D4 Electric Trailer Brake Wiring

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Originally Posted by wcody01

Hi,
Great and interesting read.
I have had a disco 4 for about 6 weeks now.
we tow a 24 foot, 3 tonne van.
Twice the electric brakes have stopped working.
Brake light on the van stop working as well.
The Cars brake light still work though.
This problem can be fixed by turning the car off and starting again.
We thought it might be a short circuit in the brake circuit of the caravan
Put a fuse in the brake light circuit so as to stop the short going to the car but this was not the problem.
Any ideas?

Cheers

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I had the same issue with my D4 and car trailer, it turns out that it was caused by the auto elec connecting the signal (red) wire to the trailer stop light feed into the socket, rather than picking up the vehicle brake light wire.

When the trailer feed is used, it creates a fault in the Body Control Module (trailer stop light short to ground) that leads the BCM to shut down that circuit, hence the loss of the trailer brakes and the stop lights on the trailer.

Hope this helps.

Thanks MSTech
Since that post i have had the electric brakes re-installed at australs in brisbane. neat remote unit in the dash replacing the box at my legs that used to be. have had no problems since, all gredit and thanks to australs

My problem however was intement. could this be because i have LED lights on the caravan??

Cheers
Will

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Originally Posted by Drafrete

I have recently had a Tekonsha P3 fitted to my D4 and so far all is good.

A couple of things about this fitting that might be of interest to forum members. First we discarded the standard plastic cradle and used a custom metal bracket that holds the controller very neatly. Having looked at the range of mounts shown in the forum, I decided I could live with two small holes for the security of a strong mounting. Having towed across the Tanamai before I appreciate solid fittings. See photo 1.

Secondly, my auto electrician has a great way of removing the white UK plug and fitting a new robust AU version, leaving the original AU fitting totally untouched. This means I have both a braked and un-braked AU plug at the back. The white one is tucked back up in the side panel where the wiring is. Still connected. See photo 2.

So I have all original wiring in place, the trailer is recognised by the car (green trailer light flashes with the indicator) and all seems good. I am very happy with the two plug options too :)

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That is a steep angle on the p3. Have you towed with it? I would have thought it was too steep for the p3 inertia sensors

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Originally Posted by Banjo_pluker

That is a steep angle on the p3. Have you towed with it? I would have thought it was too steep for the p3 inertia sensors

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The P3 horizontal plane must be level but the longitudinal plane can be positioned at any angle (full 360 deg). It has to be mounted parallel to vehicle travel. The sensor is self levelling - even going up and down hills.

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Originally Posted by wcody01

Thanks MSTech
Since that post i have had the electric brakes re-installed at australs in brisbane. neat remote unit in the dash replacing the box at my legs that used to be. have had no problems since, all gredit and thanks to australs

My problem however was intement. could this be because i have LED lights on the caravan??

Cheers
Will

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Mine was intermitent as well, with the unit working maybe once out of every 4 starts, it looks like the issue comes down to an interaction between the current draw of the controller and the trailer brakes, with the issue less likely to occur when the controller (Redarc) was turned down to it's lowest setting on startup, the issue then became that if the gain was turned up to high, then the fault protection would kick in and it was back to having no brakes or stop lights on the trailer.

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Originally Posted by SBD4

The P3 horizontal plane must be level but the longitudinal plane can be positioned at any angle (full 360 deg). It has to be mounted parallel to vehicle travel. The sensor is self levelling - even going up and down hills.

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Sweet:)

I must have understood the instructions wrong- that makes it a lot easier to install (gives more options) than I understood-

thanks

I’m thinking of hard wiring in a Led Adaptor Module in behind the trailer plug so that it is available to any trailer I use.
Is this a good idea?
Will my D4 think I have a trailer connected all the time or is there a way to over come this?

Lanceanot,
I have a pulsebusta unit for when i tow LED equiped trailers. if i dont have a trailer but do have the pulse buster pluged in the vehicle still thinks it has a trailer behind ie trailer light on the dash. what i have done is made my pulsebuster in to a patch lead ie male one end female the other so i can use it or not.
Cheers
Will

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Originally Posted by Lanceanot

I’m thinking of hard wiring in a Led Adaptor Module in behind the trailer plug so that it is available to any trailer I use.
Is this a good idea?
Will my D4 think I have a trailer connected all the time or is there a way to over come this?

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Lanceanot,

I created a patch cable that may be of interest to you, has the load resistors in it. It is posted at http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...-pin-plug.html

Rgds, John

Lanceanot,
I have one wired in the back of my D4, there is a switch that allows you to turn it on/off for operation.
Mine is fitted in the L/H stowage section.
Good piece of kit.

Cheers

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