I got a 97 Ram 2500. It has the factory connector for a brake controller for a trailer, so I hooked up my controller and all was fine for a week then all of a sudden I go to leave work and the truck is dead. So I put it on a charger the whole day I get home and I notice just my tail lights are on.. WTF? So I unplug the controller and they shut off,I plug it back in and they come back on. Has anyone else had this problem? I know the simple solution is to just unplug it when not in use but I just wanted to track down the problem since it worked fine for a week then overnight it acted up

 

check the controller to be sure it doesn't think the brakes are being applied.

 

On the digital display its not reading nay input. When brakes are applied it shows a digital reading of the % of power to the brakes from 0-99

 

On the controller, is there an output to the brake lights? Or, is there any input from the brake switch itself? Seeing the wiring diagrams of what ya got would help some. Hopefully....

 

I would assume there is a wire to the brake lights.. Under the dash there was a factory connector labeled "brake controller" and I got a brake controller and harness to plug right in.. The brake controller is a Hopkins 47235

 

Ok, was able to find installation instructions Here. Its only a four wire hookup...... one of which, is to the switched side of the brake switch. If the brake lights do NOT come on with JUST the harness adapter plugged in, ONLY with the brake controller also hooked up, you can try and push the 'slider' (if it has one....) over, and see if the brake lites go out. If it doesn't have a slider, or, the brake lights stay lit, I would suspect a failed brake controller.

 

ok ill plug it back in and puch the slider and see if the lights go out if not il lget another controller.. Thanks for your help

 

Wait thinking of it.... Right now the harness is plugged into the factory harness of the truck and its unplugged where it connects to the brake controller... So im assuming its a faulty controller

 

That would be a good bet. And they advertise it as "Protected against shorts"......