Coachmen Freelander 21 QB TailLight Fuse?

[Grouchyoldman]

I am at my wit's end and if any of you folks can help you'll be a hero!

Our 2016 Freelander 21QB had a bad passenger-side tail light which now seems to have shorted out the entire tail light circuit by blowing a fuse. The brake lights, blinkers, stop lights and backup lights all work on both sides, but the tail lights (both) running lights (on the side of the house) and license plate lights are all dead.

My conclusion is a blown fuse and the assignment is to find and replace it. Should be simple, right? The 2015 Chevy 4500 chassis manual has an excellent diagram of the two fuse boxes and tables indicating what each fuse does. Unfortunately, there is no apparent entry for the Tail light, running lights or license plate light! I have removed, checked and replaced the dozen or so best candidates but none of them were obviously blown, meaning that the little metal "U" wasn't melted.

I believe the Chevy 4500 chassis is sold without tail lights since they assume the end product will have an RV house, or delivery van with tail lights added by the manufacturer before sale to an end user like me. So maybe they have some oddball fusing strategy.

I'm at a total loss and don't even know who to ask. Thus far Coachmen / Forest River has been unresponsive to my inquiries.

Help!

-Grouchy

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. I feel confident someone on the forum will have your answer. Let the forum know what you find and how you correct it. Small not fuses may look good but be bad best to test with a multimeter.

[Grouchyoldman]

Thanks SeaDog.

I declare success! After a session testing every fuse I could reach with a 12V test light probe I found the culprit.

The answer is "F3." That is to say that if you own a 2015 Chevy 4500 chassis with a 2016 Coachmen Freelander 21 QB that has a tail light problem, and you think you've blown a fuse, look no further than the fuse labeled F3 located in the fuse box under the driver's seat. The fuse circuit is cleverly labeled "Auxiliary Parking Lamps," go figure.

To round things out, the tail light unit is manufactured by Command Electronics, model # 03-30L in the configuration: Red LED -- White Incandescent -- Red LED.

It's also worth pointing out that the 03-30L housing is almost impossible to seal against water and if you don't caulk it you'll likely trap moisture in there and blow a fuse like I did.

-Grouchy