trailer brake controller

[Dave Cunningham]

Hi there, just wondered if anyone has installed an electric brake controller on a 2000 era marquis, did they come from the factory with one? I have the wires at the back that someone cut off, but I cant locate them under the dash.
There is a coil of black cable in the corner under the dash with a 6 pin plastic plug on it, would this be for the control? it probably has an extra six feet of cable coiled up, might be something to do with the non existent Bose system.
I already had to rout the new backup camera cable from the back to the dash, don't want to go through that again

any sugestions?

thanks

Dave

[Gerald Farris]

Dave,
If your coach had an electric brake controller, it was installed by a previous owner since they were not factory equipment.

You can trace the wires that were cut off at the back of the coach with the use of a tone generator type wire tracer. This type of wire tracer will cost from $15 to $100+ depending on the quality and signal strength. Here is an inexpensive example on Amazon;  http://www.amazon.com/Sinometer-MS6812-Generator-Cable-Tracer/dp/B004YLXR24
You can also check the wiring with an ohmmeter, however it is not as easy.

If you trace the wires to the front of the coach and they are not broken or shorted, there will be no need to run additional wiring through the coach.

Gerald

[Dave Cunningham]

thanks, Gerald, I will try that

[Joel Ashley]

I have a Sperry ET4220L tracker that I like because of its compact all-in-one package and versatility.  I got it at either Lowe's or Home Depot a couple years ago.  That model may no longer be available, but is similar to this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00279JLBQ/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=beaverambaclub-20picks-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00279JLBQ

Joel

[Dave Cunningham]

Still working on the trailer brakes, just wondered if anyone knew if they ran any extra wires to the back of the coach from the dash or electrical bay, I have to get one wire back there for the brakes,

Thanks

Dave

[Gil_Johnson]

Someone tie wrapped a wire along the bottom of mine for the brake controller.  You may actually find an extra wire if you can find it.  If not, my preference would have been to come through the floor at the dash and follow the frame rails through the generator compartment and stoarge bays to the back.

[Dave Cunningham]

Ok, got the trailer brake controller installed and I will post this as a reference to others,  I hooked up all the factory wires to the 7 pin plug that I bought, all the functions were there turn signals , brake and running lights ect. Just before I started to fish another wire through the fame for the brake control, I thought I would search through the front electrical compartment ( drivers side front ) in the vertical wiring loom towards the right side of the compartment I found three dead end wires with blue butt connectors crimped to the ends, they are marked on the wire itself as spare 1,2,and 3.  So then IStarted searching in the engine compartment, and at the end of the passenger side frame rail, I found the same three wires , just look for the point that the main wiring harness starts to split up and go in different directions, and there is a 6" piece of corrogated black wire loom that dead ends and the wires are inside. Hooked up the controller to spare number 1 and it worked great (after fishing the other end from the electrical bay to the dash area of course )
Anyway hope this helps someone, as mentioned earlier fishing wires through one of these units is not fun.

Dave c