I have a 2001 F250 4x4 CC. I recently put on a prodigy controller using the ford pigtail. Sometimes it works great for a few minutes and then it goes back and forth between OL (overload) and a flashing SH (short). When the OL come on the controller quits working. it sometimes says ol even when I'm stopped. Any ideas where to start first looing for the short....truck or trailer?
Posting Guru
Quote:
If you have symptoms with no trailer connected the problem is in the truck, not likely. The first thing to check is the wiring to the trailer, then the wiring along the frame of the trailer. Overload or shorts are likely to be in the wiring in or on the axle or where the wiring goes into the backing plate. Shorts can also occur around the moving parts of the brake inside the brake drum. Pull the wheels and drums to check the wiring and brake magnet condition.Originally Posted by strangmk
I have a 2001 F250 4x4 CC. I recently put on a prodigy controller using the ford pigtail. Sometimes it works great for a few minutes and then it goes back and forth between OL (overload) and a flashing SH (short). When the OL come on the controller quits working. it sometimes says ol even when I'm stopped. Any ideas where to start first looing for the short....truck or trailer?
Elder User
strangemk,
When you wired the truck pig tail to the Prodigy pig tail did you follow the wiring diagram that came with the Prodigy or simply match wire colors? If you matched wire colors the controller is wired wrong.
As a side note, I recently installed a Prodigy on my '94 E 150 with factory towing package to tow a travel trailer that I have bought. I had never used the factory trailer wiring before for towing my small trailer and assumed it would work ok. Bad assumption. When I installed the brake controller using a custom wiring pigtail that I bought with it and pluged in a trailer imulator in the 7 way plug at the bumper, three of the trailer tow fuses would blow. I removed the seven way plug from the back of the van which has a pig tail about three feet long on it that plugs into the main wiring harness along the rear of the left frame rail. The fuses didn't blow with it unpluged, I disassembled it completely and checked it for shorts. There was nothing wrong with it. I reinstalled the plug on the van and pluged in each of it's connections to the main harness one at a time. No blown fuses. I just returned from about 1000 miles of towing with it and had no problems. Go figure! You might try unpluging the seven pin outlett from the wiring harness at the frame rail (two plugs, one 4 pin and one 3 pin) and see if the code clears on the Prodigy.
Gene
When you wired the truck pig tail to the Prodigy pig tail did you follow the wiring diagram that came with the Prodigy or simply match wire colors? If you matched wire colors the controller is wired wrong.
As a side note, I recently installed a Prodigy on my '94 E 150 with factory towing package to tow a travel trailer that I have bought. I had never used the factory trailer wiring before for towing my small trailer and assumed it would work ok. Bad assumption. When I installed the brake controller using a custom wiring pigtail that I bought with it and pluged in a trailer imulator in the 7 way plug at the bumper, three of the trailer tow fuses would blow. I removed the seven way plug from the back of the van which has a pig tail about three feet long on it that plugs into the main wiring harness along the rear of the left frame rail. The fuses didn't blow with it unpluged, I disassembled it completely and checked it for shorts. There was nothing wrong with it. I reinstalled the plug on the van and pluged in each of it's connections to the main harness one at a time. No blown fuses. I just returned from about 1000 miles of towing with it and had no problems. Go figure! You might try unpluging the seven pin outlett from the wiring harness at the frame rail (two plugs, one 4 pin and one 3 pin) and see if the code clears on the Prodigy.
Gene
Senior User
I think you would, first of all, be well-advised to purchase a shop manual--either from Helm or Haynes--that includes a full wiring diagram. Granted, my wife says I would rather go over a wiring diagram than read Playboy; still, like the post above says, never make an assumption about circuitry. Ford, for years, has had several color changes along their wiring harnesses.
If the Prodigy is showing OL and SH both--but not at the same time--I feel rather certain you have a problem in the harness on the trailer itself. If it is showing both codes, I would suspect first of all a shorted wire touching the brake backing plate at one of the magnets. I would feel it may be just loose enough to vibrate some as you go down the road and it has chafed a place which allows a short circuit as well. The controller would sense a strongly overloaded pull at first and then sense the short when the wire vibrates fully against the backing plate with the a chafed place.
If I am correct in suggesting this, I hope that will quickly solve your problem. If that is indeed what has happened, I can tell you how to avoid it anymore: leaving some tiny areas exposed in order to allow the wire insulation color to show, use Ford's Ditto electrical tape to wrap the wires as they go down the backing plate to the magnets. Even though, of course, I am a Ford fan all the way, I really pragmatically know of NOBODY'S electrical tape that is as strong and lasting as Ford's. I use it extensively and, thus far, I have never yet had it to break, cut, tear, or lose its adhesive qualities--and that includes using it on dirt-track harnesses, farm tractors, farm equipment, light and medium trucks, and household 220-volt circuits. With it and Star Brite liquid electrical tape, I have made harnesses and circuits that have been well sealed for years.
If the Prodigy is showing OL and SH both--but not at the same time--I feel rather certain you have a problem in the harness on the trailer itself. If it is showing both codes, I would suspect first of all a shorted wire touching the brake backing plate at one of the magnets. I would feel it may be just loose enough to vibrate some as you go down the road and it has chafed a place which allows a short circuit as well. The controller would sense a strongly overloaded pull at first and then sense the short when the wire vibrates fully against the backing plate with the a chafed place.
If I am correct in suggesting this, I hope that will quickly solve your problem. If that is indeed what has happened, I can tell you how to avoid it anymore: leaving some tiny areas exposed in order to allow the wire insulation color to show, use Ford's Ditto electrical tape to wrap the wires as they go down the backing plate to the magnets. Even though, of course, I am a Ford fan all the way, I really pragmatically know of NOBODY'S electrical tape that is as strong and lasting as Ford's. I use it extensively and, thus far, I have never yet had it to break, cut, tear, or lose its adhesive qualities--and that includes using it on dirt-track harnesses, farm tractors, farm equipment, light and medium trucks, and household 220-volt circuits. With it and Star Brite liquid electrical tape, I have made harnesses and circuits that have been well sealed for years.
