Factory Brake Controller

[powerboatr]

Originally Posted by AK Rover

Good idea. I have a friend nearby that has a couple trailers. I'm sure he'll let me plug in one of them to see if the truck recognizes it.

Any suggestions on how to measure the amperage going to the trailer? The meter has to be in series with the circuit to measure amperage but I can't quite figure out how to plug in the trailer and get my meter inline also.

the easy way is to get a "dummy"load plug for the trucks plug, it will load the system as if its a real trailer.

may have to bite the bullet ask your ford guy for the tool.
i think sitting static your never going to fool the system enough to get an accurate reading amp wise.

on my 150, granted its probably the 12th generation of tbc since they started this, the computer and all its sensors, make testing with a multi meter pretty much useless except for lights

there was a way to trick the trucks ecm into a diagnostic mode using the dash digital readout, but i have long since forgotten how on the trucks with the 6.0

if a borrowed trailer doenst give you a direction, a visit to ford to run a puter look might be worthwhile.
i am lucky, that my ford dealer is pretty open to plugging in the laptop to seeeeee the trucks world of knowledge

[AK Rover]

Discovered last night that the truck has a bad hub seal so needs to go in the shop anyway. Another bad hub seal. I'll ask them real nicely if they'll take a look while it's in there.

[AK Rover]

As much as I didn't want to I climbed under the trailer again last night and redid all the grounds for the brakes as well as as the ground for the break away switch battery. When I first started the truck after all that the controller still didn't recognize the trailer. After I activated the controller it showed the red trailer sign then after a minute or 2 of holding the activation switch the light turned green and stayed green. I took the trailer for a test run and it worked perfectly.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. Without you guys I'd still be chasing this problem.

[powerboatr]

Originally Posted by AK Rover

As much as I didn't want to I climbed under the trailer again last night and redid all the grounds for the brakes as well as as the ground for the break away switch battery. When I first started the truck after all that the controller still didn't recognize the trailer. After I activated the controller it showed the red trailer sign then after a minute or 2 of holding the activation switch the light turned green and stayed green. I took the trailer for a test run and it worked perfectly.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. Without you guys I'd still be chasing this problem.

I just love a good ending

[hofftemp]

I finally got that light problem fixed, it was a loose ground in the rear of truck, it was causing several malfunctions of different light conponents. Thanks, for all the help. Earl

[`08 Blue Crew]

One other iem to check are the wires to the trailer brakes. most RV manufacturers route them thru a hole in the frame where they are notorious for chaffing and shorting to ground.