Trailer Brake Controller Issues...kind of long

I have a Tekonsha (I think thats how you spell it) brake controller in my 2002 Chevy 2500HD. It doesn't work to suit me. It has two adjustments. I pull 3 different trailers and tried adjusting it according to instructions but it just doesn't apply the brakes on any of them like it should. I can reach down and work it by hand and feel them working. I bought it new about 7-8 years ago and had it in a 1986 Chevy and it worked good in it. I bought this truck in 2008 and put this controller in it. I bought a wire harness at NAPA to hook it into the panel under the dash. I wonder if I shouldn't just hook it straight to the battery like it was in my old truck. Any suggestions?

You should probably hook it like it was in your old truck.

IIRC I am pretty sure the directions state to hardwire to the battery. Tekonsha is the brand, do you have a P3 or a Prodigy?

I just checked their site and google and I didnt see an install manual for either.

Rick

Is that one of those that activates with fluid pressure from the brake cylinder? Mine does,but I couldn't tell you what make it is. I had to crack the line on that one where it connects to the controller and bleed it a little.

I think you're right. I'm pretty sure that's the way mine are wired.

Does it need to be mounted in a horizontal(or near that) position for the inertia(Pendulum)activation to work?

i have the prodigy and love it. i don't even have to adjust it between my 3 trailers. it seems to work just fine once I set it up and adjusted it a couple times. works way better than the (acceptable) hoppy type controllers. or the drawtight activator I have between my other vehicles.

soundguy

More times than not trailer brakes need work or are out of adjustment. Mark

My 2001 2500 had a factory brake harness in the glove box so I just plugged my controller into that. If your controller is older, maybe it is not compatible with the newer system??

I really doubt going to the battery will solve everything. I've not heard of or seen a problem with the factory harness. My truck is same as yours but a 01 and it uses correct harness, no problems. Get out the electric tester and see what is going on. The other thing, if you can use the manual activation and feel the brakes come on like they should; I would feel pretty certain your wiring is all there, just be sure your brake signal is getting into the controller from the tailight/brake pedal. Pendulum controllers do require some messing around with sometimes to make work.

As I so often have to remind myself, start with the simple stuff....the basics.

If it is acting poorly on all 3 trailers, it suggests that you have a problem in the truck. And the most common problem around here is corrosion of the terminals or wires entering the backside of the trailer connector. And it is probably the ground connection. Like Dell says, "tight and bright". The plug end of the trailer may have corrosion also, so clean them all up. Usually the truck side is the worst because of likely exposure to road salt.

The age of your controller suggests that it is not the fairly new Prodigy series, nor the P3, but is one of the earlier models. But Tekonsha has been a leader in the controller business for some time, and they make a very reliable product. Most likely the one you have has a deceleration sensor (early ones were pendulums, so had to be mounted quite level), instead of lesser brands having a timing function that slowly ramps up the braking voltage. My 02 F350 came with the DrawTite controller, and after using it for one trip I threw the damm thing as far as I could and got a P3 Tekonsha.

I'd be checking the connectors and the truck grounds to the connector, and then check out the trailer grounds as they rust also.

Good Luck...

Paul in MN

I love my Tekonsha Prodigy. It's a big improvement over my original factory controller. C. L.

You can probably get the wiring diagram from the Tekonsha web site.

I also have trailered heavy RV,s, & autos for many years.Have had many different controllers, but the best being the Prodigy.That is until I bought a ,06 Super Duty F250 with factory in dash controller. The finest, smoothest,safest stopping ever. Never feeling a jerk between units.I pull a 16,000 lbs 5th wheel, & always feel in control.Ford started this in 2005, but I think they all offer it now> Best way to go!!

(quoted from post at 15:33:55 02/09/11) ....... I've not heard of or seen a problem with the factory harness. My truck is same as yours but a 01 and it uses correct harness, no problems. ....

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I've got a Prodigy for my 2002 Silverado. Don't use it a lot (only for pulling a horse trailer occasionally). Last couple of times, it was working intermittently. Problem turned out to be the FACTORY HARNESS plug under the dash. One of the contacts was not mating well with the prodigy plug. Had to bend the contact to get more surface contact. Worked better but still not 100%, so I'm probably going to cut it off and use the one that came with the controller. Seems to be a tighter fit than the factory one.

Funny thing is that I had a similar issue on my '01 Pontiac that caused the headlights to go off when you were driving at night. Turned out to be a poor harness-connector mating problem inside the steering column that was most likely made worse by the constant moving of the tilt wheel over the years. You'd think that GM and their suppliers would consider connector mating a major quality issue as failure at the wrong time could be disastrous.

