Ford Truck: Wiring Fault message

[Rodbuster]

The words "wiring fault on trailer" appeared on the information center of my truck while I was traveling in South Dakota yesterday.

I have no idea what it meant. I pulled over the first chance I got and checked the brakes and all the lights on the trailer...everything was working. I then unplugged the trailer from the truck and then plugged it back in. I shut the truck off and then re-started it. After about 30 seconds the same message appeared again.

I then pressed the "OK button" to acknowledge and reset the message center on the truck. Since then, I have stopped and started the truck several times with no messages appearing.

I have a 2012 Landmark Key Largo with a 2011 Ford F350 Power Stroke
Any thoughts???

Dick

 

[danemayer]

Re: Wiring Fault

Dick, I have no idea what it means.

BUT, as a safety precaution, I'd test the breakaway switch to make sure that it's working. I'd also check battery voltage on the trailer when disconnected from the truck and not plugged into shore power.

 

[SmokeyBare]

Re: Wiring Fault

Would be a good idea to check the Brake Wires that goes to each wheel. Could be a wire is grounding out.

 

[dave10a]

Re: Wiring Fault

Contact your Ford dealer. It could be anything from a known problem that has a fix, moisture in the plug on some trucks that did not get dielectric grease at the factory or an intermittent short/open in your trailer wiring. So far my 2012 has not had any problems, but I did notice a liberal does of factory applied dielectric grease in the bumper plugs when I installed the 7 way connector kit in the bed. I also put plenty of grease to assure no moisture problems even though the adapter manufacturer did not mention grease in the install instructions.

 

[krhyde]

Re: Wiring Fault

Dick, Here's a posting from the Ford Super Duty forum about this message. It appears that water in the problem. Hope this helps.

"Today I crawled under an took the Factory tailer connection apart...... To my suprise, it was full of water.
I took the metal bracket down and pulled the large round connection apart, that is where the water was.....
I then took the truck for a ride and the wiring fault message was gone...I guess that was the problem!
I then took some bow string wax (the type applied to Archery strings) pulled it across the female side to form a bead of wax on the inside the plug. When pushed together it acts somewhat like an o-ring seal. Then on the back side of the plug I filled up the area around where the wires go into the plug with liquid electrical tape, sealing the back side.
I hope this solves the issue, at least I know now what was causing my fault message. "

 

[lwmcguir]

Re: Wiring Fault

I have had this message show up when we had a poor connection on the 7 way or on a trailer. We tow a lot of different trailers and it only happened on ons that had well used connectors or had a lot of years on them. Fixed the plugs or wiring and the fault goes a way. Check out all of your wire connections where the transistion at the coach. Check the connector as well. Spray some WD40 on the plug and the socket in the truck as well. In my experience it is a bad connection.

 

[porthole]

A temporary wiring fault message seems to be fairly common on the 2011+ Super Duty's.


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[jbeletti]

On my trip home from Gillette, I had the message center message "Trailer Disconnected"

Well, the trailer was physically still attached - so that was good news

Sure enough though, the 7-wire connector has ever so slightly slipped out "just a bit" from the 7-wire receptacle from the TrailerSaver hitch compressor. Seems the door on the receptacle has no spring in it and it vibrated up allowed the 7-wire plug to wiggle out a bit.

When I get the chance, I will be redoing the wiring that came with the compressor option for the TrailerSaver hitch.

 

[pegmikef]

Thanks all for the heads up. Now I know what to look for if it happens to me.

 

[FordMan1966]

This happened to me while towing with a 2007 Super Duty through the Mountains on I-40 in North Carolina. Not Fun! When I got home I discovered that the wire had come loose on the 5th wheel between the 1st brake and the 2nd one so only 1 brake was working.

 

[TomMar]

On my trip home from Gillette, I had the message center message "Trailer Disconnected"

Well, the trailer was physically still attached - so that was good news

Sure enough though, the 7-wire connector has ever so slightly slipped out "just a bit" from the 7-wire receptacle from the TrailerSaver hitch compressor. Seems the door on the receptacle has no spring in it and it vibrated up allowed the 7-wire plug to wiggle out a bit.

