Wired up my trailer brake controller, but getting NC (Not Connected) error???

[scottandanna]

This is on my 04 Dodge Ram 1500. I have factory 4-prong hookup, and swapped in a 6 prong that hooks into the stock 4-prong unit, and has three more wires hanging off.

White is grounded to chassis.

Black is hooked directly to battery via 30A inline fuse.

Blue is hooked to a white wire with tan stripe that was terminated and taped up into the wires at the rear of the truck. This same wire is the one that comes out of the brake pedal and into the harness for the controller.

When I press on the brake this gets 14v, and when I let off voltage drops to 0.

But when I hook the trailer up, it says NC. Lights work, and I have 12v power to run the trailer jack, but apparently no signal from the brake controller via that white/tan wire.

Any suggestions on where to look next?

[mel s]

Originally Posted by scottandanna

This is on my 04 Dodge Ram 1500. I have factory 4-prong hookup, and swapped in a 6 prong that hooks into the stock 4-prong unit, and has three more wires hanging off.
White is grounded to chassis.
Black is hooked directly to battery via 30A inline fuse.
Blue is hooked to a white wire with tan stripe that was terminated and taped up into the wires at the rear of the truck. This same wire is the one that comes out of the brake pedal and into the harness for the controller.
When I press on the brake this gets 14v, and when I let off voltage drops to 0.
But when I hook the trailer up, it says NC. Lights work, and I have 12v power to run the trailer jack, but apparently no signal from the brake controller via that white/tan wire.
Any suggestions on where to look next?

scottandanna
See: Trailer Wiring Diagrams | etrailer.com
Then use a meter to verify colors and connections.
Mel
'96 Safari

[scottandanna]

Originally Posted by mel s

scottandanna
See: Trailer Wiring Diagrams | etrailer.com
Then use a meter to verify colors and connections.
Mel
'96 Safari

I have it wired EXACTLY like that. The only wire I am concerned about is the Blue that goes to the trailer brake control module. There is a loose wire at the back that goes to the control module plug in receptacle from the factory. I tapped into that wire for the blue wire connection.

To test that wire, I had my wife step on brake while I had battery tester on it, and it went from 0 to 14 v, then back to 0 when she let off.

Should the voltage vary depend on how hard she presses the brake or is it an ON/OFF signal?

EDIT--NICE!!! There are three different wiring configurations for each plug...

I will go out this afternoon and confirm that each one on my truck matches the ones on my wife's jeep.

[Bigbird65]

Originally Posted by scottandanna

This is on my 04 Dodge Ram 1500. I have factory 4-prong hookup, and swapped in a 6 prong that hooks into the stock 4-prong unit, and has three more wires hanging off.

White is grounded to chassis.

Black is hooked directly to battery via 30A inline fuse.

Blue is hooked to a white wire with tan stripe that was terminated and taped up into the wires at the rear of the truck. This same wire is the one that comes out of the brake pedal and into the harness for the controller.

When I press on the brake this gets 14v, and when I let off voltage drops to 0.

But when I hook the trailer up, it says NC. Lights work, and I have 12v power to run the trailer jack, but apparently no signal from the brake controller via that white/tan wire.

Any suggestions on where to look next?

Scott I have a 2014 RAM 1500. It has a 4 pin connector (tail, left/brake, right/brake, ground) which I don't use and a 7 pin connector that I use. The 4 pin does not have a signal wire from the Tekonsha P3 brake controller. The 7 pin connector has the signal wire for the brake controller. Now that that is out of the way, I have some questions.

Is your brake controller built into the 04 RAM system or are you using an after market brake controller?

Have you used an ohm meter between the blue wire and ground (white) at the trailer? What reading did you get? Mine reads 1.0 ohm.

My Tekonsha brake controller indicates no brakes if the trailer is disconnected. Normally I adjust my controller maximum output to 5.5 volts.

You didn't mention what kind of trailer you have. Are you sure it has electric brakes? If it is a modern trailer with a break away safety switch and you pull the pin on the switch the brakes will lock up providing your trailer battery is in good shape.

If you have the brake ohm reading as mentioned above and it is OK then you either have the trailer blue wire connected to the wrong place on the truck, a bad ground, or the brake controller is faulty.

[scottandanna]

My truck has a factory installed receptacle behind the emergency brake pedal that accepts the Tekonsha plug. So that is out of the way.

The truck came wired with the 4-way plug for boat trailer. I bought an aftermarket SEVEN-prong (not 6 as I mentioned before) that plugs into the existing 4 prong, and has 3 more wires. Blue for trailer brake, White for ground, Black for 30A 12V power, and Purple for back up lights (not using that one, so tied up and out of the way).

At the receptacle where the Tekonsha plugs in there is a White/Tan wire, and I found the other end of it near the rear of the truck (factory wiring) terminated and tucked into the wiring bundle. I spliced it into the Blue wire, as the signal to the electric trailer brakes.

Yes, trailer has brakes. I have been towing it with my Grand Cherokee, but wanted to be able to use the truck as well. See signature for details.

What I have noticed from previous posts is that there is not one standard way of wiring trailers. It varies depending on the type of trailer, so I will be going to the Grand Cherokee and testing each connection and copying that one over to my truck so that it works like the jeep.

[Bigbird65]

First, I apologize for missing the signature.
I realize that my RAM is 10 years newer than yours. I looked under the dash and here is the wiring that I saw. The adapter is a Tekonsha 3023P.

P3-------------- RAM wiring 4 pin connector
Blue (signal)-----Green
Black (+12V)-----White
White (ground)---Black

Red (brake sw)---Red (separate connector)

One question that you asked earlier: Should the voltage vary depend on how hard she presses the brake or is it an ON/OFF signal?
With the cable disconnected I'm not sure the 14 volts is really correct since it is working into an open load. It only shows that she pressed the brake pedal. If the load were connected the voltage should be lower. On mine the braking is more aggressive the harder you press the brake pedal because the inertia sensor in the controller causes the controller to apply more braking, not because you are pressing the pedal harder.

Can you try this controller on the Jeep or is this a controller that you are sharing between vehicles?

[scottandanna]

Controller works fine on the jeep, I just unplug it and carry it to the truck when/if we use the truck to tow.

We are taking a trip this next week so I will pull the trailer up near the house. This will give me a better chance to double check what all the wires do.

But first, since the jeep works, I will just verify that all the prongs in the truck's receptacle match what the ones in the jeep's are doing, before I try to hook the truck back up.

One more question...Does the trailer have to be ON the ball for it to say "connected" or will it ground through the wiring?

I just tested it by putting the truck NEAR the trailer, and not putting the trailer actually on the truck's hitch, and got the NC error.

[Bigbird65]

I'm sure the controller depends on the ground through the wiring and not the hitch connection. You might want to call Tekonsha technical support and run the problem by them. 888-521-0510

[scottandanna]

Well, I gave up and took it to the trailer repair place, and for $60 they found the right wire and hooked it up.

Only problem now is I don't see numbers on the unit when I brake. In the jeep, I see the voltage number show up on the digital readout when I press the brake pedal, but in the truck, I do not.

It stops on a dime, though. And if I press the button in on the brake controller, I can feel that it is braking the trailer even if the brake is not being used at the truck.

So it works....

[Bigbird65]

Money well spent. Happy camping.