Question regarding ESC light and Steering wheel position sensor

[zebest]

I have a brand new Jeep Gladiator Mojave with 5,100 miles on it. I took it on a 1500 road trip with my airstream attached to it. Airstream weight approx 3500 - loaded 4000 pounds. Passangers me, wife, 2 dogs and 200 pounds of stuff - so approx 600 pounds.

During my trip the ESC light came on a few times and stayed on. Once unhitched from the Airstream it did turn off after some time.

On the way home from my trip it also came on but that time it only allowed me to drive 45mph and wouldn't let me accelerate.

I brought my jeep into the Jeep. dealership and they just called me and are asking for $250.00 for an unwarranty repair - though they didn't fix anything, all they did was reset the light and drove it 4 miles.

My question is, is something wrong with my Jeep, or could something be wrong with my Airstream? I am using a Weight Distrubtion Hitch with it (Equalizer) , and this break controller (TEKONSHA PRODIGY P3 Electronic Trailer Brake Controller).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[GoatPowder]

Did they provide you with the codes they pulled?

 

[zebest]

Did they provide you with the codes they pulled?

When I pick it up tomorrow I will ask for them. It is still there and before I picked it up, I wanted to reach out to this forum for advice.

 

[GoatPowder]

When I pick it up tomorrow I will ask for them. It is still there and before I picked it up, I wanted to reach out to this forum for advice.

It's possible it's related to the brake controller. If something happens to backfeed into the signal it receives for brake application (some are tapped into the switch, some get signal the datalink), or high draw/poor ground from the trailer brakes through the 7-way (voltage will find ground) it could upset things.

Or... It might be completely unrelated.

Hopefully the tech gives you a detailed story and keep us posted.

 

[zebest]

It's possible it's related to the brake controller. If something happens to backfeed into the signal it receives for brake application (some are tapped into the switch, some get signal the datalink), or high draw/poor ground from the trailer brakes through the 7-way (voltage will find ground) it could upset things.

Or... It might be completely unrelated.

Hopefully the tech gives you a detailed story and keep us posted.

Thank you, how would I check any of this? My airstream is under warranty too. Not sure what the next step is, I guess posting the error codes when I get my gladiator back.

 

[Lost1wing]

With the trailer connected, did you notice the steering wheel off center? The code that they cleared would be the clue to your answer.

 

[zebest]

With the trailer connected, did you notice the steering wheel off center? The code that they cleared would be the clue to your answer.

Yes the last time it seemed to be very slightly off center but not much at all. I will ask them to give me a print out of all the codes tomorrow.

 

[zebest]

Would the off center be a fault of the airstream or the jeep?

 

[Lost1wing]

Are you using a load distributing hitch? If so you could easily had to load off a bit.

 

[zebest]

Are you using a load distributing hitch? If so you could easily had to load off a bit.

I was using this.

Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution w/ 4-Point Sway Control

 

[Lost1wing]

Setting up a weight distributing hitch is tricky to get it right. You need to end up with the same ratio that you started with. If you change it from left to right at all your steering could be off. Look at where your truck is before the hitch and end up close to that with the hitch on and adjusted.

 

[Ericxj99]

If your brake controller applies trailer brakes too aggressively (especially time-based ones), or if the Equal-i-zer bar tension resists turning too hard during sway, the ESC system might think the Jeep is losing control, and trigger a response (brake one wheel, reduce throttle, etc.).

C121C	Torque request denied due to ESC activation during sway
U0121	Brake controller or trailer module interfering with ABS comm
C2200	ABS module fault (usually temporary) from CAN conflict
C0035–C0041	Sensor disturbance from uneven braking or trailer drag
C2100	Low voltage spike when trailer brakes draw heavy current

Happened to me at the top of swift run gap while towing another jeep the dealer scanned it and found code C121C Torque Request Signal Denied

They told me it was a non-critical fault, likely triggered by trailer sway or an aggressive trailer brake input, and that ESC was doing what it’s supposed to do under towing conditions.

never came back — even after several towing trips.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It's possible it's related to the brake controller. If something happens to backfeed into the signal it receives for brake application (some are tapped into the switch, some get signal the datalink), or high draw/poor ground from the trailer brakes through the 7-way (voltage will find ground) it could upset things.

Or... It might be completely unrelated.

Hopefully the tech gives you a detailed story and keep us posted.

Trailer brake controllers all connect exactly the same way in these. There's a 4 wire connector next to the left kick panel.
None tap into a brake light or pedal switch - especially on a modern vehicle, you don't DARE tap into anything there.
The trailer connector is also isolated from the rest of the truck, and the brake power fused.
There's really pretty much no way a modern brake controller in one of these can go wrong.
The controller has power, ground, brake light signal and 12v out to the trailer brakes.
These systems are programmed to ignore any signal that enters the brake light circuit that doesn't come from the ABS itself.
The controller he has works like my Redarc controller and similar to the MOPAR controller, also apparently made by Tekonsha - braking is based on an internal inertia sensor
There's some really in-depth threads on the brake and trailer brake systems on these from back in 2020 covering all of this.

Now if the person who installed the brake controller knew nothing about installing brake controllers - that's another thing. These should come with a plug and play connector that simply snaps into the existing Jeep connector at the kick panel. No tapping any wires.
So if they did any cutting - they really screwed up BIG TIME.

As far as the trailer - that's not heavy. 4,000 pounds? It's going to take some weight off the front axle but not enough to cause any issues. With a WDH, it's not going to have much impact at all on the front axle.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If your brake controller applies trailer brakes too aggressively (especially time-based ones), or if the Equal-i-zer bar tension resists turning too hard during sway, the ESC system might think the Jeep is losing control, and trigger a response (brake one wheel, reduce throttle, etc.).

I'd rely on the vehicles sway control. If he set the sway control of the hitch way too tight, I could see an issue.
The trailer brake controller is based on an internal inertia sensor - so the setting is up to him, how he adjusts it. Even then, I've had my controllers set rather "aggressive" and all that happens is the trailer pulls the truck back (and I re-adjust based on the load and road surfaces)

The solution - readjust the sway control of the hitch, and reset the controller braking.
But the Tekonsha Prodigy should not have any issues with a Jeep, and they have plug and play harnesses. They operate like the Redarc and MOPAR controllers.

 

[zebest]

Thanks for all the input, as far a weight distribution hitch, I don't have any options to change the left and right sway. The only options I have is to adjust the weight distribution settings. As in Front and Rear.
The break controller is plug and play and was really easy to configure, I drove it around a little bit to get a good feel for it, at first I set it at 6 and it was way to agressive, breaking harder then my jeep. I settle between 3 and 4 and that worked great.

When the light first came on I pulled over and hired a mobile tech to come out and observe and fix my Weight distribution hitch. (Thought I don't think they have installed them before) They said they did when I called them.

The only thing I think I can do at this point is get the error codes.

Follow the equalizer WDH hitch install instructions to a T. Which shouldn't be to hard, the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Other then that, I am pretty much out of ideas, I will report back with the error codes.

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