The FLASHER RELAY is really important!!!!
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From: McKinney, TEXAS
The FLASHER RELAY is really important!!!!
After finishing riding ATV's in Broken Bow Oklahoma yesterday, I stopped at a friend's cabin to pick up some gear before we left. I had my trailer hooked up to the truck. I had some lighting issues, as discussed below:
Here are the symptoms I experienced:
I put the four ways on and they did not blink.
I had no turn signals on truck or trailer
I had no brake lights on the truck or trailer
The center high mount stop light (above the cab) DID work.
I also noticed that my Prodigy said the trailer brakes were disconnected.
The headlights worked.
All truck and trailer running lights worked.
Wiggling the trailer harness where it plugged into the 7-way receptacle in the bed proved an that there was an intermittent connection (Prodigy cycled between connect and no connect). Opened up the trailer plug and one brake wire was broken off completely and the other broke as I opened it up. Fixed the wires and got a good connection to the trailer. That still did not fix any of the lighting issues. Checked all fuses etc. Nothing was blown. Finally decided to replace the FLASHER RELAY and everything came back!!!!
IF YOU DON'T HAVE BRAKE LIGHTS, TURN SIGNALS OR FOUR WAYS, TRY REPLACING THE FLASHER RELAY
Of course this had to happen in the dark in a rainstorm and we had to drive from Broken Bow to Idabel (12 miles) with no turn signals, brake lights or trailer brakes (trailer wasn't loaded heavy or I would not have tried it). I believe this is what is referred to as a "white knuckler" trip.
The rain stopped in Idabel and we found an Autozone and fixed everything in the parking lot there.
INVEST IN A SPARE FLASHER RELAY AND PUT IT IN THE GLOVE BOX
~Rob
Here are the symptoms I experienced:
I put the four ways on and they did not blink.
I had no turn signals on truck or trailer
I had no brake lights on the truck or trailer
The center high mount stop light (above the cab) DID work.
I also noticed that my Prodigy said the trailer brakes were disconnected.
The headlights worked.
All truck and trailer running lights worked.
Wiggling the trailer harness where it plugged into the 7-way receptacle in the bed proved an that there was an intermittent connection (Prodigy cycled between connect and no connect). Opened up the trailer plug and one brake wire was broken off completely and the other broke as I opened it up. Fixed the wires and got a good connection to the trailer. That still did not fix any of the lighting issues. Checked all fuses etc. Nothing was blown. Finally decided to replace the FLASHER RELAY and everything came back!!!!
IF YOU DON'T HAVE BRAKE LIGHTS, TURN SIGNALS OR FOUR WAYS, TRY REPLACING THE FLASHER RELAY
Of course this had to happen in the dark in a rainstorm and we had to drive from Broken Bow to Idabel (12 miles) with no turn signals, brake lights or trailer brakes (trailer wasn't loaded heavy or I would not have tried it). I believe this is what is referred to as a "white knuckler" trip.
The rain stopped in Idabel and we found an Autozone and fixed everything in the parking lot there.
INVEST IN A SPARE FLASHER RELAY AND PUT IT IN THE GLOVE BOX
~Rob
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Joined: Feb 2003
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From: McKinney, TEXAS
I've been going over root cause analysis in my head all day today as to what happened.
I believe that when the one trailer brake wire broke loose (thereby causing the no connect warnings on the Prodigy) is shorted out against the terminal next to it, which was one of the turn signal terminals. This caused the flasher relay to go bad.
Other things I learned last night,
1: The owner's manual sucks, there is no mention that the flasher relay going out will cause the breaklights to not work (or is this common knowledge?)
2: Why are there 3 different physical sizes of fuses used? I need to stock up on spares. Those square ones in the PDC are like $4.00 a pop at Autozone.
3: Trailer wiring sucks and is a PITA (and this is a brand new trailer). My next job is to go over every connection on the trailer when I get a chance.
4: The tailight lenses use Torx bits
5: There is no limit to the amount your backside can pucker when it is raining hard and you have no trailer brakes, no brakelights and no turn signals and you are 200 miles from home.
~Rob
I believe that when the one trailer brake wire broke loose (thereby causing the no connect warnings on the Prodigy) is shorted out against the terminal next to it, which was one of the turn signal terminals. This caused the flasher relay to go bad.
Other things I learned last night,
1: The owner's manual sucks, there is no mention that the flasher relay going out will cause the breaklights to not work (or is this common knowledge?)
2: Why are there 3 different physical sizes of fuses used? I need to stock up on spares. Those square ones in the PDC are like $4.00 a pop at Autozone.
3: Trailer wiring sucks and is a PITA (and this is a brand new trailer). My next job is to go over every connection on the trailer when I get a chance.
4: The tailight lenses use Torx bits
5: There is no limit to the amount your backside can pucker when it is raining hard and you have no trailer brakes, no brakelights and no turn signals and you are 200 miles from home.
~Rob
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 688
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From: Maineville, Ohio
Originally Posted by hotdram
Other things I learned last night,
1: The owner's manual sucks, there is no mention that the flasher relay going out will cause the breaklights to not work (or is this common knowledge?)
2: Why are there 3 different physical sizes of fuses used? I need to stock up on spares. Those square ones in the PDC are like $4.00 a pop at Autozone.
3: Trailer wiring sucks and is a PITA (and this is a brand new trailer). My next job is to go over every connection on the trailer when I get a chance.
-Trey
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