Good Day All,
Just thought I would make a Post about some issues I had with the Integrated Brake Controller on my 13'.
For starters it was kind of "Off" from the day I bought it. When it got extremely cold in the Winter, and Rainy and Wet, Every now and then the SERVICE TRAILER BRAKE SYSTEM warning would come across the DIC.
The first Time I found water in the Trailer plug, The Silicone Gasket that is supposed to seal the plug was twisted, some water got in, I popped the plug off and blew it out good with Compressed Air, and gave it a coat of Dielectric Grease. Problem Solved, Brushed it off as Miss-Assembled at the factory. No Biggie. $hit Happens.
Made it through Winter and Into Spring, First Rainfall-Same Warning Flashes across the DIC. Next Day, after dries up, all good.
After that every heavy rain, or going through some big puddles, the same warning would come across the dash.
I bought an old camper last spring, Was shocked beyond belief that everything worked, even the Brakes. Used it all last Summer. No issues.
This Spring I haul in the Camper and the same message comes across the DIC. This time it doesn't go away. I stopped and checked everything, all Lights and Signal's work on Trailer, but No Brakes.
Disconnect Trailer and Message comes up every times I start it.
After about a month of Driving me completely Nut's trying to trace the issue, Every Fuse, Wire and Connector has been cleaned and checked for moisture, From the Fuse box to the Back Bumper.
I purchased a new Brake Control Relay that goes under the Box above my spare tire, after being very upset that the issue still wasn't resolved I dove back in again.
Beside said Relay is a Control Module that is the TBCM-(Trailer Brake Control Module)-It has a Large locking plug in it that has about 25-30 wires. I pulled the plug out and saw a small crust of blue corrosion on one of the pins. Used a Pick and some steel wool and cleaned it up the best I could. Plugged it all back in and still had same error.
Pulled the plug off again, Removed the plastic insert inside the plug, you can pop it off with a pick, there are small tabs at the side and it all comes off in one piece. Use the same pick to pull out the Silicone Seal Ring. I found bad corrosion on the same pin, so I reached to the back of the plug and found the wire that had this terminal crimped on it. I gave it a small tug and it popped right out of the plug. The corrosion had eaten right up into the insulation on the wire and was blue powder.
Getting the old terminal out is not an easy task, you can get it out with a small pick and a precision screwdriver, but I don't recommend anyone do this that is a novice. If you make a mess of the plug it will not seat properly and make connection. I was lucky and had a Terminal Kit that I had bought before. The connectors are very small and require a special crimper.
But for the same issue that I have read almost every forum about, I have noticed that the symptoms stay the same, Check this harness very closely for terminal corrosion, the system is very Sensitive to resistance and if it go's out of tolerance it will set this off this message.
I figure it may have saved me about a $300-350 dollar fix at a dealership, plus time to Diagnose the issue.
In the end, I am kind of Disappointed, this Truck is only 3 years old, They should be making the wiring harnesses a lot better then they do.
But I'm glad it's fixed, It was driving me crazy, Holidays are coming up and we need the trailer brakes.
Just thought I would make a Post about some issues I had with the Integrated Brake Controller on my 13'.
For starters it was kind of "Off" from the day I bought it. When it got extremely cold in the Winter, and Rainy and Wet, Every now and then the SERVICE TRAILER BRAKE SYSTEM warning would come across the DIC.
The first Time I found water in the Trailer plug, The Silicone Gasket that is supposed to seal the plug was twisted, some water got in, I popped the plug off and blew it out good with Compressed Air, and gave it a coat of Dielectric Grease. Problem Solved, Brushed it off as Miss-Assembled at the factory. No Biggie. $hit Happens.
Made it through Winter and Into Spring, First Rainfall-Same Warning Flashes across the DIC. Next Day, after dries up, all good.
After that every heavy rain, or going through some big puddles, the same warning would come across the dash.
I bought an old camper last spring, Was shocked beyond belief that everything worked, even the Brakes. Used it all last Summer. No issues.
This Spring I haul in the Camper and the same message comes across the DIC. This time it doesn't go away. I stopped and checked everything, all Lights and Signal's work on Trailer, but No Brakes.
Disconnect Trailer and Message comes up every times I start it.
After about a month of Driving me completely Nut's trying to trace the issue, Every Fuse, Wire and Connector has been cleaned and checked for moisture, From the Fuse box to the Back Bumper.
I purchased a new Brake Control Relay that goes under the Box above my spare tire, after being very upset that the issue still wasn't resolved I dove back in again.
Beside said Relay is a Control Module that is the TBCM-(Trailer Brake Control Module)-It has a Large locking plug in it that has about 25-30 wires. I pulled the plug out and saw a small crust of blue corrosion on one of the pins. Used a Pick and some steel wool and cleaned it up the best I could. Plugged it all back in and still had same error.
Pulled the plug off again, Removed the plastic insert inside the plug, you can pop it off with a pick, there are small tabs at the side and it all comes off in one piece. Use the same pick to pull out the Silicone Seal Ring. I found bad corrosion on the same pin, so I reached to the back of the plug and found the wire that had this terminal crimped on it. I gave it a small tug and it popped right out of the plug. The corrosion had eaten right up into the insulation on the wire and was blue powder.
Getting the old terminal out is not an easy task, you can get it out with a small pick and a precision screwdriver, but I don't recommend anyone do this that is a novice. If you make a mess of the plug it will not seat properly and make connection. I was lucky and had a Terminal Kit that I had bought before. The connectors are very small and require a special crimper.
But for the same issue that I have read almost every forum about, I have noticed that the symptoms stay the same, Check this harness very closely for terminal corrosion, the system is very Sensitive to resistance and if it go's out of tolerance it will set this off this message.
I figure it may have saved me about a $300-350 dollar fix at a dealership, plus time to Diagnose the issue.
In the end, I am kind of Disappointed, this Truck is only 3 years old, They should be making the wiring harnesses a lot better then they do.
But I'm glad it's fixed, It was driving me crazy, Holidays are coming up and we need the trailer brakes.
