[PoMans4x4]

Hello all, We have an issue with the 2017 Frontier in our sig. We just had it setup with a WD hitch and E-brake controller from the RV place the inlaws purchased their ~21ft travel trailer from.

The problem the RV place ran into is they can't figure out a power issue for the trailer brakes. The 7-pin socket from the hitch kit is plugged into the factory harness under the truck and I assume they have the brake controller in the cab plugged into the appropriate location in the pass side kick panel. The problem they said they ran into is, as soon as they plug the brake controller box into the truck, it indicates a short they cannot find.

RV place washed their hands of it at this point as says it's a Nissan dealer problem.

All the trailer lights seem to work fine when the trailer is plugged into the 7-pin on the truck. The problem is, with the camper plugged into the truck (and ignition on), even with the E-brake controller not plugged in, the trailer brakes stay energized until the ignition is cut or the camper is unplugged from the 7-pin. Unfortunately we didn't figure that out until about a mile away from the RV place when the trailer brakes started smoking like a mofo. Ugh.. I signaled the FIL to STOP and as soon as I yanked the 7pin out of the socket, I heard the brakes *clunk* and de-energize. He drove it without trailer lights (and locked brakes) from that point.

I don't know off hand what brand brake controller it is (setup as it inlaws house at moment) and sorry for any improper terminology here! I'm new to this!

I was hoping for an easy solution like "oh you need to reposition a relay, etc", but yeah.. I'm realistic. Thanks for your help.

 

[NEWARE]

I had the same problem, but my harness was from etrailer, not factory. The 24 volt and brake wires were in the wrong spots. I just cut the 2 wires and swapped them at plug and all works fine now. Apparently its a known issue with the harness from etrailer but I don't know anything about an issue with factory installed harnesses.

 

[PoMans4x4]

Thanks Neware.

I'll have to check this out when I get a chance. The RV place supposedly used all plug-n-play wiring, but I don't know which brand at this point..

 

[V8 man]

Trailer relays plug in at the passenger kick panel
Brake controller plugs in under the dash.
If they are splicing the brake controller into the passenger kick panel they are doing something seriously wrong.

Does it show a short error only with a trailer plugged in or at any time even without a trailer?

How old is this trailer? Someone may have rewired the plug on the trailer at some point.

The cover on the truck side of the trailer plug (at least the factory ones) has a diagram that shows what each pin does. A cheap test light can be used to make sure that each pin does what it should do. This will help sort a truck wiring issue from a trailer wiring issue.

 

[PoMans4x4]

Thanks V8 man.

I don't believe they spliced anything into the pass side kick panel. Atleast I hope not.

I don't know at this point if the brake controller shows a short both with and without the trailer plugged in at this point. I do know that the trailer brakes are getting power without the brake controller plugged in.

Trailer is brand spanking new, so is the truck more or less. Truck has 8K miles on it. I think it's a Reese brand hitch kit and they claimed what ever wiring they had to do was plug-n-play.

 

[PoMans4x4]

I had the same problem, but my harness was from etrailer, not factory. The 24 volt and brake wires were in the wrong spots. I just cut the 2 wires and swapped them at plug and all works fine now. Apparently its a known issue with the harness from etrailer but I don't know anything about an issue with factory installed harnesses.

Just a late follow up, but ultimately, this was the exact problem with our 2017 Frontier. Under the left rear of the truck, where the factory mounted two pin connector is with one black and one blue wire (12v constant and electric brake wire), these wires were reversed from the factory.

Given the RV place that installed the hitch and e-brake controller couldn't figure it out and the Nissan dealer refused to look at it given it's aftermarket parts, I emailed the folks at Tekonsha about the problem. One of their techs emailed me back right away with a pdf file that describes how this problem effects some Nissan products and how to fix it. The pdf was from back in 2014 and shows applicable for 2005-2013 Frontiers Pathfinders, Xterras and Equators.

The best fix is to push the pins out of the factory 2-pin connector and reverse them, but after 20min of tearing up my fingers and the plug trying to do this, I eventually just cut the 2 wires, reversed them, used crimp connectors and tape and loomed it back up.

I dunno if this thread is worthy of a sticky, but I have not seen anything on it on the innerwebs.

 

[NEWARE]

Just a late follow up, but ultimately, this was the exact problem with our 2017 Frontier. Under the left rear of the truck, where the factory mounted two pin connector is with one black and one blue wire (12v constant and electric brake wire), these wires were reversed from the factory.

