Someone cut the plug off

[Josparkz]

Hello,

I have been getting to add a brake controller on my sweetheart's '05 3500.
I remember when I got my '96 there was a plug in the glove box that I hooked the controller to and it was basically plug and play.
After searching for the plug fruitlessly we went to the dealership today. The mechanic there says he can't find it either, and there is no trailer tow package on the truck. He said the Chrysler stamped 7-way connector in the bumper was not factory installed either.
So we go home and I start looking again. The 7-way sure looked factory installed, torx head bolts and friction tape wrapped wiring harness, and 7 wires to it. So I poke, prod and follow wire looms. I pull the dash panel and low and behold find a 4 wire harness someone had cut. I figure that is it.
I get out my vom and start checking. Mind you, this had been cut with about 2 inches left accessible. I have a purple going to ground, a purple w/gray tracer hot, a purple with yellow tracer hot, and a purple with white tracer I need to ring out at the trailer plug. The two hots are with key off. I didn't get anything happen with the brake pedal pressed.
I haven't been able to locate the actually controller plug on a schematic, and the schematic I've found doesn't have those wire colors on it.
I'm a little stumped why I have 2 non keyed hots on this.
Is this scenario sounding familiar to anyone?
I sure could use some enlightenment here.

Thanks in advance.

Joe

 

[RVTRKN]

A VIN search would show if the tow package was an installed option on your 96, but maybe the Dealer installed the option, when it was sold.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

iirc, the plug would be tucked away near the harness to the left of the pedals.

 

[mwilson]

iirc, the plug would be tucked away near the harness to the left of the pedals.

It has been awhile, but didn't the jumper come in the glovebox??? Then it plugged in to the left side of the fuse panel. I'm thinking that socket in the panel was on all of them.



I will look at my '97 tonight to be sure, that harness is available from any trailer supplier or parts store. What you are looking for under the dash is a socket to the left of the fuse panel that will accept the white plug shown in the attached photo. .

Cust and paste from DodgeRam.org. Note the the first two paragraphs that state the connector beside the fuse panel is there even for non-tow package equipped trucks.



Snip.....



Subject: Re: 7-Pin Connector Wiring

From: Drdonnelly <Drdonnelly@aol.com>



My 97 Ram did not have the factory trailer package. I wired the 7-blade connector myself, and soldered all connections before taping and sealing with black RTV. My truck had the front part of the harness and the connectors in the fuse box under the hood [power distribution center, PDC]. The 4 blade connector under the dash was there too. Of these 4 wires, the red/tan is "hot", tan/white is the brake sensor, black is ground, and blue is for electric brakes.



At C128, 129 behind the front inner wheelhouse, attached to the bottom front of the cab behind the tire, you will find that the harness going from there to the rear of the truck is missing two wires that are needed for the trailer connector at the rear bumper. These wires are for the trailer running lights (black/orange) and trailer brakes (light blue). I ran 10 gauge wires to the rear for these functions, as I prefer heavier wire than OEM anyway. OEM used to be 14 gauge in 1995 and later they upgraded to 12 gauge. By tapping into the cab end of the connectors, you can access the power leads that you need from the front harness which has these functions even in non-trailer-towing trucks.



At the rear end, I tapped into the brown/pink lead for right turn, and dark green/red for left turn. Violet/black is for backup lamps.



From the PDC connection for the 120 amp fuse, I ran 8 gauge for the B+ (battery positive lead) that is used to charge the trailer battery, and another 8 gauge for a ground from the battery terminal. This setup with 8 gauge wires allows charging the trailer battery "on the road" much quicker than the stock 12 gauge wires would.



In summary, you now have 7 wires: right turn, left turn, backup, 10 ga. running lights, 8 ga. B+, 8 ga. ground, and 10 ga. trailer brakes.



This arrangement is heavier duty than stock, and was worth the effort for me. I also used a DrawTite "Ultra Frame" hitch rated at 750 lb tongue weight and 7500 lb trailer weight in weight carrying mode, vs. stock 500/5000. The Draw Tite uses 9/16" bolts, four per side, vs. stock metric which are about 7/16" and three per side. Joe



Snip.....



Mike.

 

[Josparkz]

A VIN search would show if the tow package was an installed option on your 96, but maybe the Dealer installed the option, when it was sold.

So how do I do a vin search on the '05?
Thanks

 

[Josparkz]

iirc, the plug would be tucked away near the harness to the left of the pedals.

The plug definitely does not seem to be there. I'm suspecting those 4 wires I found were it. Definetely a different color code than on my '96. I'll keep on plugging away at this till I get it.

Thanks.

 

[mwilson]

The plug definitely does not seem to be there. I'm suspecting those 4 wires I found were it. Definetely a different color code than on my '96. I'll keep on plugging away at this till I get it.



Thanks.

Joe, first off my apologies. I looked at your signature. .



I missed this part.....



I have been getting to add a brake controller on my sweetheart's '05 3500.



I can check my '06 manual tonight for you if someone else doesn't get to it first.



Mike.

 

[Josparkz]

Joe, first off my apologies. I looked at your signature. .

I missed this part.....

I have been getting to add a brake controller on my sweetheart's '05 3500.

I can check my '06 manual tonight for you if someone else doesn't get to it first.

Mike.

Not a problem, Mike.
I've got the '96 manuals, and no one cut the plug of and I can see that the color code is different.

