Troubleshooting Electric Brake Controller That Only Shows Power with Manual Override

Question:

I have a 1997 F350 with a Kelsey brake controller. Recently I noticed it does not work unless I use the manual override lever. I read a post on this site in regards to the Red wire could be the problem. What Ive done so far. Im Getting power to both sides of Red wire. I checked the blue wire and noticed dim power on all the time. When I used the manual override the light got bright, using the pedal dim light no change. Can you help?

asked by: Sherri

Expert Reply:

If your Kelsey brake controller is for electric brakes, like the Hayes Energize III+ # HA81742B, then you'll be looking for the red wire to only show power when your brake pedal is pressed. If you're seeing constant power on the input side of the red wire then that would be an issue and why you're seeing constant power on the blue wire.

You'll want to either find the cause of your red wire being constantly hot, and/or find a different source that only gets power when you press the brake pedal (the latter would be preferred).

expert reply by: Jon G