Jump to content

Trailer disconnected connected on dash

cmysstailights
 Share

Recommended Posts

cmysstailights Enthusiast

cmysstailights

Posted
Posted

Bought a trailer in nov. Drove home all the way from pa to ny, 6hrs no issues. Took the trailer out for the first time in may 4 hr trip no issues. Coming home 2.5hrs into trip trailer disconnected on dash came up then said connected. Took to dealer said nothing wrong. Went out again with trailer couple weeks later on another 3hr trip, half way their on and off repeatidly 4 times. Anyone else experience this????
 2015 silveradow high country 2500 6.0
Trailer brand new 2017 forest river vibe travel trailer 38'
Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
 
 


Debra in Cali Enthusiast

Debra in Cali

Posted
Posted

I have had my 5th wheel tell me that my trailer was not connected when we first plug it in, but after cycling the key we can usually get it to acknowledge that it is there. Sometimes we have to wiggle it and then it will "find" it.  One way to tell if it really knows that the trailer is connected is to hit your trailer brake mechanism to see if the trailer brakes respond. If they don't then you have a real problem.  That is a problem that I don't want to have going down the road towing a 5th wheel. 

 

For the record, the engine brakes on these trucks are an amazing feature. I have been on downhill runs for 20-30 miles where I only had to touch the brakes around 10 times to slow her down and that was only because I sped up through a straightaway. Whoever invented that is a genius.  It is fun when men are drooling over my truck at our campsite. 

  • Like 1
crankman Enthusiast

crankman

Posted
Posted

O yea I fought that message for a long time. Changed trailer end to Pollack brand still did it. Almost a year later I finally found what caused my message the cord on my Big Tex is heavy gauge with thick insulation and it would over time during my trip pull down just enough to trigger the same message you have and then clear as fast. I put a cord strain relief on the trailer cord and then a snap ring to attach to my bumper and its never done it again. I have another trailer which only has the 4 wire flat cable and it never trips the message using it cause it has no weight to pull down during the road trip. 

cmysstailights Enthusiast

cmysstailights

Posted
  • Author
Posted
O yea I fought that message for a long time. Changed trailer end to Pollack brand still did it. Almost a year later I finally found what caused my message the cord on my Big Tex is heavy gauge with thick insulation and it would over time during my trip pull down just enough to trigger the same message you have and then clear as fast. I put a cord strain relief on the trailer cord and then a snap ring to attach to my bumper and its never done it again. I have another trailer which only has the 4 wire flat cable and it never trips the message using it cause it has no weight to pull down during the road trip. 
Thats what i am thinking. I just closed the pins tighter on the cord. See if that works. Have to find a way to make the cord not pull on it.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

2017HD Enthusiast

2017HD

Posted
Posted

The TBC in the truck is quite sensitive and it checks for resistance in the trailer brake lines - if it is too high it thinks the brakes are not connected and therefore the trailer. Which is why cleaning the contacts on both the truck and trailer helps. It could also mean that the wiring harness in your trailer is bad - or the brakes are bad.

cmysstailights Enthusiast

cmysstailights

Posted
  • Author
Posted
The TBC in the truck is quite sensitive and it checks for resistance in the trailer brake lines - if it is too high it thinks the brakes are not connected and therefore the trailer. Which is why cleaning the contacts on both the truck and trailer helps. It could also mean that the wiring harness in your trailer is bad - or the brakes are bad.
Im gonna take a look. Trailer is brand new, doesnt necessarily mean cord cant be bad. When brought her home from dealership 6hrs away had no issues till i took her out for the 1st time couple months later.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

pogrelis97 Enthusiast

pogrelis97

Posted
Posted

spray some wd-40 in your plug to clean the contacts. I had to change one of my trailer plugs to a pollak but the rest work fine.

  • Like 1
  • 5 weeks later...
EBABlacknChrome Enthusiast

EBABlacknChrome

Posted
Posted

I know I am a bit late but have had this problem in my 16 ltz and just final solved that problem in june of this year. All the stuff mentioned just wasted my time over the last couple years casing that message on the dash!! Though it was my new trailer for the longest time but it also did it with my dump trailer to. Problem seemed to be the worse on rainy days but wasn't limted to wet days. Turned out to be my factory 7/4 way combo and some module. The final straw for me was an 1-1/2 of it dinning back an fourth down the highway from my in-laws place to home! What the OP has stated only got worse with my truck. Fortunately I have a great relationship with my local dealership and they know I pull my work trailer almost daily. Not saying you don't possibly have something simple going on, just my experience with one of the newer platform problems. Never really had any problems with my 2011 2500 hd. Good luck

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

GTBensley Enthusiast

GTBensley

Posted
Posted

Mine is constantly showing the message when I pull my dump trailer. If I get out and wiggle the plug sometimes it goes away and sometime it takes a couple tries to fix it. If I am pulling my car trailer I never seem to have any issues and the connection seems a lot more firm. 

 

Might try switching pig tails on the trailer to see if that fixes it. 

crankman Enthusiast

crankman

Posted
Posted

Its one of those things I wish GM would have left alone. I can pull the same trailer everyday with my 2008 1500 and never had a problem, but my 2015 is more sensitive as 2017HD  posted. I know there is nothing wrong with the trailer but I still had to deal with the message popping up up on my DIC. That trailer plug has to be in there snug and not move around or it will throw the message.

