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Old 06-26-2016, 12:19 PM   #1
WSKNort
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Check Trailer Wiring Alert

Fifth Wheel Wiring Question
I have 2015 GMC Sierra. Am hauling 2016 Montana HC. While towing, I am getting frequent alerts on Intellilink Instrument Pannel: "Check trailer wiring" which immediately changes to "Trailer Connected". I have verified that brakes continue to operate & lights continue to work even during these alerts. I have had service tech check trailer & no issues discovered.

Anyone have experience with an issue similar to this one?
Any assistance/guidance is much appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Old 06-26-2016, 12:27 PM   #2
speedster100
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suspect your connectors are in need of a cleaning and lubrication. They get corroded and need to b cleaned up so the connections end up intermittent.
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Old 06-26-2016, 01:06 PM   #3
Art-n-Marge
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I have found that most service techs don't have the patience or desire to find intermittent problems like this. When my Ford started showing weirdball errors like this (especially when it rained), I crawled under my truck, untaped everything, cleaned the wiring and recrimped everyhing and retaped everything even better and no problems since. It was very time consuming and I am sure this would drive some shop personnel bonkers unless you could save then some time and find the loose connection or problem area yourself so they could fix a known problem aea, which still means someone needs to do some time-consuming busy work. When you say "had service tech check trailer & no issues discovered" it means the tech is NOT gonna spend too much time if it ain't obvious, but there is still a problem.

Speedster100 is probably right that is the problem, but it was time-consuming for me to fix and therefore not something a dealer/service tech would be spend too much time unless you could find where the fault is located.
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Old 06-26-2016, 01:26 PM   #4
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The quickest thing to do would be connect to another truck and see if the same thing happens. We had a new TT next to us a couple weeks ago, pulled in straight from the dealer, and the fellow couldn't get his right turn signal working on the trailer. I connected to it with ours and everything worked, so the connection problem is somewhere in his truck.
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Old 09-25-2019, 04:34 AM   #5
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I have a 2016 Sierra hauling a 2015 305rl Montana high country and have the exact same problem. Took it to the dealer under warranty and they replaced the plug unit on the truck. Said there was sign of some corrosion and suggested I check the trailer wiring if the problem continued.
The problem continued. As a precaution I replaced my RV cord as well, yesterday. Will be test driving it in a couple of days.
Did you ever resolve your issue?
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Old 09-25-2019, 05:05 AM   #6
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There is a junction box in the pin box. It's for all intent, too small for the number and size wiring along with the wire nuts. Keystone must have used a hammer to get all those wires in that box. Somewhere out in the Arizona desert ours posted that message, When I pulled the cover off, out dropped a wire nut. One wire was loose and making and occasionally losing contact. I added a 1" extender ring from a hardware store after checking and tightening the wire nuts. One caution with that extender is that it does hang a bit too low as I found out Monday when I knocked the cover off with the truck's 5er tailgate while hooking up at a 45* and off camber site (my worst hookup in 40 years of RVing with a 5th wheel)
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Old 09-25-2019, 12:34 PM   #7
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Had to venture there to put the new trailer plug on and it is a tad tight in there for sure.
Your not alone in those special bad hook up days and I have seen worse.
We all get our day!
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Old 09-25-2019, 07:23 PM   #8
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My experience with this same exact problem was very time consuming but my persistence paid off. Same messages on the 2015 Chevy 3500. Had it at the dealer several times, but the problem didn't go away. I pulled off one wheel hub at a time of my 2017 3810MS, all looked good until I pulled the last one. The clips that hold the magnet wires to the brake shoe actuator had come off allowing the wires to rub against the brake drum and cause the fault error on occasions. I repaired the wires and the problem went away for about 12,000 miles. This time I knew what to look for, same problem but on a different wheel. I tightened each clip on each wheel this time, no more messages to date.
I hope this helps!
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Old 09-26-2019, 01:49 PM   #9
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Had the same issue, also found exactly what RichardD found, loose clips holding the electric brake wires allowing wires to rub raw against brake drum. all you can do is reattach,repair wires and check regularly. Poor design.
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Old 09-26-2019, 06:50 PM   #10
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Install disc brakes and your garbage electric brake issues will disappear forever.
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Old 09-28-2019, 08:09 AM   #11
BuckandTeresa
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Connector

Had a similar problem for weeks and several visits to the dealer technician. New High Country and new Ford F250. He kept trouble shooting and blaming me for not plugging in the connector with sufficient force (not true.) The last time, he said he had ben pondering, and thought he had it figured out. He took a small common screwdriver and inserted it into the plug and receptacle and tightened the grip of the metal tabs. Not one problem since then. Give it a try.
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Old 09-28-2019, 10:34 AM   #12
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I had similar problem when it rained I would get trailer shorted or disconnected warning. On a dry day I sprayed the back of the pickup plug-in with Flex Seal. Believe it or not it worked. I’ve never had a problem with that again.
I figured if a guy can fix a boat with it, it should work for me.
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Old 09-28-2019, 10:55 AM   #13
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I had the same problem with my 2015 HD 3500. There is a trailer brake relay and the trailer brake control module "TBCM" under the back by the spare tire. My truck was under warranty and was fixed. My problems started after I towed thru a snow storm, so I think the moisture caused the problem.
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Old 10-12-2019, 12:47 AM   #14
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Had the same issue with 2015 High Country. Dealer traced it to a problem within the brake on one of the wheels. Wasn't specific about exact problem. Good luck
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Old 10-12-2019, 04:41 PM   #15
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We did find the problem. Something from the road came up and clipped the brake wire on the rear axel, on the side of the wire that was facing the axel. If you were to look at the wire you would not see an issue. But when we cut the wire off the back axel brakes, our check brake error discontinued. Further investigation of the wire we removed showed a very clean cut in the protective cover and the power wire cover was there. Problem solved.
Cut the wire covering and the power wire cleanly. While there was no evidence of arching it appears there was enough contact to tell the truck there was a problem.
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