Solution for Brake Output Circuit on Truck that is Shorting Out Somewhere on Vehicle

Question:

The brake controller I have is working, I used a ground, 12volt sorce, and ran hooked the blue brake wire up to the trailer and it applies the trailer brakes. When I use a 12volt sorce to the blue wire in the cab it does not apply the trailer brakes. The voltage in the cab starts at 12.12volt and is down to 10.88 to 11.44volt at the rear. Is the blue wire that runs from the cab to the rear plug in, shorting to ground or do I have a ground issue some where.

asked by: Chuck

Helpful Expert Reply:

It does sound like there is a short somewhere on the brake output circuit of your vehicle. You have two options. You can try and track down the short which is going to be a headache most likely. Or you can run a separate wire from the brake controller to the 7-way so that you can bypass all of that.

If it were me I would check out the connector on your Avalanche looking for any corrosion and fixing/cleaning as necessary and if that does not fix the problem I would run a length of 10 gauge wire like our part # 10-1-1 (sold by the foot) from the controller to the 7-way.

expert reply by: Jameson C