Troubleshooting Brake Controller on 2010 Chevy Silverado 2500

Updated 09/15/2014 | Published 09/13/2014

Question:

2010 Silverado 2500, trailer brakes worked fine till the last time I hooked up and no brakes. Readout shows hash marks all the way across, like you are applying full brake. Put test light on blue wire terminal, with ign. on and brakes applied no power at plug, any ideas, already check the fuse and its OK, any ideas what to check next?

asked by: Don Z

Expert Reply:

There are many possibilities that might be causing your brake problems. A dirty, damaged or corroded trailer connector on the vehicle or the trailer, an open circuit in the trailer wiring, worn brake magnets. Any of these could be causing your problem, or possibly none of them.

You'll need to do a systematic troubleshoot of the trailer braking system, as outlined in the help article I've linked to. If you could reply and tell me which controller you have, I might be able to provide some more specifics. For instance, if you have a proportional controller, you won't get any output at the trailer connector when the brakes are pressed unless the vehicle is moving. However, you can hit the manual brake switch on the controller, which should show output at the trailer connector.

expert reply by: Mike L