Thanks

 

[B.G. Smith]

As stated above, if the plug is there it will be over on the left side under the steering column and near the E-Brake. It will be a blue receptacle and the wire colors are Blue, Green, White and Black. On mine the receptacle is clipped to the side of a large cluster of connectors/wires on the left side of the cluster and it is near the left side of kick panel by E-Brake. The wires you are looking for would be one 12v+ 20 or 30 amp circuit breaker protected, hot all the time, one wire to the 7 pin receptacle which will be open, one ground, and one wire to the off side of the stop light switch. bg

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

That quote from me is sure old, back to about 1996. I have been on msn for a long time.

 

[Josparkz]

As stated above, if the plug is there it will be over on the left side under the steering column and near the E-Brake. It will be a blue receptacle and the wire colors are Blue, Green, White and Black. On mine the receptacle is clipped to the side of a large cluster of connectors/wires on the left side of the cluster and it is near the left side of kick panel by E-Brake. The wires you are looking for would be one 12v+ 20 or 30 amp circuit breaker protected, hot all the time, one wire to the 7 pin receptacle which will be open, one ground, and one wire to the off side of the stop light switch. bg

The plug is not there. All I have is 4 wires someone cut. Purple and purple w/tracers. Two are non-keyed hot, one is ground, and the fourth one does not go to the brake pin on the 7-way.
. So back to, I don't know what was chopped out, but maybe it had nothing to do with the brake controller.
Thank you.

 

[mwilson]

Joe,

I wound up working late tonight. If you can wait until tomorrow when I will be working from home I will check my service manual and also pop the knee bolster off on the '06 in order to see if I can find those wires. Get you some pictures as well.



I will try to do that at lunchtime if that would help.



Mike.

 

[BDaugherty]

alldata.com will sell you a 1 year subscription for a specific vin for about 30 bucks. not cheap, but you would have all the tech info and wire diagrams at your disposal.

 

[Josparkz]

alldata.com will sell you a 1 year subscription for a specific vin for about 30 bucks. not cheap, but you would have all the tech info and wire diagrams at your disposal.

Thank you.

 

[Josparkz]

Joe,
I wound up working late tonight. If you can wait until tomorrow when I will be working from home I will check my service manual and also pop the knee bolster off on the '06 in order to see if I can find those wires. Get you some pictures as well.

I will try to do that at lunchtime if that would help.

Mike.

I jumpered out the plug end of the brake wire and the cut purple/white under the dash is not that. I think maybe I'll visit the dealership some more and see if they can figure what those cut wires are from.
This project is going to get put on hold a bit. I need to poke around in some fuse boxes where stuff might be hid. Since my sweetie is going to stick and stay I'd best get a set of shop manuals for her truck now. A missing plug and four cut wires sounded related to me, but I've been wrong before. And the color code of the wires doesn't match anything related to a factory controller plug.

Thank you

 

[mwilson]

The plug is not there. All I have is 4 wires someone cut. Purple and purple w/tracers. Two are non-keyed hot, one is ground, and the fourth one does not go to the brake pin on the 7-way.

. So back to, I don't know what was chopped out, but maybe it had nothing to do with the brake controller.

Thank you.

I just spent a half hour looking at the wiring schematic for my '06 and I do not see purple or violet wiring in the cab that involves the trailer tow. My eyes are crossing and will have at it again tomorrow. As I mentioned I will look at the truck itself and see what is nearby under there.



I did notice that the power locks have some violet wiring, is it possible that someone removed an aftermarket remote start system???



Tomorrow's another day.....



Mike.

 

[Josparkz]

I just spent a half hour looking at the wiring schematic for my '06 and I do not see purple or violet wiring in the cab that involves the trailer tow. My eyes are crossing and will have at it again tomorrow. As I mentioned I will look at the truck itself and see what is nearby under there.

I did notice that the power locks have some violet wiring, is it possible that someone removed an aftermarket remote start system???

Tomorrow's another day.....

Mike.

My sweetie with the good color perception says the wires were definitely purple. There is the factory door lock and alarm in there. Since she and her late husband bought the truck used, it is hard to know what may have been done to it. I didn't see any signs of any devices having been mounted.

Thank you very much.

Joe

 

[RVTRKN]

Member Bob4X4 has been kind enough, and has searched for many members looking for VIN searches, send him a PM and ask, but your dealer should be able to find out what options the truck was built with.

 

[RVTRKN]

Also, trailer retail/supply houses don't always get it right either. I was told the four wire plug was tucked away were previous posts have stated, but after tearing my 94 2500 gasser dash apart, and several phone calls and a trip to Arrow Trailer, turned out there was only one blue wire. I was not happy after tearing my dash apart looking for a four wire plug that didn't exist. I had to make my own harness from the battery to the controller, it turned out for some reason, Dodge only supplied the brake signal wire (Blue) from the factory, even with the tow package option. I was so frustrated, I drove the truck with the dash torn apart to Arrow Trailer and challenged the tech to find the four wire plug, and he verified only one blue wire was all it came with.

 

[mwilson]

Joe,

This might be easier. I found this how-to in e-trailer.com. It explains installing a brake control into an 05 Ram either with factory prep or without it. The instructions for the non-factory prep truck are down the page aways.
So it shows the factory plug and colors, none are purple or violet. This should get you going either way.
If you need more let me know. I am working from home today.


http://www.etrailer.com/faq-dbc.aspx

And this one to locate the plug if so equipped on an '05 truck. .

http://www.etrailer.com/question-10510.html

Mike.