Troubleshooting Stuck Brakes with a Tekonsha Prodigy P2 Brake Controller

Published 02/17/2011

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Question:

The controller will not disengage and the only way to turn it off is to unplug the unit. I have had the unit off for over an hour, reinstalled the unit and it still will not disengage. The entire ti

asked by: Walter R

Expert Reply:

It sounds like you are having a wiring issue that is either at the brake controller, at the trailer connector that is at the rear of your vehicle, or the trailer connector on your trailer.

If you used a vehicle specific wiring harness from the brake controller to tow vehicle I would first check to make sure that you have the correct one for the year/make/model of your vehicle.

Sometimes different vehicle will use the same connector, but the wiring of the connector will be different and you would have to swap some wires on the connector to allow the brake controller to function properly.

If you are unsure about functionality of the wires underneath your dash I would recommend you use a circuit tester, part # PTW2993.

If you had to wire the wires of the controller individually I would check to make sure that you have wired the brake controller to the right wires. If you had the wiring done wrong you could end up with your trailer brakes not functioning properly.

Next, I would check the trailer connector at the rear of your vehicle. If the connector was wired wrong and you had, for example, the 12 volt power wire run to the brake output circuit you would see the brakes locking up. I attached an FAQ article below that shows how the different trailer connectors are typically wired.

The same is true for the connector on your trailer, you should check to make sure it has been wired correctly also. The wiring FAQ article below also has info on how trailer connectors should be wired.

I attached installation instructions below for the # 90885 as well as an FAQ article on wiring a brake controller from scratch that you might find informative.