  • Like 1
paauto Enthusiast

paauto

Posted
Posted

Might want to try some dielectric grease on the pins to keep corrosion off.

  • 5 weeks later...
jprlsa New Member

jprlsa

Posted
Posted (edited)

Struggled with this constantly on my previous 2016 Chevy 2500 HD.  Dealer was great at trying to solve the problem and tried everything listed above.  Was worse in rain as stated before.  Wound up taking trailer to a trailer shop and discovered my "new" trailer needed a dedicated ground.  Never had the problem again. 

Edited by jprlsa
cmysstailights Enthusiast

cmysstailights

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Struggled with this constantly on my previous 2016 Chevy 2500 HD.  Dealer was great at trying to solve the problem and tried everything listed above.  Was worse in rain as stated before.  Wound up taking trailer to a trailer shop and discovered my "new" trailer needed a dedicated ground.  Never had the problem again. 
Was winterizing the camper and noticed that the camper battery terminals were loose. Wondering if that would cause the issue.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Grumpy Bear
      OCI, not when but why?

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      Sad thing is that this doesn't have to be the case. LSPI can be solved without a reduction in TBN. Swap Ca for Mg.  Cats are not a issue if the OEM can get a ring and valve guide seal even at SN levels of SAPS. Dizzy is purring like a kitten with a bowl of warm milk. 200K of Full SAPS oil and zero detonation issues and nice a clean inside and out. This shouldn't be an issue. It isn't 1920.    Tell ya what AMSOIL SS is excellent at, internal cleanliness. The new formula is even a step up from their already outstanding cleanliness levels. Can't say the OEM offering is quite that clean. There marketing suggest the SS is cleaner.     That is the only defense with at shelf oil. Nothing wrong with them if you ignore the marketing and OEM 'recommended' OCI and use a thimble full of common sense. 😉 You go sir. 
    • StingerZ16
      Roll up bed cover experiences

      By StingerZ16 · Posted

      I started with a folding cover by BAK PAC on my 2500. It went bad after close to 5 years. Bent and vinyl coming loose. Contacted BAK and they gave me a very good discount on a Revolver. Had it a number of years. Mostly outdoor storage. Some garage storage. Vinyl started to come loose. Still under warranty so they replaced to cover. Sold the 2500, bought the 1500 and got another revolver for it. Had it a couple years now and no issues. I store it indoors. Got a bit of discount when buying it as well. If you are seeing problems, contact BAK or real truck and let them know. Customer service was pretty good. But I think they changed their warranty.
    • Chuck FB
      Towing In Loose Gravel

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I agree, there is no one answer fits all as every rig is different, one may be pulling some little aluminum fishing boat while another is towing a monstrosity that weighs a lot and hopefully the owner if the rig has some prior experience to know what drive mode they should choose.    It also struck me and this is from watching a few of those boat ramp escapades videos in the past, Ford being one of the vehicles that has the auto front axle hubs and sure enough its found out that one hub has crapped out and won't engage and may not have manual hubs to even select on both sides so they are on the boat ramp stuck with no four wheel drive and spinning .... they flat out need a tow to get up the ramp and deal with the vehicles new found issues. That can happen to all brands of pickup, finding out either four wheel drive or 4 low isn't working right at the time its needed it to work as some electronic crap has failed. 
    • Chuck FB
      Towing In Loose Gravel

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      Its possible you never had the joy of the crappy boat launches we tend to have around here or really some of them are just grades down to the river if its a river scenario and the conditions change all the time with the river levels and silt deposits. Some of the lakes we went to years ago, there was no such thing as a cement pad that went down into the water that the trailer stayed on, it was gravel maybe up to the water line and then duck crap much beyond that so sinking the boat tires into mud. Of course some of the more established lakes had a cement bar type boat ramp but sometimes it was covered in green slime closer and certainly within the water and a two wheel drive had all sorts of fun if one had to touch that slime with the rear tires.    A neighbor of mine had made a comment years back with his chev truck that was probably about the same year as yours but a half ton extended cab 4x4 and he a a fiberglass boat with an inboard so it wasn't a feather weight and he had gone out to one of the large popular lakes in the area and don't ask me how this happened but he was in two wheel drive as he figured he didn't require four wheel drive for that boat ramp and somehow upon pulling the boat out he twisted one of his drive axles. I suspect it must have spun and then grabbed on the cement ramp and shocked it to the degree of twisting it. He would have had the standard 8.5 or whatever it was axle housing as the 9.5 ring gear like my truck has also has larger drive axles as far as I know. Anyway he was feeling a vibration driving home and had it checked out and a shop found that the tire/hub was wobbling because of the axle had twisted so in went a new drive axle. After that bad experience he said he made sure to put it into four wheel drive to lower the stress on the rear axle. Of course that is where an HD truck can handle a lot more stress and no doubt these newer half tons with their larger ring gears probably have larger drive axles as well to match vs back in the day. 
    • asilverblazer
      2027 GMC Sierra: Official Discussion

      By asilverblazer · Posted

      Desirable - as in does someone WANT one, aspire to have one. Could reasonably buy any car they want and CHOOSE these instead.    I didn't watch the video, why did they win?

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...