Help Tekonsha P3

[adonh]

I have the Tekonsha P3 like the one below and it has worked great for the past 3 years. I have Disc brakes. Today I hooked up the trailer and looking down at the screen where I would normally see O's light up the screen was blank. I checked the connection but still nothing. Looking at the screen from the side I can see a green back light so it would appear to have power but is not connecting. All of the other lights from the 7 pin connector work. Any thoughts

Thanks

Don



Tekonsha brake controller - Bing Images

[overlander63]

Try unplugging it from the truck, and hold the manual control lever over for a few seconds. Plug it back in, and see if it works. A few have had this issue, and "draining" the power from it has resolved the problem.
Even if it doesn't work, you're not out anything, except a minute or two of time.

[jm2]

Don,

if your P3 screen is blank, it is possible that either there is no power to the P3, or that the P3 has failed.

when your TV is turned 'on' and the trailer 7-pin harness is disconnected, do you get the 'red screen' on the P3 saying "No Trailer Connection!"?

if no, then check for +12V on the black lead coming to the P3, and for a good ground on the white lead to the P3.

if yes, then try the diagnostics built into the P3. instructions can be found here - http://www.tekonsha.com/content/down...ion/N90195.pdf


best,

[adonh]

I unplugged and then held the lever over for a few seconds. Plugged back up still nothing.

Now that it is dark outside the screen has a pale green color not the normal red screen. It does not show any of the error messages.

Don

[adonh]

Could it a fuse, somewhere in the Suburban, 2008.

[SteSpot]

Our brake controller continued to control the brakes but the read out was missing.........we replaced it after spending a lot of money having someone trouble shoot it with a call to Tekonsha......

it cost $150 for a new one so in retrospect we should have just replaced it......I looked on the new box and it has a life time warranty.....so if we had known and had had time, we could have called them, got permission to fed ex to them and they would have sent out a new one......

So after the fact, I jumped through their return hoops and they sent me a replacement one.....so now we have a spare......

Or you could try to have a dealer try to return it if they are willing to try. paula

[adonh]

Originally Posted by SteSpot

Our brake controller continued to control the brakes but the read out was missing.........we replaced it after spending a lot of money having someone trouble shoot it with a call to Tekonsha......

it cost $150 for a new one so in retrospect we should have just replaced it......I looked on the new box and it has a life time warranty.....so if we had known and had had time, we could have called them, got permission to fed ex to them and they would have sent out a new one......

So after the fact, I jumped through their return hoops and they sent me a replacement one.....so now we have a spare......

Or you could try to have a dealer try to return it if they are willing to try. paula

Thats interesting because I pulled the trailer home form storage and even though I was cautious, it towed the same as it does when when I know it is working. It sure felt like I had brakes. I will buy a new replacement unit and see what happens.

Don

[jm2]

Originally Posted by adonh

Thats interesting because I pulled the trailer home form storage and even though I was cautious, it towed the same as it does when when I know it is working. It sure felt like I had brakes. I will buy a new replacement unit and see what happens.

Don

fwiw, the one and only time I called Tekonsha for support (for a bracket problem) they were perfectly gracious, helpful, and easy to do business with!

check the power going in & out of the P3, and if need be, I'd be exercising that limited lifetime warranty!

best,

[perryg114]

I thought these things had a lifetime warrantee or something.

Perry

[SteSpot]

They do have a life time warranty but in order to get it replaced at no charge you have to contact them before buying another one....otherwise, you end up like us with a spare controller. We actually had time to have fed exed it to them and had them send another one but we were not aware of the life time warranty and they didn't volunteer that information. They would not refund our money that we spent on the second controller.....so we were stuck.

You can test to see if the controller is still activating your breaks....ours did and we drove from Rawlins, MT to Ft. Collins, CO without the readout working but it still stopped our trailer. We were afraid to continue on after that and just replaced the controller.....and the problem was a malfunction of the controller...not our wiring or anything esle....it was about 3 years old. paula

[SteSpot]

I meant to type "else"

[adonh]

I decided this morning to go ahead an get a new Tekonsha P3 since we are leaving town tomorrow, Thursday. So after driving to the RV parts palce in my area I decided I would unplug the unit and take it inside with me so I could make sure I had the right one. The Tekonsha P3 sits in a harness under the dask and can be removed by pressing a couple of clips and unplugging the wires at the back. I had never done that but it was fairly easy and then I had a thought. Reboot. So I plugged it back in and it came right on with the normal screen and then changed to the red screen indicating no trailer attached. Back in business. When I got home I connected the trailer and plugged in the connector and I have brakes.

Its been a long day getting ready for a few days out of town, so I think I will go Reboot myself and have a couple Jim Beam's.

Thank for the input guys. See you down the road.

Don
1976 31' Sovereign

[perryg114]

Have one for me. That is one of those 90% perspiration problems. You hack at it long enough and it fixes itself.

Perry

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by adonh

I have the Tekonsha P3 like the one below and it has worked great for the past 3 years. I have Disc brakes. ...

I thought these controllers could not detect disk brake units--they need the low impedance of the electric brake magnets in order to show that a "trailer is connected." We're talking less than 5 ohms, here.

If this is so, then a low impedance load wired in parallel with the controller unit might be enough to simulate electric brakes.

Zep

[SteSpot]

Originally Posted by adonh

I decided this morning to go ahead an get a new Tekonsha P3 since we are leaving town tomorrow, Thursday. So after driving to the RV parts palce in my area I decided I would unplug the unit and take it inside with me so I could make sure I had the right one. The Tekonsha P3 sits in a harness under the dask and can be removed by pressing a couple of clips and unplugging the wires at the back. I had never done that but it was fairly easy and then I had a thought. Reboot. So I plugged it back in and it came right on with the normal screen and then changed to the red screen indicating no trailer attached. Back in business. When I got home I connected the trailer and plugged in the connector and I have brakes.

Its been a long day getting ready for a few days out of town, so I think I will go Reboot myself and have a couple Jim Beam's.


Thank for the input guys. See you down the road.

Don
1976 31' Sovereign

That is great news......hav a fun trip.....now if only our new Denali with the built in brake controller would work for us by Friday......paula

[jm2]

Originally Posted by adonh

"I decided I would unplug the unit.... and can be removed by pressing a couple of clips and unplugging the wires at the back.

So I plugged it back in and it came right on with the normal screen and then changed to the red screen indicating no trailer attached. Back in business. When I got home I connected the trailer and plugged in the connector and I have brakes.

hmm. sounds a lot like the suggestion Terry made in post #2! http://www.airforums.com/forums/f439...ml#post1077680

glad that you're back on the road.

[jm2]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

I thought these controllers could not detect disk brake units--they need the low impedance of the electric brake magnets in order to show that a "trailer is connected." We're talking less than 5 ohms, here.

If this is so, then a low impedance load wired in parallel with the controller unit might be enough to simulate electric brakes.

Zep

hi, Zep,

Brake Controllers - Tekonsha

the P3 is hydraulic compatible, from the factory. no simulation or field mods necessary.... set it & go!

[adonh]

Originally Posted by jm2

hmm. sounds a lot like the suggestion Terry made in post #2! http://www.airforums.com/forums/f439...ml#post1077680

glad that you're back on the road.

I must have misunderstood Terry's suggestion, I thought he meant unplug the the 7 pin connector from the truck to the trailer. But maybe it just took a day for Terry's suggestion to sink into my brain. Thanks Terry

Don