'15 Ram 3500 brake controller
Hi All, Towing my new Montana fiver today I experienced intermittent messages " check brake brake wiring connection" and " trailer brake not connected", it would then jump to normal braking for a fe...
Forum Discussion
I had the same problem with my new Montana High Country 305RL a few hundred miles into it's life. Same messages, same symptoms. After checking the camper as thoroughly as I could on the road, and because of the terminology of the error messages, I took my 3500 (factory brake controller) to two dealerships just to make sure it WASN'T the truck. It wasn't. Here are a few things to check:
1) Like garry1p said, check all the grounds in the truck, and the grounds in the camper associated with the pigtail wiring. The main ground for the pigtail is in the junction box where the pigtail enters. There should be a star washer under the ground cable connector.
2) You said you moved the 7 pin connector to the rear truck connector. That must mean you have a 7 pin Y connector in line. Remove this Y connector to eliminate that as a possibility. Reconnect the main factory harness to the bumper connector.
3) Remove the plate to the junction box where the pigtail enters (under the pin box). Take out the wire bundle and check, or better, remake all the connections. Probably wire nuts. At least tug on the wires and make sure they don't pull out of the wire nuts. I remade these connections because several of the wires were not stripped back far enough before they were twisted.
4) Flex the pigtail and the female 7 pin connector to try to recreate the problem. Someone else will have to watch the dash display for you.
5) The wiring from the junction box under the pin box enters the front storage area. There are other connections (wire junctions) there, as well as another trailer ground. Check this ground - another star washer. You may want to scr-ape under the star washer here, the frame is probably painted there.
6) If you still have a problem, run a temporary ground wire directly from the truck frame to the trailer frame temporarily. This will have to be done while the trailer is hooked up, but will eliminate any questionable grounds. I wire-tied mine up to the bottom of the fiver overhang so I could drive around with it in place.
The most important step here is #3. Be absolutely certain these are good connections. If it's like my case, you have to be in motion for the problem to occur (very mechanically intermittent).
If you haven't found the problem yet, it is probably time to go underneath the camper. The brake wire that connects in the junction box (blue if I remember right) runs uninterrupted to a junction under the camper, above the left front wheel. At that point, other wires run to each brake (electrically parallel) from this junction. You will have to drop the coroplast (bottom covering) down to get to the junction. Of course, your config may be different.
In my case the brake wire was loose in the crimp connection where it joins to the other four brake wires. Remaking this crimp connection fixed the problem.
Good luck, hope this helps.
1) Like garry1p said, check all the grounds in the truck, and the grounds in the camper associated with the pigtail wiring. The main ground for the pigtail is in the junction box where the pigtail enters. There should be a star washer under the ground cable connector.
2) You said you moved the 7 pin connector to the rear truck connector. That must mean you have a 7 pin Y connector in line. Remove this Y connector to eliminate that as a possibility. Reconnect the main factory harness to the bumper connector.
3) Remove the plate to the junction box where the pigtail enters (under the pin box). Take out the wire bundle and check, or better, remake all the connections. Probably wire nuts. At least tug on the wires and make sure they don't pull out of the wire nuts. I remade these connections because several of the wires were not stripped back far enough before they were twisted.
4) Flex the pigtail and the female 7 pin connector to try to recreate the problem. Someone else will have to watch the dash display for you.
5) The wiring from the junction box under the pin box enters the front storage area. There are other connections (wire junctions) there, as well as another trailer ground. Check this ground - another star washer. You may want to scr-ape under the star washer here, the frame is probably painted there.
6) If you still have a problem, run a temporary ground wire directly from the truck frame to the trailer frame temporarily. This will have to be done while the trailer is hooked up, but will eliminate any questionable grounds. I wire-tied mine up to the bottom of the fiver overhang so I could drive around with it in place.
The most important step here is #3. Be absolutely certain these are good connections. If it's like my case, you have to be in motion for the problem to occur (very mechanically intermittent).
If you haven't found the problem yet, it is probably time to go underneath the camper. The brake wire that connects in the junction box (blue if I remember right) runs uninterrupted to a junction under the camper, above the left front wheel. At that point, other wires run to each brake (electrically parallel) from this junction. You will have to drop the coroplast (bottom covering) down to get to the junction. Of course, your config may be different.
In my case the brake wire was loose in the crimp connection where it joins to the other four brake wires. Remaking this crimp connection fixed the problem.
Good luck, hope this helps.
