Brake Controller Installation on 2001Chevrolet Astro Van

Expert Reply:

Some of the Astro Vans had the blue brake output wire run from the rear of the vehicle to the passenger compartment. The other end of the blue wire can be found taped to the main wiring harness near the emergency brake pedal. The remaining connections would need to be hardwired. We offer a Brake Controller Installation Kit, part # ETBC7. This kit contains the 7-way trailer connector and all wire, connectors, circuit breakers and zip ties needed to complete the installation. If your vehicle does not have an existing 4 way connector, the leads on the 7-way connector would need to be wired into the appropriate lighting circuits.

The orange wire you mention might be for the 12V accessory trailer power circuit, Chevrolet wired the older pickup trucks that way. The 12V accessory wire terminated under the hood, but given that the engine compartment of the Astro is extremely tight, the end of this wire could be very difficult to locate. You might be better off running your own wire to the positive battery terminal using the 40 amp circuit breaker provided in the kit, if you need 12V power on your trailer.

The remaining connections are pretty simple. After mounting the brake controller under the dash according to the manufacturers recommendations, connect the red brake controller wire to the cold side of the brake stoplight switch. The stoplight switch is located at the top of the brake pedal, use a circuit tester such as part # 40376 to probe the wires coming out of the switch to find the wire that only shows current when the brake pedal is pressed. The blue brake controller wire would connect to the blue wire that runs back to the trailer connector, the white wire connects to the negative battery terminal, and the black power supply wire would connect to the positive battery terminal through the circuit breaker provided in the install kit.

expert reply by: Mike L