Troubleshooting Curt Venturer Brake Controller Installed on 2007 Ford Freestyle

Question:

Finally picked up our trailer, and so used the Curt Venturer in our 2007 Ford Freestyle for the first time. When trying to use the setup instructions the controller did not respond as expected. When the brakes are applied and held at rest, one bar initially displays, and then after a second or so the display counts up to 8 bars and the green status light flashes even though I have not touched the sync control. This happens regardless of the output setting. If I try to adjust the output setting with the brake held it sometimes ignores the setting and stays at 8, and sometimes it just sort of jumps around. But at rest I am not able to make it just show 3 bars as directed. On the road the controller seemed to work as expected, at least when I happened to look down it would show 3 bars when braking, and I was able to reduce this to 2 and 1 when we got into slow traffic and it was locking up a little on 3. But then when we got home and I was backing it into the driveway the brakes were locking and showing all 8 bars again even with the output control all the way left and the sync all the way back. Anyway, does this sound like a bad unit or maybe a ground loop problem?

asked by: Dan S

Expert Reply:

It sounds like there's too much going on with the controller for it to be a faulty unit. I suspect that the controller might be wired to the wrong stoplight switch wire, and my Curt representative agrees. Use a circuit tester like part # PTW2993 on the wire you have the red brake controller wire attached to. In the 2008 model, a purple/white striped wire was used, but I have no information about a 2007. This wire should show power ONLY when the brake pedal is pressed, not with the turn signals or running lights. If this is confirmed, you'll need to do a bench test on the controller. Remove the controller from the vehicle, and bench test it according to the instructions in the owner's manual (I'll link you to the manual, in case you no longer have it).

If the controller works okay in your test, you have confirmed that it is a wiring problem with the vehicle, and not with the controller. If the controller malfunctions, it is faulty and should be replaced. Please let me know what you find in your testing.

expert reply by: Mike L