Given the RV place that installed the hitch and e-brake controller couldn't figure it out and the Nissan dealer refused to look at it given it's aftermarket parts, I emailed the folks at Tekonsha about the problem. One of their techs emailed me back right away with a pdf file that describes how this problem effects some Nissan products and how to fix it. The pdf was from back in 2014 and shows applicable for 2005-2013 Frontiers Pathfinders, Xterras and Equators.

The best fix is to push the pins out of the factory 2-pin connector and reverse them, but after 20min of tearing up my fingers and the plug trying to do this, I eventually just cut the 2 wires, reversed them, used crimp connectors and tape and loomed it back up.

I dunno if this thread is worthy of a sticky, but I have not seen anything on it on the innerwebs.

Glad you got it sorted out. The only information I have found on the issue is the reviews of the harness on etrailer.com. If I read those first I would have fixed during the install. Instead I got to do it in the parking lot at the RV place after buying a new camper :serious:

 

[PoMans4x4]

^ Isn't that something? The professionals that sell and install this stuff all day long can't fix it? I too would have done the repair in the RV store parking lot had I known what the issue was at the time.

 

[Edub]

Just a late follow up, but ultimately, this was the exact problem with our 2017 Frontier. Under the left rear of the truck, where the factory mounted two pin connector is with one black and one blue wire (12v constant and electric brake wire), these wires were reversed from the factory.

Given the RV place that installed the hitch and e-brake controller couldn't figure it out and the Nissan dealer refused to look at it given it's aftermarket parts, I emailed the folks at Tekonsha about the problem. One of their techs emailed me back right away with a pdf file that describes how this problem effects some Nissan products and how to fix it. The pdf was from back in 2014 and shows applicable for 2005-2013 Frontiers Pathfinders, Xterras and Equators.

The best fix is to push the pins out of the factory 2-pin connector and reverse them, but after 20min of tearing up my fingers and the plug trying to do this, I eventually just cut the 2 wires, reversed them, used crimp connectors and tape and loomed it back up.

I dunno if this thread is worthy of a sticky, but I have not seen anything on it on the innerwebs.

Do you have the PDF you can share with us?

 

[Forestier]

This could of saved me thousands of dollars. Of course Nissan is feigning ignorance.


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[ghmpm]

Do you have the PDF you can share with us?

Yes please, I would like a copy too.

 

[Rgarcia145]

Just a late follow up, but ultimately, this was the exact problem with our 2017 Frontier. Under the left rear of the truck, where the factory mounted two pin connector is with one black and one blue wire (12v constant and electric brake wire), these wires were reversed from the factory.

Given the RV place that installed the hitch and e-brake controller couldn't figure it out and the Nissan dealer refused to look at it given it's aftermarket parts, I emailed the folks at Tekonsha about the problem. One of their techs emailed me back right away with a pdf file that describes how this problem effects some Nissan products and how to fix it. The pdf was from back in 2014 and shows applicable for 2005-2013 Frontiers Pathfinders, Xterras and Equators.

The best fix is to push the pins out of the factory 2-pin connector and reverse them, but after 20min of tearing up my fingers and the plug trying to do this, I eventually just cut the 2 wires, reversed them, used crimp connectors and tape and loomed it back up.

I dunno if this thread is worthy of a sticky, but I have not seen anything on it on the innerwebs.

I had the same issue with my 2017 Frontier PRO-4X. The factory mounted two pin connector (Blue/Black wires) were reversed from the factory. I only found out this out when i tried to leave the sales lot after purchasing my new utility trailer. I was all happy and ready to go...and boom my brakes are locked up, i had to drive home without lights. After some trial and error i found this thread and i tested the Blue/Black connection, indeed the wires were reversed. I decided not to modify my truck but rather the 7 pin harness. I knew Nissan would give me the go around since i installed an aftermarket hitch so i decided to do it myself. Its really not that difficult, if anyone is having an issue with this don't hesitate to contact me and ill walk you through it. From everything i have read, this issue seems to be a common problem for Frontier owners so i agree with making this a sticky.

 

[DaveBad]

Attached is the service bulletin.

 

[slfulks]

Just a late follow up, but ultimately, this was the exact problem with our 2017 Frontier. Under the left rear of the truck, where the factory mounted two pin connector is with one black and one blue wire (12v constant and electric brake wire), these wires were reversed from the factory.

Given the RV place that installed the hitch and e-brake controller couldn't figure it out and the Nissan dealer refused to look at it given it's aftermarket parts, I emailed the folks at Tekonsha about the problem. One of their techs emailed me back right away with a pdf file that describes how this problem effects some Nissan products and how to fix it. The pdf was from back in 2014 and shows applicable for 2005-2013 Frontiers Pathfinders, Xterras and Equators.

