Can't Find Brake Control Connector 2014

I cannot find the factory connector in my new 2014 DC, 4x4. I've had the kick panel off and I just can't find it! I found it before with no trouble on my '06 and I've seen the posted pictures so I know what it looks like and approximately where it is supposed to be. Is there something different about the 2014's?

 

You do have the tow package, right?

 

Mine was stuffed way up high to the left of the steering wheel. Had to have my fiance reach in there to get it as my hands wouldn't fit.

 

I just did this this weekend on my 2013 DCLB, I spent about an hour looking for the service connector, it was not where the owner’s manual stated and was different from where others have found theirs on this site. Mine was above the kick panel up the wiring harness, near the corner of the firewall and the side of the truck. It was taped behind another connector that had foam wrapped around it. There is another white connector where the owner’s manual stated the service connector should be but it has a grey plug in it and this of course is NOT the trailer brake service connector. I can't stand this practice of hiding things just to make it difficult for the average person to work, all car companies are guilty of this crap. KEY, look for the thick BLUE wire!

 

I think the foam is a better locator...here's a picture for anyone searching.

 

Thanks to KMitch and swampcreek. I found it where you guys did. What a struggle! *&^%*arrgghh! Mine was tucked way in and I had to pull it out between the foam and the main wire bundle just to get it connected.

 

Yeah, mine was a pain to connect as well since you can only really get one hand in there to try and connect the two pieces.

 

I found the connector (thanks for the picture). Are the wires really that short or is it just taped up there and if I can unwrap the correct bundle of tape then I'll be able to reach it a little easier?

 

I pulled on mine a little bit and there was a few wraps of tape holding back some extra length of wire, the tape broke free and a few more inches were gained.

 

Lost flesh getting mine connected. It was up high to the left of the steering column behind a bundle of wires and taped tight. Pretty stupid of Toyota to make it such a pain. Guys who "do things themselves" buy their trucks, so trying to make it too hard for us so that we will pay a dealer won't make us pay a dealer to install it. It only makes us more determined to do it ourselves! Anyways, somehow got it installed one-handed and used a bunch of bandaids after..

 

As a new member to the site I wanted to thank you so much for posting the photo of the brake controller plug tucked behind the connector wrapped in foam. I would have never found the plug without the photo. I love my Tacoma - '12 AC 4x4 spruce mica, but finding that connector was a royal PITA. I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks!

 

I think finding the service connecter for my brake control box on my new 2014 Toyota Tacoma today, will make me think twice about buying another Toyota. It really makes me mad to pay 35K for a truck and then have to take it to someone to find something that is not where the owners manual says it is.

Anyways, I looked and looked for the connector. I was to the point of driving to the dealer I bought it from, which was 45 minutes away. I then decided to take to my auto accessories dealer before heading there. Everybody there seemed to be stumped on where it was just like me. So someone called Draw-tite and spoke with someone who said, that it was there but no telling where. Said, that the installers at the factory just tuck and tape it to one of the bundles of wires behind the drivers side kick plate. He said, he has only seen like two where the owners manual says it is.

I think mine was in the worst place. After thinking that the factory had forgot to put it there. We decided to pull the the bottom half of the dash off just below the steering column (2 screws). When we did, we found it between the fuse box and the outside wall. Taped behind the further-est bundle of wires. I don't think we ever would have found it without taking the dash off.

Ridiculous, is what I say. These installers are the ones that are either union members or want to be, to get better pay. 35K truck and this is what I have to go through because of a installer that is, lazy or not following instructions.

 

X1000
Totally agree. Found it using this pic on my phone as a guide. Thanks!

 

I am totally pissed off because my controller plug is just impossible to find. I have spent hours hanging upside down, even took the kick panel off and still can't find it. Swung by the service dept of the dealer in a Saturday morning and asked for help.....and they told me they would not help find it.

A new day today......maybe I will take the dash off and look there. I wish I knew what wires to follow, then maybe I could at least follow them to the plug.

I still can't find it by Monday time to call the dealership and tell them they sold me a defective truck.

 

Its not easy. If you can find the wire cluster as shown, feel behind it and see if you can feel it. That's what I did and when I could feel behind it I started to gently pull at wires and I could see the plug. Once I saw it I could work to loosen it up.

 

Ended up taking the truck to the dealer with the cable for the controller. For $55 they found the plug, plugged in the cable and left it on the floor for me to hook to the controller.

So I ended up spending hours and hours upside down in the damn truck looking for the plug and getting progressively more pissed off, and then having to pay for something that, according to THEIR manual, should have been obvious. They told me it was actually tucked up under the front dash that they had to remove to find it.

This is my first Toyota vehicle...not off to a very good start.

 

+1

 

At least you were smart enough to ask someone. I went by the sorry pix and cut open two taped and wrapped plugs before I found it stuck up into no mans land.

 

I now have a small camper and need to install the brake controller. I read over the above post then went out to find the control wire connector. I reached up and found a connector loosely taped against the wire bundle. I pulled it free, shined a light up at the free connector but, no! Not the connector I needed. I guess it is a connector for a switch I don't have. I re-read the above post. Oh, way up there. I felt further up the wire bundle--and sure enough--there it was. Again I found a connector loosely taped against the wire bundle. I pulled it loose, shined my light at the second free connector. And damn, still not the trailer brake controller. I guess a connector to another switch I don't have. I re-read the above post. Oh, look for the foam closer to the kick panel. So a third time under the dash. -- I need to point out that I am 55 and am not a Contortionist. So as I said under the dash for the third time. And there is the foam wrapped connector right where KMitch said it was. This is where I should have read better what KMitch wrote. I unwrapped the foam from the connector.

This is the connector. The other two connectors look just like this one. It is the white rectangular connector near the center on the picture. It had a black cover snapped over the contacts, but I removed it before I took this picture to make it more visible in the picture.

I know you've already figured it out. Just like the first two connectors I found, this is not the brake control wire. I want to know what all these connector are supposed to connect to.
I went in and ate.

After eating, I re-read the the above posts. The connector is BEHIND the foam-wrapped connector.

Fourth time under the dash. I found it. You can see the connector near the bottom of the picture. You can also see the third connector near the center of the picture. The black cover is snapped back on.



I also found three two-pin connectors. You can see one of the two-pin connectors in the above picture.

So if you are reading this thread in order to help find the trailer brake controller connector, look at KMitch's picture. It is behind the foam wrapped connector.

I now have to go wrap those three connectors down so they won't be rattling. And I don't have my brake controller in yet. Maybe tomorrow.

 

I found mine based on the pic above. But couldn't get it connected because it was taped so tight. After about 10 minutes, I took a 12" piece of small rope and made a little loop on one end. Looped it around the connector and pulled on it, Tada the tape broke and I connected it with ease. Since I could only get one hand up, there I was going to pull it tight, hold the rope in my teeth then connect it. It broke loose so I didn't get the chance to see if it would work.