# Western plow controller not working



## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

I recently bought a straight blade 3 plug western plow, the plow is lightly used and the wiring is almost all new with the exception of the lighting harness. Today when hooking it up, the controller backlight flickers while starting the truck, then turns off, but the little red light indicating that the controller is on still works. The plow does not move and when the buttons are pressed the controller clicks and then turns off. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

It means the connections at your battery are bad


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

cwren2472 said:


> It means the connections at your battery are bad


The battery connections are brand new


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

jkdunham said:


> The battery connections are brand new


Take them off and tighten them again


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

cwren2472 said:


> Take them off and tighten them again


battery connections are good, same problem. The plow lights also do not turn on


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

Is the controller oem or aftermarket? Also is it new or used?

Edit: when you say the wiring is new, are you talking plow side, truck side, or both? 
Also, do the truck lights shut off on the truck when you plug the plow in or they staying on?


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

cwren2472 said:


> Is the controller oem or aftermarket? Also is it new or used?
> 
> Edit: when you say the wiring is new, are you talking plow side, truck side, or both?
> Also, do the truck lights shut off on the truck when you plug the plow in or they staying on?


controller is OEM and brand new, the wiring is new on the truck side ( except the lighting harness) when plow is plugged in, the truck lights stay on and function normally. After some more testing I have come to the conclusion that there is positive power in the grounding system( test light was connected to negative battery and when touched to ground wire in plow harness the light comes on)


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Solenoid new? Factory or aftermarket?


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

Western1 said:


> Solenoid new? Factory or aftermarket?


factory and yes it is new


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## Lumpmyster (Sep 11, 2020)

jkdunham said:


> controller is OEM and brand new, the wiring is new on the truck side ( except the lighting harness) when plow is plugged in, the truck lights stay on and function normally. After some more testing I have come to the conclusion that there is positive power in the grounding system( test light was connected to negative battery and when touched to ground wire in plow harness the light comes on)


the truck lights stay on after all the plugs are plugged together? Doesn't flip to plow lights automatically?


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

Lumpmyster said:


> the truck lights stay on after all the plugs are plugged together? Doesn't flip to plow lights automatically?


truck lights stay on and the plow lights do not come on


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Ground is connected at the module? And at the solenoid?


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

Western1 said:


> Ground is connected at the module? And at the solenoid?


yes, but I think that there is positive power going through the ground wires somehow


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Best to check things with your test light then and track it down.


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Post pic of your solenoid


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## Lumpmyster (Sep 11, 2020)

If your headlights aren't flipping automatically then your controller won't become active. It has to see that ground circuit (#2 & #7) to activate.


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

Western1 said:


> Best to check things with your test light then and track it down.


the isolation module is putting out 12v to the black and orange ground wire from plug A pin C


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

dieselss said:


> Post pic of your solenoid


top lug is output to plow, bottom lug is directly to battery


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Is that the large ground from the plow on the bottom of solenoid? Put it to battery


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Battery negative


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

On the plow what is hooked up to the motor ground? Is there 1 or 2 small wires? Did you see the plow work?


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

If that is the plow main ground, you are going to have all types of problems. Put that directly to the battery negative post. Do you have the positive battery cable that runs to the solenoid connected to the battery? Also there is no nut on the solenoid ground wire.


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## jkdunham (Dec 17, 2020)

Solved: ground cable directly to the battery and everything works as it should. I feel dumb knowing now that this was the problem. Thanks everybody


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

jkdunham said:


> Solved: ground cable directly to the battery and everything works as it should. I feel dumb knowing now that this was the problem. Thanks everybody


Dang, if only someone had suggested battery connections

and then suggested them again after you insisted they were good...


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

It’s tuff being you “c”


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Glad you figured it out! Good luck!


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

Western1 said:


> It's tuff being you "c"


So true, buddy, so true...


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Western1 said:


> It's tuff being you "c"


Don't inflate his ego any more than it is.


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

Randall Ave said:


> Don't inflate his ego any more than it is.


Impossible


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

cwren2472 said:


> Dang, if only someone had suggested battery connections
> 
> and then suggested them again after you insisted they were good...


I did it just wasn't in this thread...


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## Approaching_Infinity (Jan 4, 2021)

cwren2472 said:


> It means the connections at your battery are bad


Similar situation, my Western handheld controler turns off intermittently. Began happening last night midway through busting open a ranch road mid blizzard. I could use some help narrowing down where to look for the cause.


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Find the tutorial here on, no power to controller.
It is in the Fisher threads. Same wiring.


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