Troubleshooting a Draw Tite Activator that Applies Trailer Brakes Intermittently

Updated 03/10/2015 | Published 03/09/2015

Question:

The electronic brake unit will only apply brake with manual thumb switch when the brake pedal is applied sometimes the numbers run up from 0 to whatever it is set for then drops back to 0 and runs back up multiple times. I have checked wiring all seems ok this is on a 97 chevy express van the unit has been working since we got the van in 2000 it quit working over about a month sometimes they worked other they did not.. The red light bottom left of display goes out when trailer is hooked up. Trailer brakes work right when hooked up to my F250 its not the trailer. I have pluged my gooseneck horse trailer into van and it applies brakes on trailer. numbers work on screen normal. ???

asked by: Jay

Expert Reply:

Sounds like you have corrosion in your trailer connectors which is causing the brake controller to make an intermittent connection and is why you are having the problems you described.

What you will want to do is clean the pins of the both the 7-way on your trailer and tow vehicle with fine grit sandpaper so that the connection is restored. This should fix it.

If not, check the ground and power wires of the brake controller, a loose connection there may be causing it to lose power.

I attached a help article on troubleshooting brake controllers for you to check out as well.

expert reply by: Jameson C