The best fix is to push the pins out of the factory 2-pin connector and reverse them, but after 20min of tearing up my fingers and the plug trying to do this, I eventually just cut the 2 wires, reversed them, used crimp connectors and tape and loomed it back up.

I dunno if this thread is worthy of a sticky, but I have not seen anything on it on the innerwebs.

Thanks so much!!! This was so helpful and got me running again with the brakes working properly. Appreciate the forum!!

 

[RyanD1966]

FYI my 2014 Pro4 was the same way, backwards. Thankfully I had done some research before ordering and installing my connector set and found these notes regarding potential issue. Sure enough, mine were backwards as verified by a 7-pin plug-in trailer tester and my DVOM. Swapped the wires at the socket, all good. I think this is a more wide-spread issue than Nissan wants to fess to.

 

[Knugent35578]

Hello all, We have an issue with the 2017 Frontier in our sig. We just had it setup with a WD hitch and E-brake controller from the RV place the inlaws purchased their ~21ft travel trailer from.

The problem the RV place ran into is they can't figure out a power issue for the trailer brakes. The 7-pin socket from the hitch kit is plugged into the factory harness under the truck and I assume they have the brake controller in the cab plugged into the appropriate location in the pass side kick panel. The problem they said they ran into is, as soon as they plug the brake controller box into the truck, it indicates a short they cannot find.

RV place washed their hands of it at this point as says it's a Nissan dealer problem.

All the trailer lights seem to work fine when the trailer is plugged into the 7-pin on the truck. The problem is, with the camper plugged into the truck (and ignition on), even with the E-brake controller not plugged in, the trailer brakes stay energized until the ignition is cut or the camper is unplugged from the 7-pin. Unfortunately we didn't figure that out until about a mile away from the RV place when the trailer brakes started smoking like a mofo. Ugh.. I signaled the FIL to STOP and as soon as I yanked the 7pin out of the socket, I heard the brakes clunk and de-energize. He drove it without trailer lights (and locked brakes) from that point.

I don't know off hand what brand brake controller it is (setup as it inlaws house at moment) and sorry for any improper terminology here! I'm new to this!

I was hoping for an easy solution like "oh you need to reposition a relay, etc", but yeah.. I'm realistic. Thanks for your help.

On the 7 way connector on your truck, the 1 o’clock blade and the 5 o’clock blade are reversed. It’s what Nissan does. They mess up and never fix anything.

 

[RyanD1966]

On the 7 way connector on your truck, the 1 o’clock blade and the 5 o’clock blade are reversed. It’s what Nissan does. They mess up and never fix anything.

^^ This. I wired up my seven-pin through the bumper and when tested, it was bass-ackwards, as others have noted. eTrailer was where I first became aware this was a possibility and very thankful they did mention it. I fixed mine by simply swapping the wires around and now all is good, ready for my Tekonsha brake controller and NOBO off-road trailer, next spring. Basically the house-power and brake controller output wires are reversed in position.

 

[Yellcohawg]

On the 7 way connector on your truck, the 1 o’clock blade and the 5 o’clock blade are reversed. It’s what Nissan does. They mess up and never fix anything.

It's not just a Nissan problem, most of the truck manufacturers reversed the black and blue wires sometime in 04 or 05. In fact I sell 2 different 6 to 7 way adapters to address this problem for trailers that have brakes but no auxiliary lighting.

 

[Knugent35578]

This could of saved me thousands of dollars. Of course Nissan is feigning ignorance.


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It cost me $360 more to replace the brake shoes and wiring and bearings and drums due to brakes locking up. Luckily , the trailer manufacturer helped me out with the cost, since the trailer was brand new. Of course, Nissan won’t return my email, I guess they don’t want to pay for the damage.

 

[Cid]

(This is actually a duplicate post, other is in a less appropriate section)

2019 S Model King Cab, STILL MIS-WIRED. Tried pulling a new trailer home. The brakes were dragging and eventually were smoking, so I stopped and disconnected the 7-way to crawl the rest of the way home without brake lights/turn signals. I recalled reading something regarding this on the forum, and sure enough, black and blue were swapped (+12v and Brake wire). GRRR. It's a Tekonsha harness, I suspect letting all that smoke out of the brakes didn't help them any. Guess we'll find out soon. There is a separate plug on the inside of the Left side frame rail that carries just these two circuits. The tech at the RV Dealer said, before I started off, that the Brake Controller must be hinky, so I unplugged it and I said I would get a new one. I'll check it out again tomorrow.