Troubleshooting an Electric Trailer Jack that Doesnt Function on a 2005 Chevy Silverado

Question:

I bought a trailer with electric jack and the person i bought it from hooked it to his truck and the jack worked, hooked it to mine and jack would not work. I have only used factory plug for the 4 pole on my boat. How do I tell if its my factory wiring or do i need to and a fuse or replace the wiring. I looked at the factory outlet and it looks like its a 7 pole. It says HD trailer package on my sticker from when I bought the truck new.

asked by: Robert M

Expert Reply:

First thing you will want to do is use a circuit tester like our part # PTW2993 to test the 12-volt accessory pin on the 7-way of your 2005 Chevy Z71. You should see 12-volts there. This pin will be the 1:00 position of the connector.

If there is no voltage there then you will need to check under the hood of your truck to make sure all of the necessary tow package connections are being made on the fuse panel of your truck. This is most likely the problem as one of the connections that gets made here controls the 12 volt circuit. Check out the FAQ article I attached to the right that details how to make these connections.

If there was voltage on the connector and the jack is still not functioning the problem is the ground of the jack. Make sure it's connected to a clean metal surface.

expert reply by: Jameson C