Brake problem

[awaywego]

I am having a problem with the electric brakes on the Monty.
When I am pulling on the road and apply the brakes the controller sometimes (more yes than no)says OL for overload.
I have checked the wiring from controller to wheels and found no problems. Pulled the wheels and looked at magnets and wireing and all looks fine.
The brakes only fail on the road and in the yard work fine.
Anyone else had this problem and can offer any suggestions???

[JH Sechelt]

Wayne,
Do your brakes actually not work or does the controller just think they are not working ? Maybe a bad connection from truck to trailer or bad controller?
We had a brake problem where the the intergrated Ford controller thought the trailer kept coming disconected but the brakes always worked fine. After going through this forum for a week I figured out which wheel was causing the problem and went right to it. Ours was the curb side rear wheel. One of the 2 clips that hold the wires to the actuator arm had come undone and allowed that wire to rub against the face of the brake drum where the wheel studs are pushed through. The wheel studs are counter sunk a little bit, so the short was intermittent. That can drive you nuts. The brake wire was not broken but only bared in a very small spot, hard to see. Taped up the wire and put the clip on properly and no more problem. Oh yea and torqued the wheel back on three or four times.
Hope this helps a little.

J&D

[Montana_1240]

Plus, if the wiring is, in fact, OK, it could be a magnet, internally.

I've heard people say they've had to have them replaced, before. Though I'll be darned if I can recall just what the symptoms were.

I do know that when we kept getting a "Trailer Disconnected" warning on our Integrated Brake Controller, the forum's advice was followed. Even though a shop said they couldn't find anything wrong, it seems that just their going over each wheel's wiring ended up making it so that we've never had another warning from the brake controller!

I'm sure there are ways a good shop can test a magnet, if they find nothing, too.

Good luck! If they aren't working, (such as when you slide your brake controller's manual slide or button to cause the brakes to engage,) I know I'd be nervous as all get-out when towing.

Steve

[awaywego]

J&D and Steve,
When I get the OL the brakes actually do not work.
I have checked the wiring and even jacked up the wheels and turned them trying to make it fail in the yard but not able to do so.
Thanks for your coments and sugestions. I will check the magnet wiring again.
If the plug is not connected I get a dot. but this is an overload which is a short.
I will let you know what it was once I find it.
Thanks again.
Wayne

[patodonn]

Are you using a Prodigy controller? If so, and you have a short in the system, you should get a "SH" (short) indication when the brakes are not being applied, and a "0L" (overload)when they are being applied. If you don't ever see the "SH" with the brakes not applied, then it probably means that the short is induced at the time of brake application. That would mean due to a moving part (magnet and/or actuator arm)as the brakes are applied.

We just had the SH and accompanying OL problem last week. Isolated the bad brake from the system (cut wires at the wheels, just one wheel at a time). Found it on the second wheel we isolated (passenger side, rear wheel). Re-spliced the good wheel's wires and then used 3 good brakes to help get to a repair facility about 60 miles away. They found the bad wire and clip and fixed it. Only took 30 min total. Also had all 4 brakes adjusted while it was up on jacks..

[JH Sechelt]

Amazing PJ.

Another Curb ( passenger ) side Rear wheel. That's about ten I've seen on this forum.

J&D

[Illini Trekker]

Yes I had the same passenger bad mag then the next trip the drivers side same axle. Since I have wrapped ALL magnet wires with a wire cover. This has held a so far.

I spoke with Dexter at the time the first magnet went bad, but the problem looks like it's still happening. Dexter needs to join this forum!!See-Ya

[Charlie]

OL on my brake controller was coming from the rear passenger side brake. Retaining clip came loose and the wire worked its way under the actuator and was shorting out. It was intermittent at first then completely failed.

[Yazoo]

I just fixed the same problem last week. I called Dexter and they are sending me a new magnet. They really need to get a better system in place besides these 2 little clips. More insulation something before they get slaped with a lawsuit after someone has an accident.

[MuddyPaws]

I had exactly this problem when my Monty was new. I took it back to the (incompetent) dealer three times. My brakes would fail about 30-50% of the time.

They had installed the 7-prong plug in the fenderwell of my truck and the wires had to make a very tight turn. Thinking this was the primary problem I got a 3X3" square of 1/2" thick plastic and use it to make a spacer for the plug. This relieved the stress from the assembley.

In the process of doing this I found the REAL problem. It was so simple that it really pissed me of that the (grossly incompetent) dealer couldn't find it. The center pin(ground)was loose. I used a small screwdriver to tighten it up and haven't had a problem since. (Yeah, they were that incompetent! and lazy! and stupid!).

Look for a short in your brake wire. It could be that the wires have abraded against the frame over time.

[8.1al]

It sounds to me that it would be a good idea if everyone had some xtra insulation put on their magnet wires the next time they have their drums off.

[Montana_1240]

That'd sure save what seems to be a lot of problems, later!

Preventative maintenence!

Steve

[Illini Trekker]

Wrap the wires with this product, you can get it at Home Depot, Lowe's, and others. I lost two magnets before I wrapped the magnet wires with this wrap.

[Montana_1240]

Thanks!

[Native Tex]

I have been getting the same indicator problems for a while. The dealer for the Monty and the Ford Dealer both agree the problem was with each other. The old finger pointing game. I finally re-did all the connections under the trailer and fixed most all my problems. I am still getting a fault ever so often so I guess I am down to removing the wheels starting with the rear passenger-side as most folks have indicated. Will keep you posted. Happy RVing!

[steves]

I too have been getting the same intermittent problem. I did find a broken wire on the front axle, fixed it, and now have the intermittent fault when applying the brakes. I plan on re-doing all the connections and then move to pulling each wheel if it continues.

[Montana_5307]

I have the same problem on my '06' 3075RL. The Prodigy showed SH and OL. I unplugged from the TV and used an ohmmeter to verify the short was in the Monty. Of course, it was intermittent and went away. I have reterminated all connections with bullet connectors such that I can isolate the problem when it rears its ugly head again. I did put plastic conduit on the wires to the axles but I haven't pulled the drums yet. I may have that done when I changeout the Mission tires for Michelin XPS Ribs. I'm preparing to drag this puppy 7.5K miles this late summer in the Northwest and AB and BC.
I want everything right.
Larry.

[awaywego]

Thanks everyone for the help.
I found the problem was the brake magnet wire was rubbing on the arm that activates the brake and grouding out when the brake was applied.(sometimes)Hope this will help others having this problem.

[Montana_1240]

Glad to hear you got it fixed.

Looks like another of the many similar problems with these brakes.

Should make anyone's future troubles that much easier to zero in on and eradicate all that much sooner!

Steve

[WildBigBill]

We went through a lot of back and forth between Ford and Monty dealer, ended up one brake magnet had to be replaced, been good ever since.