Check Engine Light Comes On When Tekonsha P3 Brake Controller is Plugged In But Goes Away When Not

Updated 01/27/2020 | Published 01/25/2020

Products Featured in This Question

Tekonsha Plug-In Wiring Adapter for Electric Brake Controllers

(188)

$10.94

Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional

(6643)

$169.94

Question:

I installed the P3 brake control unit in my 2019 silverado. I now have a check engine light. I did not try to read the code. When I disconnected the unit the check engine light went out. Any ideas about what could be wrong. History: I purchased the P3 control in 2015 and installed it in my 2006 silverado. In 2016 I installed in my 2016 silverado with a new cable for that year. In both cases everything worked as it should. Today I Installed it in my 2019 Silverado and when I took it for a drive I noticed that the check engine light was on. When I returned home I shut off the engine and disconnected the P3 control from the harness and restarted the engine and the check engine light was off. Any help would be appreciated. Frank

asked by: Frank Y

Expert Reply:

This is extremely odd and while you're not the first person I've seen with this issue, your Tekonsha P3 # 90195 won't connect to anything that will cause the check engine light on your 2019 Chevy Silverado 1500 to turn on since it should only be connected to a 12v power supply and the stop light switch. Since this goes away when you unplug it, I would check to make sure that you've got it plugged into the correct spot. There is a dummy plug that is connected where you want to plug into on the left side of the driver's side kick panel, so if you didn't disconnect that before plugging in it could be that you're just on the wrong plug. I've linked a video that shows the correct spot that the # 3064-P to be plugged into.

I can tell from looking at your order history that you've got the correct # 3064-P plug, so if you can verify that you've got this plugged into the correct spot, please let me know and I can help you continue troubleshooting (if you didn't remove a dummy plug, you may be in the wrong spot). If this problem persists and you have a way to pull the code(s) being thrown, I would recommend doing that. I've seen some reports on the Silverado forums of anything drawing amps away from the battery tripping the check engine light, so this also could be causing your problem.

If you can verify which slot you're plugging the 3064-P into and let me know what code is going thrown, I'm happy to continue troubleshooting this issue with you.

expert reply by: Erik B