 

Break light

 

Turn indicator ( both sides) 

 

and Running lights. 

 

 

 

The questions I have ( and have searched for) are : 

 

-The 4 pin setup lists the break and turn signals as the same   single connection, but  when I probe the plugs   to the tail lights, The brake light and the turn signal wires are not on together  for either function.  How would one  go about wiring this ? 

 

( right now I have it wired for running lights and turn signals) 

 

-Is there a wiring harness somewhere further back I should be tapping into vs  right at the tail lights ? 

 

 

 

The  Wiring kit I have simply says : 

 

" Wiring guide

 

Green wire to right turn / stop

 

Yellow wire to left turn / stop

 

Brown wire to tail lights 

 

White  Ground" 

 

 

Thanks for any help  with the issue directly or being pointed to a thread video or image I was not aware of, 

 

 

 

 

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They sell trailer light converter boxes for wiring cars with seperate brake and turn bulbs into a combined brake/turn trailer output. Like this: http://www.amazon.com/Reese-Towpower-74209-Trailer-Converter/dp/B0008G1NNY

 

There's powered and non powered ones. The powered ones cost more and require an extra fused wire run direct from the battery, but they isolate the trailers wiring from the car, so if something shorts out on the trailer it doesn't burn up the lighting circuits in you car. The non-powered ones work fine for the most part but you are adding the electrical load of however many bulbs are on the trailer onto your cars lighting circuits. They are simpler to wire in.

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  • 1 month later...

Turn/stop use the same side of the bulb so yes that wiring setup is correct.

pre 95  they are not shared :0(

They sell trailer light converter boxes for wiring cars with seperate brake and turn bulbs into a combined brake/turn trailer output. Like this: http://www.amazon.com/Reese-Towpower-74209-Trailer-Converter/dp/B0008G1NNY

 

There's powered and non powered ones. The powered ones cost more and require an extra fused wire run direct from the battery, but they isolate the trailers wiring from the car, so if something shorts out on the trailer it doesn't burn up the lighting circuits in you car. The non-powered ones work fine for the most part but you are adding the electrical load of however many bulbs are on the trailer onto your cars lighting circuits. They are simpler to wire in.

awesome and thank you 

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  • 2 years later...

They sell trailer light converter boxes for wiring cars with seperate brake and turn bulbs into a combined brake/turn trailer output. Like this: http://www.amazon.com/Reese-Towpower-74209-Trailer-Converter/dp/B0008G1NNY

 

There's powered and non powered ones. The powered ones cost more and require an extra fused wire run direct from the battery, but they isolate the trailers wiring from the car, so if something shorts out on the trailer it doesn't burn up the lighting circuits in you car. The non-powered ones work fine for the most part but you are adding the electrical load of however many bulbs are on the trailer onto your cars lighting circuits. They are simpler to wire in.

 

So I got one of these converter boxes from a junkyard.  I think it was from a 2007 Outback.  I plugged it into my 1999 Outback and it's definitely not right.  One of the brake lights on the trailer lights is on all the time, even with ignition off.  The six pin plug is the same at the back of the car but the wire colors are all different (I cut the plug off the car I got the wiring from).  Does anyone have a pinout or wire color chart for the Subaru converter box?

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So I got one of these converter boxes from a junkyard.  I think it was from a 2007 Outback.  I plugged it into my 1999 Outback and it's definitely not right.  One of the brake lights on the trailer lights is on all the time, even with ignition off.  The six pin plug is the same at the back of the car but the wire colors are all different (I cut the plug off the car I got the wiring from).  Does anyone have a pinout or wire color chart for the Subaru converter box?

 

You could use that converter box, but you will need to repin it.

 

 

Turn/stop use the same side of the bulb so yes that wiring setup is correct.

 

NOPE.

 

Turn and Stop are separate bulbs in most japanese cars.  Amber turn, Red brakes.

 

You MUST use a converter box (basically just a few diodes) in order to use a 4-flat trailer setup on a Subaru.

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In case it helps someone out in the future, the pinout for my 99 Legacy Outback trailer wiring connector is:

12V battery         right turn        brake

left turn           running lights     ground

Looking at plug on car with catch at the top.

This is probably the same for many years and models of Subarus although they have different wire colors.

 

The converters seem to use standard wire colors:

white = ground

brown = running lights

yellow = left

red = brake

green = right

large red or black = battery +

 

The converter I got from a junk car seems bad, the left turn light is on when you plug it in.

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