Brake Controller Issue

My correct wiring harness arrived today. Brakes work as expected. Problem solved. :)

CliffordG wrote:

fallsrider wrote:
Nvr2loud, you may have the answer. I looked up the harness I bought from etrailer.com. It looks like I ordered the wrong one. The one I ordered is for "older" GMC vehicles. The one for my 'burb is a different model #. I wrote etrailer.com to confirm this. I'll see what they say. If another $15 fixes my mistake, I will be pleased!

Don't bother sending it back. You LITERALLY just move two pins around inside the connector. It takes under 3 minutes to fix it.

Call Tekonsha, they'll send you an email showing you how to do it. I have it around here somewhere from when I got it. :)

Sometimes it is just better to order the new part. Anyone who needs to ask on a forum about brake controller wiring should stick to the plug and play with the correct parts. No offense to the OP, but electrical theory / practice is easy to some and confusing to others. The first step should have been done with a volt meter if the OP was more comfortable with electricity, so the new harness is the safest route in this case :)

CliffordG wrote:
Don't bother sending it back. You LITERALLY just move two pins around inside the connector. It takes under 3 minutes to fix it.

Call Tekonsha, they'll send you an email showing you how to do it. I have it around here somewhere from when I got it. :)

Bummer, I ordered yesterday a new harness and it has already shipped. I wish I had known. Oh, well. Thanks for posting anyway! I didn't know you could move the pins.

fallsrider wrote:
Nvr2loud, you may have the answer. I looked up the harness I bought from etrailer.com. It looks like I ordered the wrong one. The one I ordered is for "older" GMC vehicles. The one for my 'burb is a different model #. I wrote etrailer.com to confirm this. I'll see what they say. If another $15 fixes my mistake, I will be pleased!

Don't bother sending it back. You LITERALLY just move two pins around inside the connector. It takes under 3 minutes to fix it.

Call Tekonsha, they'll send you an email showing you how to do it. I have it around here somewhere from when I got it. :)

fallsrider wrote:
Nvr2loud, you may have the answer. I looked up the harness I bought from etrailer.com. It looks like I ordered the wrong one. The one I ordered is for "older" GMC vehicles. The one for my 'burb is a different model #. I wrote etrailer.com to confirm this. I'll see what they say. If another $15 fixes my mistake, I will be pleased!

I drove 80 miles on Sunday without the brakes working, they worked when I left the campground, but stopped working by about the third stop. I thought it felt harder to stop the truck, but didn't pay much attention. When I came to a sudden stop for a turning vehicle, I realized that the truck was doing all the work. I stopped and did a re-level on my controller... and all was well. I've never had to re-level the controller before, I wonder if over time the vibration of driving has moved the level switch ever so slightly each trip. :)

Nvr2loud, you may have the answer. I looked up the harness I bought from etrailer.com. It looks like I ordered the wrong one. The one I ordered is for "older" GMC vehicles. The one for my 'burb is a different model #. I wrote etrailer.com to confirm this. I'll see what they say. If another $15 fixes my mistake, I will be pleased!

I found out today that it is definitely my controller or my 'burb. We bought a '95 Sunnybrook TT and went this afternoon to tow it home. We had the same problems that we had with the rental. So that rules out the problem being with the rental.

When we towed the rental home today, it exhibited a different problem than going up on Friday. Today, the controller showed "c", which is normal, but it didn't apply any braking when stepping on the brakes. But it would apply braking with the manual lever. So on the way home, I just added some braking with the manual lever while stopping.

When we hooked up our TT we picked up today, it went back to applying about 1.5 volts as soon as I plugged in the trailer. I wasn't touching the brake, or even moving. To get the trailer home, I unplugged the controller and drove slowly with the flashers flashing. We took some back roads to stay off the main road, which has rolling hills and is 55 mph. Drove about 40 to 45 the whole way home (only about a 20 minute drive at normal speeds).

I'll check out the wiring harness and see if it is correct. It is always possible it is not. I got it from etrailer, so I will check with them.

Thanks. Gotta get this resolved before we go anywhere else.

I had a 2001 GMC Sierra and when I added the plug-and-play brake controller it just didn't seem right. I couldn't get it dialed-in for my first trip out. When the sun went down, and my automatic headlights turned-on... the trailer brakes locked-up.

A pin inside the truck was in a different position then the brake controller plug. The plug was listed for a 2003 and newer Sierra but the shop that sold it to me assured me that it was the same for 2001. They were wrong, it physically fit but was not right. Check the wiring with a volt meter inside the GMC plug and with the prodigy plug. Sounds like something isn't right.

Since your renting a trailer, i suspect trailer brakes or wiring issues. Did you manually test the trailer brakes before leaving the rental yard?