Can't tell you what controller I have. Got it from Napa. My turck was not factory wired so I did it myself. 2 years later the brakes got weaker and weaker. Finally they quit. Come to find out the wire to the plug had croded off. I had to get a new plug and filled the plug on the back side with silicone to keep the salt and water from getting to the connections.

A simple test is to locate the brake wire on your trailer and measure the voltage the controller is sending the brakes. A controller is like a dimmer switch, the voltage will be very little when you don't want a lot of brake and go up to +12 v for max braking. A bad connection will prevent you from getting max voltage.

You could pull on the cable and activate the emergency brake away switch. The battery on the trailer will turn the brakes on. If you are on grass or snow, you will see which brakes are working and which are not. The wheels will slide. Before you do this remove the electrical from the trailer and make sure your trailer battery is charged.

Hope this helps.
George

MCL. Read your post with great interest. My Story goes like this. Dad had built a equipment trailer with mobile home axles /electric brakes.The control that operated the brakes attached to the steering column with a clamp (much like a radiator hose clamp) The farther down the lever was pushed, the tighter the brakes tightened , until the bottom of the lever was down, the brakes would lock tight. Dad sold the trailer/cat . Thought we wouldn't ever own equipment that required moving it from job to job. Turns out we were wrong. Got a Bobcat so we built another trailer.Same setup for the brakes. Went back to the guy we sold the first one to and found the trailer in a field with trees growing through it. I asked the guy if he would sell the control back to us. NO SALE. "HE said 'I USE IT ALL THE TIME" .So now it was a search for a controller to use on our 1 ton Ford dually Found a Swell Working control, Called" HAYES/LEMMERZ # 81725 SYNCRONIZER made in U.S.A. ,this unit is fused circuit to the battery.4 wire hook up.Sure is simple and real effective. Cant remember the cost but I would imagine it went as all things do UP . Hope this information helps. Sorry about the long post.Regards VICTOR

Are the brakes on the trailers set up properly? I reset my 5th wheel electric brakes after every trip.They are not automatic slack adjusted.Its a manual deal.Maybe yours are to far out of adjustment. A simple adjustment will do wonders for the operation of your control. I think the tekonsa is a very good controler.

I have been selling and installing brake controls for over 30 years and I have never had anything but bad luck out of Tenkonsha controls. Had one one to catch fire 15 minutes after I installed it. Darn near burnt up a guys new truck. I am a dealer and I can get about any brand of controller made. Myself I prefer the Hayes units, I have sold hundreds of them, I have them on my own vehicles and I have had virtually no problems with them. Brake controls do go bad like anything electrical. You only have to hook one to a trailer that is wired wrong or has a shorted magnet one time to fry a control. No more than they cost buy a new one and be done with it ,it could save you life.

MCL if you bought it 8 years ago it would be a 2003 model. At that time there were 2 types of controllers one has a pendulem and is supposed to sense the rate of deceleration the truck is performing and apply the trailer brakes accordingly. This type of controller MUST set almost level to work--remember it has a pendulem that has to work. The other type is time based. This means it senses when the brake lights go on and starts applying the brakes ramping up until they're on the maximum. These brakes can set at any angle.
When you install them follow the direction they do get it right. There are 2 knobs one sets the balance and once it is set LEAVE IT ALONE. The other sets sensivity and is adjusted for loasd and different trailers.
One more thing--when electric brake trailers set for awhile the brake drum gets a coating of rust. When the magnet pulls in it slips on this coating and doesn't apply the brakes very well. The brakes will work fine AFTER the rust is scrubed off. If you don't want to put up with that then get your wallet out and buy a conversion kit to electric over hydraulic brakes. Still rusts but you can clamp them down till the wheels lock up. Cost--the hydrc pump is about $660+ and the wheel conversion parts another $6-800. Total between $1200 and $1500.
BTW my truck is a 2004 Silverado 2500HD with Duramax. Pulls like a son of a gun. One trailer is a 14' dump with electric brakes the other is a 20' flat bed with tandum duals 20,000 lb capacity with electric over hydraulic.

I have a 03 F250 Ford It came with a Kelsey Hays controller. It is the best I ever have had. It works just like it should. But needs to be adjusted for different trailers. My 15000lb gooseneck will slide the wheels with 5000lb on it. Newer trailers have twice as good of brakes as older ones. I think you need a Newer controller, that is compatible with your truck. A newer Chevy controller will tell you if something is not right.

I am currently using two of the brand you talking. One in the pickup and one in my Expedition. I hooked them both in like you did and they work fine. I have used them for several years and I have always had to adjust them a little on the high side for them to work right.