Brake controller no power? 2011 factory plug

[jayfox911]

I tried hooking up a P2 brake controller and the factory plug is not providing power. I checked the fuse and relay under the hood in the fuse box. Is there another fuse I am missing?

We just purchased this 4runner last week and towed a 3000# trailer to camp over the weekend. We were very nervous about the squat and braking power without the controller. However it towed it fine since there was not any large hills.

I want to add Airlift 1000 airbags following ANTMAN's writeup.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[dsfra]

I have a P2 installed and have lots of miles on it. Connected it as Tekonsha spec'ed, and didn't have to do any putzing around with fuses and/or relays. It just worked.

Note that it's advisable to add an extra ground connection on the cable between the factory trailer wiring plug and the controller. In fact, the adapter harness 3040-P from e-trailer.com comes with the extra ground wire already attached and they say that without a good ground the controller may not work consistently.

 

[Diver Deuce]

I tried hooking up a P2 brake controller and the factory plug is not providing power. I checked the fuse and relay under the hood in the fuse box. Is there another fuse I am missing?

We just purchased this 4runner last week and towed a 3000# trailer to camp over the weekend. We were very nervous about the squat and braking power without the controller. However it towed it fine since there was not any large hills.

I want to add Airlift 1000 airbags following ANTMAN's writeup.

Thanks,
Jason

I've got a Reese brake controller, nothing fancy. Make sure that ground is good. Have fun installing those Airlift 1000s. I definitely like the setup all around. Also, having a weight distribution hitch also helps when towing heavy.

 

[jayfox911]

I have a P2 installed and have lots of miles on it. Connected it as Tekonsha spec'ed, and didn't have to do any putzing around with fuses and/or relays. It just worked.

Note that it's advisable to add an extra ground connection on the cable between the factory trailer wiring plug and the controller. In fact, the adapter harness 3040-P from e-trailer.com comes with the extra ground wire already attached and they say that without a good ground the controller may not work consistently.

I will ad another ground but at the factory plug I am not getting 12v, i double checked with a multimeter.:noidea:

I might just run a power line from the battery and add another ground. I am getting the brake signal form the factory plug.

 

[dsfra]

I will ad another ground but at the factory plug I am not getting 12v, i double checked with a multimeter.:noidea:

I might just run a power line from the battery and add another ground. I am getting the brake signal form the factory plug.

As you likely know, the poop sheet that comes with the P2 shows a line running from the (+) battery terminal, through an auto-reset breaker, and then to the controller. On our 4Runners, the factory harness incorporates this line - albeit apparently using a fuse rather than a breaker. The fact that you're not seeing +12 v. at the connector means no continuity from the (+) battery terminal to the factory connector. About the only choices are a blown or no fuse, or a break in the wire. You might want to pop the fuse and use your VOM to check for continuity between the cold side of the fuse holder and the factory connector, and between the hot side of the fuse holder and the (+) battery terminal. And check the fuse itself cuz sometimes it's hard to see that they're blown. I would hesitate to run a loose +12 v. line without figuring out for sure what's really going on.

I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know.

The fuse is the 30 amp'er labeled simply "TOWING" in the diagram below.

 

[jayfox911]

In the diagram 1,4 and 15 are for towing.

I see the 1 relay and one 30a labeled towing near the center middle. Where is the second fuse?

 

[jayfox911]

In the diagram 1,4 and 15 are for towing.

I see the 1 relay and one 30a labeled towing near the center middle. Where is the second fuse?

I found all the towing fuses under the hood, all are good. Tried new fuses also. I saw there is a 10a backup towing lights under dash. I didn't check that one yet but when I was looking for the under dash fuse box I saw the dealer aftermarket alarm. I wonder if they cut the tow power line to power that aftermarket alarm.

 

[dsfra]

In the diagram 1,4 and 15 are for towing.

I see the 1 relay and one 30a labeled towing near the center middle. Where is the second fuse?

Yeah - kinda irritating that the legend calls out "*15:30A TOWING TAIL", but then on the diagram the "*15" shows up in the middle of the fuse holder symbol - in the same place that all the other fuses show the current rating. It's halfway down the 2nd column from the right. Took me a while to spot it too.

Also - and I don't mean to be a smartass - if you were looking for your +12 v. with your VOM by connecting between the +12 v. pin and the ground pin on the connector, and if you don't have a good ground there, then you wouldn't see the +12 v. Try between the +12 v. pin and a known good ground. FWIW, I have had good luck using the fuse block mounting bolt shown in the image below for ground connections - it's the shiny silver bolt with the white wire (with yellow crimp connector) and the black (hard to see) wire.

 

[jayfox911]

Found a fourth fuse under the hood that was blown labeled tow brk. Somehow I missed it when looking before twice.

So it works as it should because of a blown 30amp fuse. *4 is the one that was blown.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Semi-Hex]

Found a fourth fuse under the hood that was blown labeled tow brk. Somehow I missed it when looking before twice.

So it works as it should because of a blown 30amp fuse. *4 is the one that was blown.

Thanks everyone.

I love the end of a good whodunnit!

Persistance pays off.

 

[007Tacoma]

Found a fourth fuse under the hood that was blown labeled tow brk. Somehow I missed it when looking before twice.

So it works as it should because of a blown 30amp fuse. *4 is the one that was blown.

Thanks everyone.

I am reliving this thread right now. Where is this fuse *4? Anybody got a picture of it?

 

[jayfox911]

I am reliving this thread right now. Where is this fuse *4? Anybody got a picture of it?

see photo below...

 

[b407driver]

see photo below...

Thank you! Wow, has this been an infuriating process!

I got the P3 installed, and it was completely dead. Before going down the fuse route, I checked the continuity of the wires of the 3041-P harness adapter, and the red wire was bad (showed high resistance). I split the loom to look at the wire, and some bozo had cut that red wire during manufacturing, and then spliced it back together, and put a piece of industrial heat wrap over it (could not split it to look). Looks like there was no connector, they just twisted the wires together and shrink-wrapped it.

Thought I had it figured out, still no power. Went through all the fuses I could find, they were all good. Until you showed that this one was (effectively) unlabeled, and indeed this fuse was blown (I assume due to the bad wire).

To add insult to injury, there is no 30 amp spare provided, so now I get to run to the auto parts store. What should’ve been a 30 minute install has been 2+ hours!

I can only imagine the rabbit-hole I’m about to go down once I pick up the travel trailer this afternoon, lol...

Thanks again for that pic!