2001 Silverado trailer plug not working properly?

Question

I bought a 01 silverado it has a 7 way plug. When I hook it up, all I get is the left turn signal that works. It also has a brake controller hooked up that looks like it was wired in by a r****d, that never shows connected. (yes, the trailer does have brakes.)

It all worked 9 months ago on a flatbed trailer I had (it had brakes too). Nothing has changed and I hooked up a 30' enclosed that I really need brakes for and nothing works but the left turn signal.

I haven't towed with it in 9 months but all the fuses seem to check out. I did notice that inside the reciever for the hitch is rusted. Could it be a ground issue? The hitch that I use for my old trailer has the paint all wore away on it, and the hitch for the new trailer (requires bigger ball size and is a weight distributing hitch) is brand new with paint. I hooked the trailer to another truck and all the lights worked fine.

Do you have any tips or suggestions on where to start looking or what may be the cause??

Answer 1

You may have several issues.

First, since it has been some time since you used it the plug is almost sure to be corroded inside. Yes, you could have ground problem. but that is unlikely if you have a left turn signal.

Get a new plug, remove the old one and toss it Your life is worth more than a few bucks for a plug.

Actually unless you really know what you are doing I would recommend hooking up the trailer and going by the shortest, safest route at low traffic time to either a good trailer shop or RV dealer and have them go over your whole. system.  I did that with my trailer(25 ft RV) and it was money well spent.

My money is on  badly corroded contacts on the plug . The receiver has nothing to do with the ground. The rust is not a problem on the hitch.

Answer 2

It appears to me that the two plugs do not correspond and each are wired differently,There is normally a national code for wiring the plugs but this is not always the norm,If you place a charged battery next to  your trail and hook the - earth pole of the battery to the steel of your trailer(hoping for a common earth here) and then with a length of shielded wire you can test to see what works or not by touching each pin in the trailer plug,if you touch a pin and get big sparks then it is more than likely to be earthed as well or a short circuit,Quite easy to do but not from here I'm afraid as there is too much to explain

Answer 3

It's not the ground, if anything works it's grounded. I'd clean all the contacts and take atest meter to it. You also must remember that it could be in the trailer also.

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