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I’m kicking myself for not staying in touch with the forum for too long. We’re presently at a KOA in Streetsboro, OH, and enjoying Wi-Fi.
I have been dealing with intermittent “Trailer Disconnect” alarms for a week, now. I even had a few “Trailer Fault” alarms. I thought for sure I had it fixed after looking at the bed-side connector I had installed when the hitch was put in. The wires leaving the connector were pressed hard against the inside of the fender well, and then the bundle was wrapped under the end of the connector, also pressing against the fender well. I undid that mess, and took the connector apart, and found nothing loose or shorted. The crimp-on splices were suspect. But in no case was I able to cause a fault while flexing the wiring, or stressing the splices.
While I haven’t been under the lower covers of the trailer, searching out the brake wires, I have double-checked the hitch harness, and the splice box on the pin box. I looked over, and stressed the exposed wiring near all the wheels. No loose or shorted wires to be found.
No matter how much I thought I had “fixed it,” I am still getting that dang fault. No matter how frequently it’s on, though, I still have trailer brakes when flipping the paddle. Plus, I’ve had to do a couple semi-panic stops, and even with the fault, the trailer slowed without a problem, even though the sliding scale doesn’t show while the alarm is beeping. And it seems only to be an issue after we’ve been on the road for at least half an hour.
In the Ford manual, it seems to claim that once you get that “Trailer Disconnect” alarm, it stays on until you turn the key off and back on. WRONG! Mine comes and goes of its own accord. I haven’t been to a Ford dealer who is ready or equipped to scan for codes, or even discuss brake controllers, yet. Having bought the truck in Alabama, and not being ready to go back there until late fall, I will have to try to get Ford to admit to some flaw. And from the posts I’m reading, here, it does seem as though someone’s gotten Ford to at least admit to something.
I’m going to keep checking, and hope someone comes up with a fix.
Oh, and I’m not dismissing that some trailers surely much have some wiring, or even brake solenoid problems. But this just smells of a flaw in the controller. Especially since it’s going away on its own, without me having to shut the thing off. And at some times, if I pop open the small compartment under the controller, it seems that I can exacerbate the problem by rapping on the controller, and tugging on the harness.
I do still have my old Prodigy. I’m wondering if it plugs into the same harness that’s presently plugged into the Ford TBC. Anyone have a clue? I can use it temporarily, just to show Ford that there’s nothing wrong with the trailer…A thing I feel pretty confident in.
But being full-timers, and presently not staying in any one spot for too long, it’s tough to bring the fiver into a dealer for them to spend a day going over wiring…And it sounds as if not all dealers actually do the requested checks! Plus, I’ve stopped at two Ford dealers from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, to southern Ohio, and couldn’t get a service department to admit to having anyone on hand to even check the codes!
And isn’t there some flaw in the computers on the 2005 Super Dutys, that Ford needs to fix? Something about fuel control? I have yet to see a recall on any Ford site. But some sites have mentioned the problem, and foretold of a recall.
Thanks, all!
Steve
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