Fix It

The Toyota Tacoma is a truck designed to work well with hauling trailers. Like any vehicle on the road, the truck and the trailer must have proper tail light illumination for overall safety, but there can be electrical problems.

Function

A trailer, attached to a Toyota Tacoma, uses a wiring harness converter box for its extra electrical needs. Without this power supply, the Tacoma could possibly have electrical failure from the power surge load.

Considerations

For model years 1999 to 2000, the Toyota Tacoma had a recall of its converter box. With its improper sealing, the box was susceptible to water infiltration, causing an electrical short and no power to the trailer lighting system. Toyota replaced the box and rearranged its placement on the vehicle to prevent excess water exposure.

Significance

Make sure that the lighting system is properly grounded to the frame of the Tacoma. Without a secure ground, the lighting system can malfunction by surging when both the vehicle and trailer have their brakes applied.

Boating has become a popular pastime for many people. With the use of boats as a holiday, correct maintenance of the boat trailer is needed to ensure continual transportation. With the interaction with salt water, brakes on the trailer can become damaged. Contamination of the brake fluid will cause the brakes to not perform to the required standard. If this occurs, you must bleed your brakes, and replace the fluid to ensure they work correctly. This process should be carried out on a regular basis.

Instructions

1

Fill the master cylinder with new brake fluid.

2

Insert a bleeder hose on the bleeder screw of the wheel cylinder of the furthest brake away from the master cylinder. Place the other end of the hose into a glass container of brake fluid.

3

Loosen the brake bleeder screw. Have a helper depress the rod assembly with a slotted screwdriver. This will apply force to the front of the coupler case assembly, forcing out brake fluid and any air bubbles in it. Look for bubbles in the fluid in the glass container.

4

Remove the hose and securely tighten the bleeder screw. Repeat the process on all of the brakes. Make sure the master cylinder does not get less than half full.

5

Refill the master cylinder with brake fluid once the process is complete. Check that the brakes on your boat trailer are working correctly before continual use.