Product Review: Tekonsha Modulite ZCI

Tekonsha ZCI System

We “lost” our TOAD (the Jeep we tow) signal lights shortly after we had our engine overhaul in Superior, WI.

So for several days we were driving around illegally. Bad mojo.

We tried to get it fixed at a Cummins/Spartan shop in Fargo, but after 3 hours the techs couldn’t locate the problem, and we weren’t about to give them carte blanche at $118 per hour.

Now what?

I didn’t want to try fixing something professionals couldn’t remedy. But what about installing another TOAD lighting system?

After searching online RV forums and lots of Googling, I thought I found a solution — Tekonsha ZCI System for about $124.

Tekonsha ZCI & 4-Flat to 7-Way Adapter

I looked at a Hopkins system, but to use it I would have to “cut” into the RV’s wiring.

The Tekonsha system is described as a Zero Contact Interface (ZCI) which means there is no cutting. The Tekonsha system uses induction — each light sensor wraps around a wire (for example the brake wire). When the wire is energized, the Tekonsha system converts it to a voltage.

It sounded too good and too easy to be true, but we were desperate. We needed a TOAD lighting fix right away, and I loved the idea of not cutting into our RV’s wiring.

Here’s my Tekonsha installation story . . .

FIRST — IDENTIFYING RV WIRES

There are several types of vehicle wiring that the Tekonsha ZCI can handle:

• 2-wire system: The vehicle’s turn & brake functions are combined on one wire and the tail light function is on a separate wire
• 3-wire system: The vehicle’s turn, brake and tail light function are on separate wires.
• Brake/Tail multiplexed wiring system: The vehicle’s brake & tail functions are combined on one wire and the turn functions are on separate wires
• Brake/Tail/Turn multiplexed wiring system: The vehicle’s brake, tail & turn functions are combined on one wire

Our Newmar uses a 3-wire system. To determine what wire did what I had Jan use each turn signal, the brakes, and the headlights. I watched which tail light bulbs came on and mapped each one’s function:

Light Map

After finding out each the function of each tail light, I identified the wire that powered each bulb. To do this, I exposed part of each wire and then connected the wire to a multimeter.

Wire Testing

So far so good. I was able to identify the wires for the left and right turn signals, the brakes, and headlights (taillights).

SECOND – RUNNING THE 12V POWER WIRE

The Tekonsha system must be connected to a permanent 12V power source — that is, directly to the RV’s engine battery.

Tekonsha System Power Wire

The hardest part about this was routing the power wire from our RV’s pullout battery compartment up into the back of the RV.

The power wire uses a 15A fuse which alse serves as an installation “switch”. When you first activate the Tekonsha system by inserting the 15A fuse, the system must be “taught” or sync’d. To do this you just flash the left turn signal 5 seconds, the right turn signal 5 seconds, and so on. Not a big deal. However, if the Tekonsha system is disconnected from its power source, you’ll have to re-sync the system.

THIRD – ATTACHING THE SENSORS

Truly, the easiest part of the install. You just need about a 3-inch length of wire for each sensor to clip onto.

FOURTH – 4-FLAT TO 7-WAY INTERFACE

The Tekonsha system comes with a 4-flat output. Because our Jeep is set up for a 7-way interconnect, I purchased a Hopkins Trailer Wiring Adapter that converts a the Tekonsha’s 4 flat output to a 7-way output:

Hopkins 4-Flat to 7-Way Adapter

FIFTH – SYNCING & TESTING THE TEKONSHA SYSTEM

Eureka!

The 7 Plagues?

When I sprained my angle, I thought it was the 3rd in a series of “bad luck” events — first, our Jeep needed fixing, then our RV needed major engine work, and third, my sprain.

So I thought some numerology was involved . . . bad things come in threes, the 3rd wave, and so on.

But then a few days ago we discovered our Jeep signal and brake lights were no longer operating when the Jeep was connected to the RV.

Our Jeep-RV Hookup

Though our RV’s rear signal lights are working just fine, we’ll need to get it fixed or risk being pulled over. So we’re stopping at a Cummins repair shop in Fargo, ND on Wednesday. Hopefully, it’s a quick fix. He rolls his eyes.

Then today I noticed that one of our water filters was getting prematurely fouled . . . it was turning green. Immediately I figured it was some kind of algae contamination in our water system. On a hunch, I swiped a cotton swab on the inside of the hose:

Yep, looks like algae

So . . . figuring the 35-foot hose on our water hose reel was contaminated, I used a spare water hose we had to “bypass” our current system.

Water Hose Bypass

A busy day.

Anyway, it’s not all doom and gloom, just life on the road in a moving house.

There are other moments . . .

Who’s couch?

The Reason for My Absence

Ouch!

On Friday, July 28th, our first day back on the road, I tripped as I was exiting our RV and sprained my ankle.

It was an “Aw shit” moment when you realize there’s nothing you can do as all your weight suddenly falls on a 90-degree bent ankle. Many, many profanities.

However, after a week and a half of crutches, ice packs, and elevated feet, I can now hobble around pretty good.

In the interim, Jan has had to do everything, and learn some new skills.

In short, just a mega bummer for us, especially coming right after our expensive engine repair. Yikes!

But we’re back on the road again and heading West.

There But For the Grace of God . . .

We used to say, or at least think, this phrase whenever we drove past an RV that was broken down alongside the road.

