Work Around For trailer disconnect

[redwngr]

Trailer light blink is like the led on dash that blinks -- both indicate anti-theft is active.  

GM's have done this for many years.

 

 

When a trailer is connected and the vehicle is off, the Trailering App System will periodically pulse the lighting circuits of the
trailer to verify it is still connected. The trailer lights may periodically flash as a result of this trailer connection detection.

 

These flashes may be more visible in dark ambient light environments. The flashing or flickering lights are a normal condition and the Trailering App System has built-in protections to prevent the battery from draining.

 

 

There is also a theft Alert feature in the trailering app.

 

When Theft Alert is enabled, the frequency and pattern of this flashing will change.
If a connected trailer becomes disconnected, a message about the trailer disconnect will appear on the Driver Information Center (DIC) immediately (if vehicle is on) or the next time the vehicle is turned on (if trailer was disconnected while vehicle is off). Check your trailer connection if needed

 

 

 

Theft Alert
Theft alert can be set if a trailer is connected and the alert is enabled. When
the trailer is disconnected and the vehicle is off, an alarm will sound.

Touch Theft Alert to turn on/off Theft Alerts for the selected profile.

 

These alerts are based on the Trailer Profile, so the settings for each Trailer Profile must be turned on or off.

This setting will be off by default for each Trailer Profile, including the Guest Trailer Profile.

 

A smartphone will receive a notification that the trailer related to the selected Trailer Profile is disconnected from the vehicle,
if the setting is on for the active Trailer Profile, the vehicle has an OnStar or connected service plan and the smartphone
number has been added to the account for this notification.

 

If the setting is turned off for a given Trailer Profile, the smartphone will not receive this security notification even if the Trailer Profile is active.

 

[diyer2]

Good job explaining trailers. 

[MrMagloo]

34 minutes ago, redwngr said:

Trailer light blink is like the led on dash that blinks -- both indicate anti-theft is active.  

GM's have done this for many years.

 

 

When a trailer is connected and the vehicle is off, the Trailering App System will periodically pulse the lighting circuits of the
trailer to verify it is still connected. The trailer lights may periodically flash as a result of this trailer connection detection.

 

These flashes may be more visible in dark ambient light environments. The flashing or flickering lights are a normal condition and the Trailering App System has built-in protections to prevent the battery from draining.

 

 

There is also a theft Alert feature in the trailering app.

 

When Theft Alert is enabled, the frequency and pattern of this flashing will change.
If a connected trailer becomes disconnected, a message about the trailer disconnect will appear on the Driver Information Center (DIC) immediately (if vehicle is on) or the next time the vehicle is turned on (if trailer was disconnected while vehicle is off). Check your trailer connection if needed

 

 

 

Theft Alert
Theft alert can be set if a trailer is connected and the alert is enabled. When
the trailer is disconnected and the vehicle is off, an alarm will sound.

Touch Theft Alert to turn on/off Theft Alerts for the selected profile.

 

These alerts are based on the Trailer Profile, so the settings for each Trailer Profile must be turned on or off.

This setting will be off by default for each Trailer Profile, including the Guest Trailer Profile.

 

A smartphone will receive a notification that the trailer related to the selected Trailer Profile is disconnected from the vehicle,
if the setting is on for the active Trailer Profile, the vehicle has an OnStar or connected service plan and the smartphone
number has been added to the account for this notification.

 

If the setting is turned off for a given Trailer Profile, the smartphone will not receive this security notification even if the Trailer Profile is active.

 

 

Thanks - I think we have a pretty good understanding on how the feature is supposed to work. No doubt that with incandescent lights, in my experience, they mostly worked fine with earlier renditions.  However, with the proliferation of far more efficient and quicker LEDs, unfortunately, this causes problems as outlined earlier.

 

I mean, if you have a parked trailer connected to your truck in a safe environment, there would be no need to enable the anti-theft feature in the first place.  So naturally, you only need to enable it for the less safe areas, and it is certainly not doing you any favors by drawing considerably more attention to the trailer by flashing all night long. It's just totally counter-intuitive.  Most thefts are opportunistic so waving a banner and saying here I am is not helpful.

 

GM needs to rethink the electronics on this unit.  We know that the PCM and BCM have the flexibility to detect very minute levels and variances in voltages they monitor with various sensors, so they clearly have the capability to use a lower pulse voltage, that is enough to confirm continuity, but too low to fire the lights.  I think the point is, GM has largely allowed this tech to flap in the wind, while not keeping up with the innovation in the trailer OEM change to LEDs, which is interesting as they themselves have been chasing this incandescent to LED migration.