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Old 03-25-2017, 04:44 PM   #1
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Brake receiver plug low output

I have a 2014 duramax 3500 SRW with the integrated factory brake controller. We just got new brakes put on the sabre and went to pick it up. No brakes. trailer hooked to dealers truck works fine. Circuit tester shows low output to fiver receiver plug brake pin. All other pins worked fine. Checking the regular trailer hitch receiver showed no voltage to any of the pins. Looking at the wiring the dealership piggybacked the wiring for the fiver receiver plug off the regular receiver plug when the did the install a couple years ago. Fuse is good. Any other suggestions on where to look?
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Old 03-25-2017, 05:22 PM   #2
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If it's like the newer Rams you have adjustments within the trucks computer, you have to tell it if trailer is light or heavy or electric over hydraulic etc.
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Old 03-25-2017, 05:27 PM   #3
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The Chevy doesn't have that but thanks.
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Old 03-25-2017, 05:37 PM   #4
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Brake receiver plug low output

My master tech son wrote this answer to your question: "We install a pre-boxed tee where you unplug the factory bumper plug then one new lead goes on bumper plug and then up to the bed, OEM truck harness goes to new tee. This eliminates splicing that is more troublesome with OEM controller than aftermarket.

There will be no voltage on brake apply circuit unless the truck senses the presence (electrical resistance) of the brake servos." HTH

Edit: after this install on my '14 Sierra, I would get an info. center msg. saying "trailer not connected" or "check wiring", or some such and I had to loosen some tape around the aforementioned Tee so I could wiggle the connection and get good contact. No further problem.
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Old 03-25-2017, 09:52 PM   #5
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Dan- when the trailer is hooked up we don't feel any resistance from the trailer with braking and are unable to get wheel lock up using the controller. The dealership hooked the trailer to one of their trucks and did not have this issue. They think the problem is the truck so we tried to troubleshoot today. On the plug in the bed, The voltmeter had very low to no reading. When we tried the circuit tester all pins reacted as they should except the brake pin (in the 5 o'clock position). The plug on the bumper had no output on any pin including the hot pin. I will have to take a pic of the wiring setup in the daylight tomorrow.
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:06 PM   #6
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Do you see any messages in the Information Center?
Nathan listed 3 conditions:
1. No message
2. Check Trailer Connection message
3. Service Trailer brakes message then said
All have different diagnosis/correction strategies.

EDIT: Also, I'm sure he means for this to tell us something important! "There will be no voltage on brake apply circuit unless the truck senses the presence (electrical resistance) of the brake servos."
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:22 PM   #7
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No message. The only time I saw any other message was when he was checking the fuses.
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:26 PM   #8
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Ground issue possibly. I know Ford has setting for Hydralic Brakes that would provide next to no output for regular brakes.

Have they cleaned the connector on the truck, dirty brass can cause resistance and hence no braking. A test light or voltage will show normal but under load it will not work due to a bad connections
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:27 PM   #9
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I know with my Reese wiring extension there are a couple connectors that could cause this. Have you tried the bumper plug?
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:35 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by B and B View Post
I know with my Reese wiring extension there are a couple connectors that could cause this. Have you tried the bumper plug?
No output at all on bumper plug as described above.
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Old 03-25-2017, 10:37 PM   #11
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I would be looking for bad connection. Somewhere it has corrosion.


Take apart and spray the connectors with this. The harness that comes from the box connects to another connector near the bumper plug.

