Troubleshooting a Pilot Brake Controller that Says Its Connected to a Trailer When its Not

Question:

I recently installed a pilot brake controller on my 95 suburban and it worked well at first. Now, the display indicates a trailer is hooked up when its not and if I step on the brakes, the controller gives me a digital reading with no trailer hooked up. I double checked the wiring and all seems well. I still have the install paperwork that came with the unit and it does not address this problem. Any advice?

asked by: Dave

Expert Reply:

Sounds like your Pilot 2-6 Brake Electronic Brake Controller # 80550 is detecting a load on the brake output circuit and it's activating your brake controller by mistake. Most likely the culprit is in the trailer connector on your vehicle. I would inspect it for corrosion on the front and back of the connector and fix as necessary.

Another simple way to test this would be to test the blue wire leaving the back of the controller. You will need to cut the blue wire leaving yourself room to reconnect it and apply the brakes. If the problem goes away then the issue is on the brake output circuit of your vehicle between where you made the cut and the trailer connector.

If the problem persists after making the cut then issue is in the controller.

expert reply by: Jameson C