'Fault in Trailer Wiring'
Has anybody run into this? Sorry this is long, it is an elusive gremlin :-)
On a recent trip to Kalispell MT we hit a rough patch of road and 'fault in trailer wiring' message appeared on our dash. We have the integrated brake controller on our Ford F-350. We pulled off to the side off the road and we had no brakes. A ladder we had stored in the truck bed was laying against the outlet where the pigtail was plugged in. Figuring it had jostled the connection I pulled the plug and reinserted it. We now had brakes but the display still showed the fault. I turned off the truck and started it again, the fault disappeared and we finished our trip with brakes.
I figured we had the problem fixed when no fault the next two trips. Then the gremlin returned so we visited a trailer place, everything worked except the brakes, both outlets tested ok, the shop noticed the pigtail plug prongs needed adjustment which he did. We plugged in got the trailer connected display so we headed out and got 96 miles with brakes. We drove 20 miles without brakes to an RV park. Next day we took the truck and did more thorough testing of the outlets. The truck bed one tested a little hokey so they recommended not using that one. They also recommended a new pigtail plug. We bought a new pigtail and had it installed. We plugged it in and got trailer connected so we headed out the next morning. We got 32 miles this time.
By now we were in Billings and a mobile tech found crimped power lines to the brakes. Fixed that and got 124 miles this time.
By now we are in Buffalo Wyoming. The latest theory is that we lost connectivity due to bumpy roads. The tech described the roads we were driving on, how we pushed the plug in too far, and how we only lost brakes, all without prompting. He said he has had two similar problems recently so I guess we trust him. He said the pins on the outlet needed to be spread to maintain better connection and don't push the plug in too far.
The only issue is that when we test it will probably be ok and if we see a problem it will down the road.
Anybody have any idea on where this gremlin is?
On a recent trip to Kalispell MT we hit a rough patch of road and 'fault in trailer wiring' message appeared on our dash. We have the integrated brake controller on our Ford F-350. We pulled off to the side off the road and we had no brakes. A ladder we had stored in the truck bed was laying against the outlet where the pigtail was plugged in. Figuring it had jostled the connection I pulled the plug and reinserted it. We now had brakes but the display still showed the fault. I turned off the truck and started it again, the fault disappeared and we finished our trip with brakes.
I figured we had the problem fixed when no fault the next two trips. Then the gremlin returned so we visited a trailer place, everything worked except the brakes, both outlets tested ok, the shop noticed the pigtail plug prongs needed adjustment which he did. We plugged in got the trailer connected display so we headed out and got 96 miles with brakes. We drove 20 miles without brakes to an RV park. Next day we took the truck and did more thorough testing of the outlets. The truck bed one tested a little hokey so they recommended not using that one. They also recommended a new pigtail plug. We bought a new pigtail and had it installed. We plugged it in and got trailer connected so we headed out the next morning. We got 32 miles this time.
By now we were in Billings and a mobile tech found crimped power lines to the brakes. Fixed that and got 124 miles this time.
By now we are in Buffalo Wyoming. The latest theory is that we lost connectivity due to bumpy roads. The tech described the roads we were driving on, how we pushed the plug in too far, and how we only lost brakes, all without prompting. He said he has had two similar problems recently so I guess we trust him. He said the pins on the outlet needed to be spread to maintain better connection and don't push the plug in too far.
The only issue is that when we test it will probably be ok and if we see a problem it will down the road.
Anybody have any idea on where this gremlin is?
