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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:09 PM
  #1  
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From: SW WYO
Trailer Brake Controller

Is it possible to not have a plugin for the trailer brake controller on 2000 f350? I do not see it anywhere behind the panel under the steering wheel. I also dont have the 7 round with 4 flat trailer plugin on the back like i thought they came with from the factory. I only a 6 round plugin in the hole where the driver's side license plate light used to be.
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:19 PM
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My 99 had controller harness buried deep behind AC controls. I would never find it without this forum confirmation that "it has to be there"
Good luck on finding it.
Mine truck had all the wires, including trailer charging wire installed, but no fuses and factory plug did not have charging wire connected.
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:25 PM
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Your truck has plug. Take the panel off directly underneath the steering wheel.(Where the fuses are located) The plug should be in the top right tucked back in a bit if memory serves me right. The plug and play harnesses for a specific controller should plug right in. I paid $10 for the cable for my Tekonsha P3. Plug is a pain to get to but its possible.
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:28 PM
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From: SW WYO
Well after I made this post, I went out digging some more determined that it has to have it since I could not find a single post on here stating that it was possible for it to not be there and I think I may have found it. I have 5 wires that are cut and were all intertwined with my obd plugin wiring. Does a dark blue, light blue with a pink stripe, black, white and red wires sound right? The light blue is smaller than the rest. Would guess a 18 gauge with the rest being 14 gauge or so? Tab bit rusty on wire sizes but rough estimates. Kinda irritates me someone cut off the plug so now i gotta try and get my fat fingers up in there and connect wires somehow
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:29 PM
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Does this video help?

As for your missing 7-way plug, it could very well be that someone removed it and replaced it with the 6-way. My 7-way is also where the license plate light used to be.
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:30 PM
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From: SW WYO
Now it makes me curious if my truck originally had the 7 way trailer connector and they cut that off too rather than spend $20 for a plugin adapter to go from 7 round to 6 round
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:30 PM
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There is lot of loose wires in those trucks and I am afraid what you have found is not it.
The brake wires usually are 10 gauges, so you will notice the difference in the size of those 2.
Dive head under the center panel with very good flashlight.
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:33 PM
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From: SW WYO
Watching that video I do have that plug. I was trying to wiggle it loose so I could see what wires were connected to but never bothered with the screwdriver trick. So that makes me wonder what wires I did find.
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 04:36 PM
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Thanks for the help guys. I would've really felt like an idiot after fighting those wires I found to get the controller wired in only to find out they are the wrong ones
 
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Old Apr 28, 2011 | 05:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Randallman
Well after I made this post, I went out digging some more determined that it has to have it since I could not find a single post on here stating that it was possible for it to not be there and I think I may have found it. I have 5 wires that are cut and were all intertwined with my obd plugin wiring. Does a dark blue, light blue with a pink stripe, black, white and red wires sound right? The light blue is smaller than the rest. Would guess a 18 gauge with the rest being 14 gauge or so? Tab bit rusty on wire sizes but rough estimates. Kinda irritates me someone cut off the plug so now i gotta try and get my fat fingers up in there and connect wires somehow
I think you found what they call blunt cut wires , ford put them there in case you wired anything that required going thru the firewall , you should find the other end under the hood by the master cylinder. And the plug for the brake controler is under there somewhere.
 
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Old Apr 29, 2011 | 05:11 PM
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From: SW WYO
Can anyone tell me what the orange wire is hooked to on the harnass for the trailer hookup? Swapping out the 6 round for the 7 round and have been using the wiring diagram that came with the plugin which didnt have wire colors so i found http://www.autoaccessories4less.com/...onnDiagram.jpg which so far as correctly identifed all the wires by color. Previously the orange wire was taped off and ziptied out of the way. According to the diagram off the website orange is auxillary with a black wire (which i havent found yet) for 12V for the battery. On the plug in diagram the aux wire is called a reverse light wire. I can not get power to this wire via key on or with key on and truck in reverse so im not sure what it does and where to hook it up. I tried looking for a fuse to check thinking maybe it is the 12v but just a blown/missing fuse but no luck finding one as of yet.
 
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Old Apr 29, 2011 | 05:32 PM
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From: SW WYO
So for searching for wiring diagrams thru this forum's past posts and on google, I'm 2 for 14 in finding diagrams that dont say "Can not load picture" or "Can not load page" and one shows the blue wire is for fog lights and the other mentions a purple wire with neither diagram being vehicle specific.
 
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Old Apr 29, 2011 | 06:55 PM
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From: SW WYO
Found it . Orange is the 12V lead. I was just missing the fuse in the under hood power distribution box. #16 slot (side closest to the engine, 4th fuse from cab) -- 30 amp maxi fuse.
 
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Old Apr 30, 2011 | 08:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Randallman
Found it . Orange is the 12V lead. I was just missing the fuse in the under hood power distribution box. #16 slot (side closest to the engine, 4th fuse from cab) -- 30 amp maxi fuse.
Have a look at this LINK. I keep this in my favories.
 
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Old Apr 30, 2011 | 10:55 AM
  #15  
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From: SW WYO
Ya I seen that picture. It was the other pic i found in my 2 for 14 successful attempts but not having it vehicle specific with a orange wire didnt do me much good as my orange wire had a 50/50 chance of being either the purple or red wires in the pic. I finally had the thought to dig out my haynes fix it manual and try to decifer the electrical wiring diagrams. Not too good at understanding them but I did find the words "Trailer Tow Connector" with an orange wire and traced it back to a relay and then the battery so I checked my owners manual for fuses and found one called a "Trailer Tow Battery Charge" with no fuse in it.
 
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