Troubleshooting the Tekonsha PowerTrac # 39523 Installed on a John Deere Tractor

Question:

I purchased this brake controller and hooked up to a John Deere tractor. The only thing I care about working is the slide bar for putting the brakes on so I can move my car trailer around. I hooked it up with the black wire to the positive on the battery. I hooked the white wire to the ground on the battery. And the blue wire to the brake terminal on the trailer connector. I noticed it has 2-1/2 volts coming through the blue wire to the trailer connector without even touching the slide bar. When I squeeze the slide bar all the way, it will jump to about 10 volts for a second and then go down to about 5-1/2 to 6 volts. I tested my truck it goes from 0 to battery voltage with the slide bar squeezed all the way. Why the difference between truck and tractor controller voltage?

asked by: Tim

Expert Reply:

I would first check to make sure that you have your Tekonsha PowerTrac # 39523 set at the highest setting before using your manual override. If you don't have it on the highest setting then that would be why it drops to the 5-1/2 - 6 volts. As for the 2-1/2 volts I would be sure that you have a solid ground that is securely connected to a clean, bare-metal surface.

You also want to be sure that you have a 20 amp circuit breaker like part # PK54520 between your battery and the brake controller on the positive terminal to protect the brake controller.

Let me know if you are still having issues after this troubleshooting and I can help you look into it further.

expert reply by: Jon G