Removing trailer brake controller threw 4 lights?

[TJI]

Just bought my 05 sr5 last week, and it had this trailer brake controller under the dash, I'm not gonna tow big trailers so I removed it. Does this normally throw the check engine light, and mess up the VSC? I unplugged and removed it all while the vehicle was off, key out. Kinda a bummer after just getting it, no lights on before I did this. Pictures here: Photo Album - Imgur

Any reason this would happen? Seems kinda like a fluke to me, will I be safe resetting it with a cheapo OBD tool or should I bring it in?

 

[kevinpt]

i would clear the codes and see if they come back

 

[ebg18t]

by uninstalling it what did you do to the remaining wires? sounds like one or more of the wires got damaged in the removal process. I would visually check each wire and if possible test the resistance of each wire.

 

[having fun]

There should be a plug in wiring harnest 4 wires if I remember. That had to be pluged in to main harnest to be able to run the brake controller. Mainly to run a 7 pin plug in the rear.

You should be able to follow the wires the brake controller was installed to and unplug the connector. Just do a reset on your icu, ect.

 

[TJI]

I'll definitely try just resetting, my best guess is it was a fluke since the electronics changed from one start to the next. All I did to remove it was unplug the controller from the plug, which if i'm not mistaken has nothing plugged into it from the factory, so it shouldnt be an issue to the computer anyway. Checked the wires, and they're all intact.

 

[TechWrench]

I'll definitely try just resetting, my best guess is it was a fluke since the electronics changed from one start to the next. All I did to remove it was unplug the controller from the plug, which if i'm not mistaken has nothing plugged into it from the factory, so it shouldnt be an issue to the computer anyway. Checked the wires, and they're all intact.

Just to be sure of what you did, on the 4runners, there is an adapter harness that plugs into part of the factory wire harness just behind the left side kick plate cover. This adapter harness then connects to the brake controller. If you just upnplugged the harness from from the brake controller, and left the other end still connected to the vehicle harness, then that could be the source of your issues.

 

[TJI]

Sort of a late update, was gone for a week.

Anyway, got it sorted out, took it into the shop, they reset all the codes(engine light was a vaccum leak, still not used to this goofy gas cap), and they have not come back, I guess just changing the brake circuitry caused it to throw those lights and stop vsc as a precaution. No problems a week and 1,000ish miles later. Thanks for the suggestions.

I guess the lesson here is if it aint broke dont fix it hehe. I'll learn one of these days.