https://www.amazon.ca/Hosa-Deoxit-Ca...eywords=deoxit
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Old 03-25-2017, 11:06 PM   #12
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https://youtu.be/PbKzB45hcFA
Here's an install video. @ 1:48 it shows the connections. I think these adapter plugs is where you're having a problem.
Now hopefully whoever installed the 5th wheel plug in the bed didn't hack your harness and they used the appropriate wiring adapter kit like the one in the video.
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Old 03-25-2017, 11:25 PM   #13
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I don't think they used that. Looking underneath I saw a tangled mess of wires and connectors
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Old 03-25-2017, 11:29 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by asquared View Post
I don't think they used that. Looking underneath I saw a tangled mess of wires and connectors
Ugh. That's your problem. The installer hacked it instead of doing it right.
My suggestion, start fresh and either rewire what's there OR if they didn't cut off the plugs from the chassis harness, I'd order the correct adapter kit that is plug n' play like in the video.
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Old 03-25-2017, 11:36 PM   #15
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Just ran out and snapped a pic using the cellphone flash and a good flashlight. Sorry if quality sucks.
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Old 03-25-2017, 11:38 PM   #16
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That is the bumper plug you see in the pic. The spare tire is in the bottom left corner. This has worked for 3 yrs. now not working.
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Old 03-26-2017, 12:16 AM   #17
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Every single one of those wire taps (blue & yellow plastic) are potential corrosion and faulty connections. Whoever did this should pick a different profession.
To repair that I would remove them all. Then strip back the insulation on all the wires until it's good clean copper wire. Finally reconnect the wires using a soldering gun & solder and finish by sealing it up with heat shrink tubing.
Time consuming yes, but a permanent repair.
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Old 03-26-2017, 08:16 AM   #18
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We all know electrical issues can be a real nightmare to track down. Based on info provided my first thought is a brake controller failure. Using a volt meter at the controller output pin is not a reliable indicator because, as mentioned earlier, the meter doesn't provide enough resistance to allow the controller to work. To solve that issue, use a test light. If you connect the light and them manually operate the brakes via the slider thingy the light should dim and brighten. The voltage to the brakes varies during operation but will never reach a full 12+ volts. If the light doesn't work at all (btw..check the light operation by testing another pin to verify its operation) then the problem is with the controller.

Ask yourself what was the last thing done when the controller quit. Answer...new brakes installed. Whenever that work is done the tech is messing around with the wire connections at the brake plate. You said the system worked fine when connected to the dealer truck. Is it really fine? Is it working correctly at all four trailer wheels? Test that by applying brake power (using the dealer truck) and listen to each brake to verify the humming/buzzing sound. Best to use a stethoscope. If (a big if) you discover that one (or more) of the brakes is not working then you have to determine why.

Here's a scenario: the tech is installing the brake on one of the wheels and messes up the wiring. The first time power is sent to the brake a short occurs either at the negative or positive connection. This "short" causes power to be sent back to the controller and it gets fried. I have seen that happen and it's a strong possibility.

But...you say the system works fine connected to the dealer truck. Probably so, because when the short occurred when hooked to your truck then the short fried the wire (maybe within the magnet?) and created an open connection. In that case the open circuit doesn't allow any shorting to the dealer truck so one would think everything is fine. Well, not everything because only three brakes are working. Easy problem to miss because if you pull the trailer and apply the brakes you'll notice little difference between three brakes working or four brakes working. We usually apply the brakes to the trailer and feel it slowing and just assume everything is OK. Maybe not.

I know how to test the controller on a Ram but don't have a clue how the GM system works. But, my gut feeling is your controller has failed. It's a rare failure so you need to find out what happened to kill the controller.

AND, as 05CrewDually mentioned, fix that rats nest of wiring connections. That's an area subject to getting really wet while driving in the rain. Your current problem occurred during the brake maintenance work so I doubt the wiring there is bad, but I guarantee it is going to fail later on.
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Old 03-26-2017, 10:01 AM   #19
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If you have a good dealership, I would take the truck to them, and they can plug into the trailer plug with a computer, and see if it is working properly (should only take 15 minutes or so). These newer trucks will spit all kinds of codes and errors if anything is even slightly off. Or test your truck by plugging into another trailer and see what happens.

In the DIC, switch to the brake display. With the trailer connected, is it "illuminated" to show that it knows a trailer is connected, and does the bar slide up to show the brakes being applied?

Not sure, but does the newer trucks automatically adjust when it see's "x" resistance for a setting? If so, it may not send as much voltage if it sees there is already some resistance, where an older truck/manual controller will send "x" voltage no matter what.


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Old 03-26-2017, 01:34 PM   #20
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Thanks for the suggestions. We did both a voltmeter and a test light. No variance on light, just dim. We left the fiver at the dealer an hour away yesterday since it wasn't safe to tow home. They hooked it up to their TV without us there after we left. We have a list of things to run down now though.
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