When I get the chance, I will be redoing the wiring that came with the compressor option for the TrailerSaver hitch.

Jim - The same thing happened to me with my BH and the LM so I simply used a bungee cord from the bumper hitch, around the trailer cable (one wrap) to the end of the square tube of the bumper hitch. No more "Trailer Disconnected" warnings. You're F-450 with the Chariot set up may not have the connection places for the bungee but it worked for me for the last 4 years.

 

[Rodbuster]

Re: Wiring Fault

Thank you all for your responses. We're parked for a few days so I'll check out everything that I can while parked and check out other things when I hook up.

Thanks again
Dick

 

[BigIron]

Re: Wiring Fault

I guess when one person has a problem (in the RV arena) someone else surely has the same one.
Considering my truck was five years old prior to pulling a fifth wheel (time enough for wires/connectors to get old) I received the same message this weekend: Wiring fault on trailer and trailer disconnected.
This didn't just happen as I have put 2,400miles on the truck while pulling my 5th wheel before receiving those messages. Read all the remarks which has helped me figure out that it is not the trailer. Though I did not find any corrosion or water in my electrical lines/connectors, I did pull up the FORD TSB posting that states to have a pinpoint test done if the lateral is not the issue.

Thanks everyone.

 

[BigIron]

Re: Wiring Fault

Update to trailer wiring fault.

So the Ford service department looked at my truck wire system and found nothing wrong. They said its the trailer. In the mean time I have the the RV service department checking the trailer and found nothing wrong. I take the trailer and 21 miles down the road the same message. I took the trailer back for another look.
The RV service originally conducted the diagnostic service with the trailer static and concluded that the wiring was good. So when they took it the second time they took the wheels off and found that the wiring/magnetic sensors were loose and while the trailer was in motion, were touching the drums causing the error message on my truck message center. More to follow as I am still at the RV shop.

 

[lwmcguir]

Re: Wiring Fault

A worn or loose 7 pin Male plug can cause this same error message as well. Be sure you have a good fit as there is some difference in the brands.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Re: Wiring Fault

Rodbuster, sounds like you may have found the problem...in my case, was getting this message intermittently and since I have a seperate brake controller for the connection in the bed knew it wasn't a trailer problem. Durning routine service, tech found 3rd brake light (one on back of cab) was out... i mentioned message and he found one of the relays was bad...said it rately happened in diesel trucks. All is well now

 

[Rodbuster]

Lou_and_Bette, glad that all is well at this time.
Several months ago I started using "dielectric grease" on all of my wiring connections. That includes the RV, truck and 2 boat trailers. Prior to using this grease I had several incidents where I would have no or poor connection. Since I've started using the grease I have had "zero" failures.

Dielectric grease is a non-conductive silicone based grease that's designed to seal out moisture and prevent corrosion.

Dick

 

[BigIron]

Final results for my "Trailer wiring fault" issue:

Cause of message to display on my truck message center console: Magnet wiring insulation was rubbing on trailer brake drum and exposed the wire which was causing the message fault. While the vehicle was in motion the exposed wires would bounce and touch metal.
Etrailer.com has a good video and you can see how the magnet wiring is routed. My situation may be rare but if you have the same message after inspecting your 7way connectors, cleaning your connection points and applying di-electric grease; have a look inside your brake drums.

Truck 7 way pin connector and wiring: After $100 dollars for the inspection by Ford they concluded that the wiring on the truck was good.
After market 7 way pigtail to truck system routed to the inside of the truck bed: OK...but the master electrician at the RV service department found a weak ground connection with his voltmeter. He reconnected to a better spot under my truck.

Drove 177 miles and no message fault...finally the mystery is solved!!

I originally wrote that I drove 2400 miles prior to this happening (trailer was new/off the lot) so it makes sense now that it took some time for the wire insulation to rub off and expose the wire itself.