Brake Controller Troubleshooting, Recommendation and Installation on 2019 Jeep Compass

Published 04/10/2020

Products Featured in This Question

Adapter 4-Pole to 7-Pole and 4-Pole

(659)

$61.47

10 Gauge Wire - Blue Primary - Per Foot

(104)

$1.84

Ring Terminal - 12-10 Gauge Wire - 3/16" Ring ID

(69)

$1.33

Ring Terminal - 12-10 Gauge Wire - 5/16" Ring ID

(69)

$1.00

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

(6643)

$155.79

40 Amp In-Line Circuit Breaker - Perpendicular Mount Bracket

(97)

$9.84

Question:

Good morning, I ordered this awhile back: Adapter 4 Pole to 7 Pole Vehicle End Trailer Connector, for my Jeep and does work as intended. Now, I have a tandem axle trailer with the usual electric brakes with a small onboard 12v battery in line with the trailer wiring. The 4 way to 7 way bargman plug you all sold me has the wiring there for a brake controller. black for power, blue to the controller white for ground, yellow for aux. I bought the Tekonsha IR brake controller, that mounts on the side of the trailer rail. Well, it will not work with the current 7 way I have on the tow vehicle. Its so convoluted, not sure what to get. pls advise.

asked by: Scott

Expert Reply:

Are you speaking of the Tekonsha Prodigy RF? If so, the trailer connector on the vehicle needs funtional lighting circuits and a 12-volt constant power supply to the pin on the 7-way trailer that's in the 1:00 position. Assuming that you're using an adapter such as the # 37185, you'd plug the 4 pin plug on the adapter into the corresponding plug on the vehicle, ground the white wire to the vehicle chassis or frame and extend the black wire so it'll reach the vehicle's positive battery terminal. To make that wiring run, you'll need a suitable length of # 10-1-1 wire, a 40A circuit breaker # 9510, two # 44-5310A ring terminals and one # 44-5356A ring terminal. The blue wire isn't needed. If all this is correct, please reply with some more details about what the issue is and I'd be happy to help furht

If you'd rather start over with a new brakee controller, I'd recommend the Tekonsha P3, part # 90195. It's super simple to use with a logical and easy to understand display. It's very user-friendly. To install it, you'd need the # 5506 wiring kit.

I've linked you to installation instructions.