Installation of P3 Brake Controller on a 2011 Ford E350 with Brake Light that Grounds when Released
Question:
I am having trouble installing my Tekonsha P3 in my 2011 Ford E350 van. I also purchased the 3034-P wiring harness. I located the correct connector up high behind the dash after much searching and some information from your website. I plugged in the wiring harness and while reading the Tekonsha instructions I found a section referring to older model Ford vans which stated that the wiring harness may not work if the red wire shorts to ground when the brake pedal is not depressed. Just to make sure, I hooked up the ohm meter and gave it a test only to discover that sure enough the red wire is hot when the pedal is depressed and shunts to ground when the pedal is released. According to the Teknosha paperwork this hookup will destroy the unit if the manual control is actuated. I assume I will now have to rewire the wiring harness but to what do I connect the red wire stoplight wire now? There is no indication in the instructions that I should be having this problem with a 2011 and the alternate wiring diagrams provided by Tekonsha of course do not apply to my vehicle.
asked by: Carl
Expert Reply:
What you are going to need to do is cut the red wire from the # 3034-P and wire the end from the brake controller to a stoplight circuit that sees 12 volts when the brakes are applied and none when released. You might also confirm that this circuit does not turn into a ground when brakes are released as well.
I wish I could tell exactly what circuit to use, but the best recommendation I can give you would be to test the wires from the brake switch to determine which one to use, or you can run a wire back to the third brake light of your 2011 Ford E-350 van to use that circuit.
The remaining wires of the 3034-P should be fine left in the harness since there was no problem with those circuits. You should only need to hardwire the stoplight circuit to install the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Brake Controller # 90885.
I attached an FAQ article on installing brake controllers that you may find helpful also.
Products Referenced in This Question
Tekonsha Plug-In Wiring Adapter for Electric Brake Controllers - Ford
- Accessories and Parts
- Trailer Brake Controller
- Wiring Adapter
- Plugs into Brake Controller
- Vehicle Specific
- Tekonsha
more information >
Tekonsha Prodigy P2 Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional
- Trailer Brake Controller
- Proportional Controller
- Electric
- Electric over Hydraulic
- Automatic Leveling
- Under-Dash Box
- Dash Mount
- Up to 4 Axles
- LED Display
- Up to 360 Degrees
- Tekonsha
more information >
Product Page this Question was Asked From
Tekonsha Prodigy P2 Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional
- Trailer Brake Controller
- Proportional Controller
- Electric
- Electric over Hydraulic
- Automatic Leveling
- Under-Dash Box
- Dash Mount
- Up to 4 Axles
- LED Display
- Up to 360 Degrees
- Tekonsha
more information >
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