Short

[gowyn]

What a day.

Drove two hours to my mums house, turn signal kept acting like a bulb was buned out then fine.

Had a Pioneer AVIC-D3 installed.

Noticed my Jordan brake controller was showing a constant 0.1, even with the key out. Went back to the stereo store to make sure they did nothing wrong, looks like not.

It's snowy and wet here right now, I'm suspecting a short. Had a quick look at plug on truck, 3 of the 7 pins were live. I believe only one should be. Anyway, pulled Stud #2 30a and power is now off (2004 GMS 2500HD DMax BTW)

Hopefully it's just moisture. Thoughts anyone?

[HowieE]

The Jordan is set to show 88.8 with a short in it's system. However a short to another circuit, such as the directionals may cause it to show a current flow, but .1 is not a lamp.

Could use a bit more info if you have it in order to understand things.

The installation of the Pioneer, did you have any secondary items, camera or keyless entery, installed wit it?

[gowyn]

had the Sirius module installed too.

what other info will help?

[HowieE]

Where you towing or just the car when the directional problem showed up?

Often a bad bulb will cause this but when checked the bulb will test Good. The filiment is open but still touching and making a circuit. Remove the bulbs and tap them while testing with an Analog Meter. If the meter meedle drops while you are tapping the bulb it is most likely open.

My Jordan shows .2 amp when my trailer is not connected and the brake switch is closed while depressing the brake pedal. Chech the tension on the Jordan cable to make sure it is not making a circuit. Just remove the cable end from the brake arm. If the current reading goes away readjust the cable tension.

[gowyn]

no wasn't towing.

thing is it showed 0.1 even with ignition off. stepping on brake pedal gave nothing.

I'll poke around tomorrow.

[gowyn]

was just thinking. The #2 stud is aux power for trailer only. I pulled it and the display on the Jordan went out. Like I said three terminals on the plug were live, so I'm thinking it's leaking out from the hot wire in the plug to the other pins. Moisture?

[Jim & Susan]

Too coincidental that this started (if I understand correctly) immediately after somebody was poking around under your dash with sharp objects.

Jim

[DPeakMD]

My Jordan always seems to want to read 0.1 to 0.3, engine running or not, trailer not plugged in, and foot not on the brake. I called the manufacturer to enquire about this once and was told it was not uncommon and did not affect functioning of the unit with respect to braking the trailer. When plugged into the trailer, it doesn't do this. I'm tempted to say, don't worry about it.

I see you're up north. It could be salt/water contamination in your 7 way socket leading to a little connectivity between the terminals. Might try spraying it out with some electrical contact cleaner and see if it helps.

[Action]

Originally Posted by DPeakMD

Might try spraying it out with some electrical contact cleaner and see if it helps.

This usually displaces any moisture in the future. Not sure if WD-40 would work and that is what the WD stands for Water Displacing. See # 2 about mid-page.

WD-40 FAQs: Learn How to Remove Gum, Loosen Rusted Bolt, Clean Garden Tools or Prevent Corrosion

>>>>>>>>>>Action

[gowyn]

well it's about 15 below today so I'm gonna check it out at work tomorrow.

Had a quick poke around, looks like installers tied some wires to the brake cable therefore making it pretty stiff. I managed to get the display to go off, just pushed the cable back into the unit. Good until I touch the brakes so it looks like I've found the problem. I'll just have to reroute some wires and tie them off some place else.

I'll give the plug a quick spray too, can't hurt.

Thanks for all the help. Was a crazy weekend, and too top it off my pax side mirror developed a crack. D'oh!

[Action]

Originally Posted by gowyn

Thanks for all the help. Was a crazy weekend, and too top it off my pax side mirror developed a crack. D'oh!

One of the many reasons I moved from the Motor City. It should be 77 today.

>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[DPeakMD]

I hope you get it working again, Gowyn....and it's WAY TOO cold up there (F or C measurement)! We were at a comparitively balmy +7F this am.

I'm a little confused from your statement "the installers tied some wires to the brake cable therefore making it pretty stiff"...could you clarify that. With the Jordan there is a metallic cable which senses the brake pedal position. By no means should there be any other wires tied to that! It must move freely in order to return to the resting position and de-activate the brake feed. If not, then you could be running down the road pulling your trailer with the trailer brake partially applied. Bad! That will burn up the magnets, heat up the wheels and possibly cause a fire and/or failure of your hub and loss of wheel!!!

Also, down near the attachment to the brake pedal there should be a round ring with a small slit in it. If you are NOT towing, you can remove the cable and it's attached round plastic 'ball' from there when you are NOT towing. That should eliminate any numbers coming up on the Jordan display as you brake the tow vehicle during solo driving. You would have to remember to reconnect the 'ball' when you hook up the trailer to tow.

I just tend to ignore any numbers which pop up on the Jordan when I'm NOT towing. Now, as soon as I'm plugged into the trailer, then I pay close attention. I guarantee you'll need to know how to adjust the little 'ball' on the end of the metallic cable near the brake pedal the first trip out with the trailer. The cable may stretch, or worse, the connector to the cable may slip. If that happens, you'll not have good trailer braking. So get to know that system and make sure it moves as freely as possible.

[gowyn]

Originally Posted by DPeakMD

I'm a little confused from your statement "the installers tied some wires to the brake cable therefore making it pretty stiff"...could you clarify that. With the Jordan there is a metallic cable which senses the brake pedal position. By no means should there be any other wires tied to that!

well that's what they did, pinching the cable so it's not sliding properly.

Saw the slit, I was trying to figure out how to slide the cable out, cold doesn't help......aarrrgghhhhh

Not pulling the trailer right now so not too bothered. Was more bothered by the thought of a constant drain on the battieries (truck.) 20 below the old diesel likes all the juice she can get to fire up. Chug chug chug.....

I'm at work tomorrow so I'll pull the truck in, let her thaw out and hopefully sort things.

I'm actually hoping that the dopey installers when they removed the panel below the steering wheel (where the controller is) didn't try to force it too much causing some damage to the controller.

[DPeakMD]

Ahh, OK, that's what I was afraid of! Good job figuring that out. I think you saved yourself a LOT of potential trouble down the road. You know, I've had things like this installed, and then ended up undoing other people's shoddy work. So I would recommend inspecting everything yourself as you suggested. I have a diesel truck, too. And you definitely want to minimize any potential battery drain esp. when starting in the cold like you are. It takes every last bit of those battery's capacity to fire the glow plugs.

I like my trailer brakes to come on first and on my truck I put up with a little bit more tension on that Jordan cable just in order to keep the slack out of the system and start applying the brakes right away. That will sometimes lead to a 0.2 or 0.3 on the display when not towing, too.

I don't think they would have damaged the controller itself. But please be sure and check the wiring job! The brake wire from your truck--->Jordan unit-->Trailer carries up to 12 amps when the brakes are fully applied. That's a lot of juice especially for the rather small wires that Ford provides. I'm just worried that they may not have made good connections between the Jordan and the Ford provided harness behind that panel, it could cause problems. Inspect their work and make sure that the connections are at least mechanically solid. Then after you tow for awhile, inspect again for any signs of a high resistance connection (which will heat up!). You can't be too careful.

[gowyn]

righto, got it sorted.

Turns out the installers zip tied a bunch of extra wires to the brake cable running from the controller to the pedal. In turn it forced the cable out of it's sleeve (slit in sleeve) creating extra friction along the cable.

All is well now.

Thanks for all the help.