Happy We Bought Those Orange Cones

Our number came up last Tuesday, the 18th, in the early afternoon, when we were about 15 miles south of Ashland, WI on Highway 2.

First, the “Engine Malfunction” light came on our RV’s dash followed shortly thereafter by the red “Stop Engine” light. Very bad mojo because we were stopped dead.

We tried calling Coach-Net, our roadside assistance, to get help, but our cell phones could’t get a signal. Great.

Our Tow of Shame Trip

So I unhitched our Jeep from the RV and started driving towards Ashland, hoping to get a decent cell signal.

Sixteen miles later in downtown Ashland I was able to get a consistent three bars on my phone, and I was able to call Coach-Net. Though it took a few calls, Coach-Net was able to arrange for a tow for our RV. However, the nearest service center was in Superior, WI — over 80 miles away.

Greg to the Rescue

Our tow showed up about 7 pm. We arrived at Boyer Trucks in Superior about 9 pm. Who’s tired? We were.

Boyer Trucks in Superior, WI

Boyer stays opened until 10 pm so we were about to talk to someone about our RV. Our tow driver said it was probably something electrical, like a computer malfunction. We were hopeful.

Luckily, we found a good motel right down the road — within walking distance of Boyer. We found out later that the hotel offers discounts to folks getting service at Boyer Trucks. We caught a break.

We Got the Room with the Jacuzzi

I think it was last Thursday when we found out that our engine head gasket needed replacing. About 30 hours of labor + parts. Hint: the labor is the expensive one.

Then on Friday morning Boyer told us the the entire engine head needed to be replaced. From what we can gather, the former owner left the RV sitting for a while because rust ended up invading the engine head and corroded all the freeze plugs.

The Old Engine Head

The news was the equivalent of learning that your house needs a new roof.

C’est la vie.

So we’ve been stranded in Superior for a week. This morning we leaned that our new engine head has arrived so we might be on our way tomorrow or Thursday.

Nevertheless, we’ve made the best of our Superior stay . . .

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Our First Jeep Jamboree

Jeepers Ready To Go (click to enlarge)

We attended our first Jeep Jamboree this weekend — the 22nd Mole Lake Jeep Jamboree  near Crandon, WI. There were 101 jeeps and over 200 riders.

Fantastic, but it nearly killed us! More on this later.

First, basically a Jeep Jamboree is an event to test your jeep and your driving skills over trails rated for varying levels of difficulty rated 1 to 10 (1 the easiest, 10 the hardest).

We picked the Green Trail (level 2-3) for the first day and the Blue Trail (level 3-4) for the next day. There were two other trails: Red (level 4-5) and Orange (level 5-6) which we felt were out of our league.

Here is the description of our two trails:

Green Trail — This trail contains numerous hills, some rocks, logs and some tight turns for all types of Jeeps including two and four door models. All terrain or mud terrain tires are recommended. Tire sizes 30” to 32” also recommended. This trail is offered on both days.

Blue Trail — This trail contains slightly above mild to wild terrain with more up graded challenges including off camber on hills, climbing rocks and maneuvering between the trees in the woods. Tire sizes 31” to 33” recommended. This is also a good fit for longer wheel based Jeeps. Lockers and lift is helpful, but not required.

Terminology: “lockers” — some jeeps (like our Rubicon) have front and rear wheel lockers. This means when the rear lockers are engaged, the rear wheels move in unison which gives you greater traction, likewise for the front lockers. “Lift” typically means that your jeep has large tires and a modified suspension that can lift the jeep up to several inches off the ground.

The Jeep Jamboree was a 3-day event. Here’s what happened . . .

THURSDAY — REGISTRATION

We registered at the Mole Lake Casino  where breakfast and dinner were also served.

FRIDAY — THE GREEN TRAIL

In order to eat breakfast at the Casino, we got up at about 6 am, fed and de-pooped the dog, then drove to the Casino which was about 20 miles away from our current campground.

TRAIL LINE UP

The schedule was 9 to 12 pm on the trail, lunch, then back on the trail from 1 – 4 pm. So 6 hours of driving in the woods.

MORNING TRAIL RUN

It started off easy enough.

LUNCH

They delivered lunch on the trail. Very cool.

We took a moment to check out the jeeps again . . .

AFTERNOON TRAIL RUN

After 3 hours of driving, I really really really wanted an automatic transmission and was getting very tired of manhandling our manual transmission. By the way, in 6 hours of driving, we covered maybe 5 miles.

I wasn’t alone in struggling. A woman, accompanied by only her two dogs, drove the trail in a Jeep Liberty, a not-really-a-good-trail-vehicle jeep.

Near the end of the Green Trail, I encountered my immovable object at The Rock . . .

The Rock – a Bridge Too Far

After the Green Trail run, we headed back to our RV . . .

Both Jan and I were bone tired and went to bed at about 8:30 pm

SATURDAY – THE BLUE TRAIL

We skipped it.

Both Jan and I were still tired and I was worried what a more difficult trail might do to our jeep. On Thursday we had several scraping-crunching moments that sounded like they might be expensive. They weren’t, but I didn’t want to chance it.

Final thoughts — We loved it. However, we need to add some under body “armor” (like this) to our jeep before we go on another jamboree. Jan is also going brush up on her 4-wheeling skills so that she can drive the trails too.