I have an '01 Quad Cab, long bed, 6 speed. I put in a prodigy brake controller a few month's ago and now when I have the trailer hooked up it says that it has a short in it? I took it back to the place that installed the plug for my goose neck and they checked it all out and said it was in the factory harness? I changed the relay and the fuse and still cannot determine what is causing this problem. I changed out the controller as well and still does the same thing. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Is your ground directly through the factory harness too?

I just hooked one up that said it needed to be grounded directly to the battery. So,.......... I hooked up the ground supplied through the factory plug/harness and went on my way, works like a charm.

Does the facrory plug up under the dash look "factory" or has it been tampered with?

 

Prodigy did have some units that showed the og code due to the software - they replaced mine. I would give them a call very good to work with.
Jack

 

I have a prodogy and have never had any problem. If you find out what it is, let me know so I can be aware to watch for that with mine. I love my prodogy. It works so much better on large trailers than those $75 Redlines from Atwoods. Those su....well...stink.

JWB

 

The plug looks factory and untampered with. I will check the ground and see how it is connected. It is really strange and only does on occasion. It will flash short, then turn off and come back on, as soon as I hit the brakes it does it again? I assume this is the circuit breaker doing it's job, but I am really starting to get frustarted not being able to figure it out! I am pretty smart with this stuff and it almost has to be in the factory harness somewhere, but I don't want to go hacking into the factor harness if I don't have to. I'll keep you all posted on what I find.

 

It could be a wire chafed through the insulation & shorting to ground....

May not be too much help, if I could only point to exactly where the wire chafed through ....


Tony

 

Check to see if one of the wires to the magnets on the trailer brakes have gotten pinched between the rotor and the brake. Ask me how I know!
Jack

 

Question, have you been hooked to any other tailers and experienced the same thing?
I have seen bad connections at the trailer harness (trailer part that is) that have caused problems.
I might consider looking further into the trailer first, like have someone else pull it to see if their controller stays connected.

 

Check your trailer wires for squirrel damage! Pesky rodents chewed up my main lead for the brakes on my skid steer trailer and caused a bunch of head aches. Now I'm on a mission to rid the yard of vermin, one squirrel at a time. Probably not your problem, but hey, you never know!

 

I just experienced the same code on my prodigy while I was on a long trip. I crawled under the trailer and began to pull on wires to see if I could get the wire from being shorted out. Sure enough, when I pulled on a wire that had been routed through the axle, the short went away. So, I pulled it up tight and taped it to hold it from shorting out. When I got back home, I cut the wire and pulled it out of the axle and sure enough, the insulation was worn through. I then pulled the wire out of the other axle and it was almost worn through in a couple of places. I ran new, better insulated wire outside of the axles and, bingo, the problem is fixed. The failed wire was nothing more than lamp cord. I called the Dexter axle people and was told that this is a common problem and the recommended fix is what I did. The trailer is new and still under warranty but it was easier and cheaper for me to fix it than to pull it 50 miles to the dealers shop.

 

I had the exact same problem as pop-pop. Shorted wire inside the axle.

Like P.J. said, connect to a different trailer if you can. If it works normally then you KNOW the problem is in your trailer.

 

Connected to three different trailers and they all respond the same way. I checked the wiring on my trailer and pulled the brake drum off and all the wires looked good. That is why I am thinking it has to be in the truck wiring.

 

I have the same problem with my pridigy and an intermitent short(controlller flashes SH). I know its my flat bed trailer with the issue because the Horse trailer i usually pull has no issues.

I havent been able to find the problem yet, but i was wondering if it is likely a frayed wire, or if it could also be a bad brake actuator. ??????

I have another different problem with my prodigy... The blue wheel for adjusting voltage is broken, so i cant adjust the braking power to the wheels. I took it apart and found that the wheel is molded with a 2mm hex in it, the hex drives the trim pot potentiometer.
Has anyone else had this problem? I am thinking of drilling a hole in the side of the case and putting a 2mm hex through it with a rubber band to hold it in so i can tow my wife's horse this weekend, but i cant think of a better fix besides getting a new wheel.

I am affraid mine is one of the early prodigys... I bought it in 2001, paid like $230 or some god awful amount, and it looks like it is serial number 0000001986.

 

That reminds me - I'm positive that my Prodigy has a parking brake feature on it, but I can't remember or figure out how to set it for the life of me... of course none of the instructions are a help. Does anyone know?

 

A parking brake feature? I have never seen or heard of that with my Prodogy. It would be nice, but it would just drain your battery and heat up your wires if you left it on....no? How would that work? If it felt movement it would lock up? Yes...this is the in-famous EE questioning you!!!