Constant Trailer Light Error when not towing anything

[JeffC]

Has anyone experienced the “Trailer Light Error” constantly when NOT towing any trailer ?
I do tow a caravan frequently which I connect to the car using a 13pin to 12pin adaptor (to suit Aussie 12p setup).
All works well when towing, all lights on the car and on the caravan work as expected with no errors.
And for the first couple of months after we started towing, the car would also behave as expected whether towing or not.

However, over the past month, the car now continually throws Trailer Light Error every time I touch the brakes, or when using the indicators It sometimes produces a Trailer Ind Error.

The car is due for a service shortly and I will ask the dealer to investigate while they have the car, I’m just not sure I can put up with the warning ‘dongs’ and error lights at every corner and every set of traffic lights for much longer ☹

Any experience/knowledge with this or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TheDocAUS]

The car can pick up wiring faults in the van/trailer (I have had it happen), but yours sounds like a short or wiring problem in the car.

Have you cleaned out the trailer plug to ensure debris is not causing a short? Worth a try, it takes 2 minutes and costs nothing. I would hose it and then dry it with compressed air.

How To Clean Trailer Plug | Cleanestor

To clean a trailer plug, first remove any debris and then use electrical contact cleaner. Ensure the plug is dry before reconnecting it to maintain a good

cleanestor.com

 

[Tazzieman]

Mine did this when I hooked up a trailer whilst the engine was running.
As TheDoc says, make sure the connector pins/ socket are surgically clean/ dry and the trailer plug internal wire connections are pristine.

 

[bigleonski]

Do you still have the adapter attached to the vehicle? I did this for a few weeks. didn’t get any errors that I can recall, but did get some unexplained battery drain over time when the vehicle wasn’t being used. So there must be something going on there.