How to Protect Your Electrical System to Reduce Electrical Issues

Some people come to believe that all electronic components installed on trucks and trailers are a fool’s errand meant to cause breakdowns that will be lucrative for repair shops. If that is true, and it may well be true to a point, then OE’s have missed the mark big time because they lose a whole lot of money to warranty jobs done in their dealerships shops every year. The reality is the sensors and electrical equipment on these vehicles needs to be very precise and it all works in terrible environments.

Trucks and trailers do not stay in your warm, dry, cozy living room. They're parked in yards 365 days a year to sit in all sorts of weather and temperatures. They haul extremely heavy loads and often on terrible roads, assuming the operate mostly on paved roads. After that most drivers’ behavior borders on abuse even if only subtly. All that said there is a lot anyone can do for their vehicle or vehicles to fair much better than the average. The problems are often the same and the solutions as well.

Properly secure wiring and connectors, allowing space when necessary

When the truck or trailer comes to the world off the production line everything is essentially nice and tidy. Within a few weeks of bumping around the roads and loading docks things tend to settle. It’s well worthwhile to go through the engine bay and along the chassis to make sure things are still neatly secured. That said, securing cables and hoses too much is no better. Cables and hoses going to and from the cab or engine need to be left some loose. These vehicles flex a lot and they need the cables hoses and more to deal with this flexing.

As the vehicle lives its life, truck or trailer, maintenance and repairs are done. Little thought is given to the cables and hoses on the vehicle. Very often, with time, things begin to rub leading to an air leak or electrical problem simply because a hose or wire was allowed to move freely. Often these hoses and wires are in inconvenient places (which is why they weren’t properly secured. It’s amazing how often an ai hose leaks next to the transmission bell housing a few months after a clutch is replaced. It’s also amazing how often a coolant sensor miss behaves a few months after a radiator is replaced.

Trucks especially, but trailers too, work very hard and vibrate a ton. If you’re able to rub a hose or wire easily on a bracket, frame or other component, it likely will. You can secure it properly and maybe even cover it properly or just sit back and wait for the need to make a service call.

Clean thoroughly and grease (di-electric grease only) connectors ad sensors

This is best done on new vehicles but can be done at any time. Take apart every connector you don’t want to rot, clean it perfectly and put in some di-electric grease. If you don’t clean it perfectly and leave some dirt or moisture, it is that dirt or moisture that the di-electric grease will leave in and allow to rot out the connector.

Many sensors don’t need an ounce of service, like speed sensors, but even an abs sensor can benefit, during a brake job for example, from a wipe down of the forward-facing part of the sensor as it could pick up some metal shavings and dirt over time. The important sensors to clean are the sensors that measure any form of air. Intake pressure, DPF pressure etc. It is absolutely worthwhile, during a regular maintenance, to take apart and clean the business side of these sensors. Even your intake pressure sensor can get extremely dirty. Cleaning it off gently with a sort of electric contact cleaner and a brush will allow the sensor to work better for longer.

Smooth engine startups and shut downs

It’s not obvious and not really a big deal but the reality is by being too quick with the ignition key can actually cause some problems over time. This point is a little exaggerated but look at all the codes in the ecu and you’ll see a lot of erratic behavior only caused by startups. Even a light has quite different capacity when it is first turned on versus after a half hour. Again, none of this is a huge deal and may even be hard to measure but I’m certain that by allowing electrical equipment to turn on smoothly and shut down smoothly you are only putting the odds in your favor.

Conclusion, no guarantees, but put luck on your side

Unfortunately a lot of dealing with electrical components can seem to come to luck. But there is no doubt you can put luck in your favor with these tips. It doesn’t take a lot of skill or talent just being interested and caring a little. It’s mostly a question of slowing down just a tiny bit and putting on some finishing touches. But even one less road service call per year will probably make it very worthwhile.