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No Trailer Brakes


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I bought my hd with a Hayes syncronizer already installed, wouldn't have been my first pick of brake controllers but since its on there, i figured it will work. Well, heres my problem. without a trailer hooked up, when i press the brakes, the red light on the controller ligths up. Also when a trailer is hooked, it also lights up, and all the lights on the trailer, turn signals, brake and tail lights work accordingly. However the brakes do not work. Thought it was the trailer i was using, negative. When I slide the manual overide the brakes still do not work but the brake lights come on. I have not investigated any further into this, and i'm not very electronically inclined but i can make it happen if i need to. With everything else working, what could be the issue? Bad ground, faulty wiring, blown fuse? Simple things I should have already looked for but I just want to put a game plan together so I can get it right.

 

thanks in advance

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Using a voltmeter or a light tester, check on the truck (trailer disconnected) if you have power between blue and white in the diagram below when you slide the manual brake on the controller. If you do, the problem is not on the truck and you can trace the wiring on the trailer and check it.

 

 

trailerplugs.gif

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If you don't have power when the brake applied, then check the wiring to make sure it's done properly. Here are the instructions for a Prodigy brake controller:

http://www.eworldz.com/truck/prodigy.pdf

 

While the controller is different, the parts on the truck are the same. So you should have 4 wires connected to the controller and also 2 under the hood (step 19 to 31) of the above guide.

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The owners manual of my 07 has a section to wire the brake controller, maybe yours has one too. It would be worth checking.

 

I understand yours is already hooked up, but if you find the instructions, you can verify if it was done properly.

 

I'd start by testing for voltage between the white and blue first, that's the simplest way to see if it's the truck or trailer.

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Nothing is impossible, but with trailers, the problem is usually the wiring either on the truck or trailer. So it's worth troubleshooting before spending money on a new controller.

 

Sloppy wiring is often a problem. The idiot that wired my last TV ran the wire on top of the exhaust pipe, well guess what, the plastic melted on the wire and then shorted on the exhaust. Caused my brake controller to hiss all the time due to the short until I disconnected it and corrected it.

 

The light on my controller does not turn on unless it's hooked up on the trailer. Different brands work differently. If you don't have the manual for your brake controller, try to find it online. They may have troubleshooting steps in it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

ok got power at each and every pin on the truck. When checking the brake pin with a test light, the brightness of the light would vary depending on where I had the controller set. So my truck is wired up correctly. However The trailer might not be. But, an 05 hd pulls that same trailer once a week and says he can lock up the tires on it????? I think i need to see for myself on a different trailer.

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  • 1 year later...

Do you have an Owners Manual for that Controller??

http://www.bradstrailer.com/81725.htm

 

 

TROUBLE SHOOTING

To verify the brake controller is properly wired, move the manual lever from right to left. The controller indicator LED light, trailer stoplights and trailer brake must function. If the indicator light does not function, the black or white wire connections mav be faulty. If the trailer stoplights and automatic mode do not function, the red wire connection may be faultv. If the trailer brakes do not function, the blue wire connection or the trailer ground may be faulty.

 

INDICATOR LED LIGHT REPRESENTATION WHILE BRAKES ARE APPLIED AUTOMATICALLY OR MANUALLY.

1) Dim to bright red illumination:

Controller operating normally with power to the trailer brakes.

2) Dim or No red illumination:

White ground wire connection or black battery

(+) wire connection may be faulty or blue wire is shorted to ground.

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