camotruck55

I have a Tekonsha Voyager brake controller on my 2000 Silverado. I've always had a bad ground or something wrong with it, at this point I'd like to figure it out so I can tow our camper this summer.

Under normal conditions, the light on the controller does not come on when I press the brake pedal. When I put the prong of the circuit tester on the hot coming into the controller, the light on the tester comes on. When I put the prong of the tester on the brake light line coming out of the tester, the light on the tester comes on when I touch the brake pedal. When I put the tester prong on the line for the electric brake, THE LIGHT ON THE TEKONSHA comes on without touching the brake pedal. When I touch the brake pedal with the tester on this same line, the light on the tester comes on. Make sense?

I checked a ground screw on the frame under the driver door that looked like it was from the trailer lines. I took the screw off and wire brushed everything and put it back together.

I sprayed the 7 prong plug thing in the back, and took off the harness under the truck and sprayed that as well with electrical circuit cleaner.

When I test the 7 prong I get 12 volts ALL THE TIME on the electric brake prong and the running light prong as well.

I'm stumped. Unless it might be a malfunctioning controller. I could take the controller (different brand) off my Trailblazer and hook it up to the Silverado and see if that one works. At least I would know if its the controller or not. Wanted to check here before I go and do that.

Thanks for any help.

f5fstop

Run a ground jumper wire from the battery neg terminal to the controller and see how it works.
And page 2 of Tekonsha's instruction sheet has troubleshooting...
http://www.tekonsha.com/content/down...tion/N9030.pdf

camotruck55

Thanks for the link. I tried what you said, ran a jumper from the neg terminal to the controller. Controller acts the same, I also did this and hooked up the camper. Camper lights do all kinds of crazy things. When I put the turn signal on, it runs the 4 ways. Lights go out when I touch the brake pedal.

Sound like a bad ground from somewhere between the controller and the plug?

I tested for continuity from the ground at the controller and the ground at the plug on the back. No continuity, but had continuity on some of the other prongs like the signals and el. brake. Sounds like some wires crossed or bad corrosion somewhere?

Any idea what I would pay to have a shop fix this?

Thanks for your help.

BTW, camper lights work fine when hooked to the other vehicle, so I know its not the wiring on the camper.

f5fstop

I can give you info on a 2002, I have no knowledge of a 2000, but they are probably similar.
You will probably have to crawl under and take a look at the trailer wiring harness from where it goes under the vehicle to the back.
First, you might know this, but the ground from the controller usually does not go to the rear. Separate grounds.
Usually, the ground at the trailer connector is located on the frame somewhere near where the trailer harness (from the front of the vehicle) comes at the rear of the vehicle.
These are notorious for rusting and sometimes even breaking.
Another problem with SOME vehicles, is that these harness sometimes come very close to exhaust systems and/or sharp bends laying next to metal.
If you can't find where the ground is, sometimes the easiest is to splice in a new ground to the harness.

This involves opening the harness cover behind the vehicle's connector, find the ground wire, and splicing in a new wire. You can find someplace on the frame, clean it very well, drill a small hole and install a new wire (bigger is always better so I would go with a 14 gauge or larger).

camotruck55

I found the ground. It is located directly above the spare tire. I had to lower the tire to get to it. The screw is tough to get to. I sprayed it, doesn't seem to want to budge. I'm thinking of cutting the ground tomorrow and reattach it in a more convenient location. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.

f5fstop

That's what I would do. It's like when you find a bad wire in a harness. Replace the harness or track it down and re-splice? Nope. run a complete new wire.

I would find a nearby location on the frame. Clean the heck out of it, drill a hole, and install a round connector on the end and between the round connector (that the bolt goes through) install one of those star lock washers to bite into the metal and attach it with a bolt.

camotruck55

What a mess!

I fixed the ground that I found, but still had problems with everything. I have continuity from the neg terminal to the ground on the harness in the back, but still had a constant power reading with the elec brake prong. But the controller was only putting out power at the box when I pressed the brake pedal. Disconnected the brake controller, now the electric brake prong doesn't have constant power.

Although everything seems to be reading correct on the tester, when I hook it to the camper only one turn signal works, no running lights, no brake lights, when the headlights are on, the opposite turn signals work than what should.

When I hook the other vehicle to the camper, everything works perfect.

I'm about to give up, maybe take it to a shop.

camotruck55

Tried one last thing. Didn't want to go this route, but I did it a few years back when I was hauling a small band trailer around. I ran a jumper from the bumper of the truck to the camper frame. Everything worked, including the brake controller. I think I am going to get some 12 ga wire and a connector and just run the jumper so I can use the truck.

Like I said, its not the solution I wanted but I think I ran out of options (and patience).

Thanks for your help.