Trailer brake not working

[Tambow]

Update on the braking issue.

I took the trailer to the airstream dealer and they towed the trailer with their truck and the brakes worked fine. I tried my f150 Powerboost again and the brakes worked fine for an hour or so.

After a couple of hours I began to have the "No Tailer" issue again and the brakes did not work when I pressed the brake pedal or the brake lever.

I plugged and unplugged the 7 pin several times and still no brakes. I turned the truck off and tried the plug again but it still did not work.

Then I remembered someone on the thread tried powering down the trailer. So I put the trailer in storage mode and then powered it back up and tried again and the brakes worked.

I keep wondering if there is something wrong with the brakes on the Airstream instead of with the truck. Or if there is a brake controller in the trailer that needs servicing. I'll call the airstream dealer on Tuesday and see if they have any ideas with the new information.

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[chrisp993]

[Q. I keep wondering if there is something wrong with the brakes on the Airstream instead of with the truck. Or if there is a brake controller in the trailer that needs servicing. I'll call the airstream dealer on Tuesday and see if they have any ideas with the new information.
[/QUOTE]

It's not your trailer, or anything to do with airstream ... problem happens with my car hauler and there is nothing on that trailer other than a set of standard electric trailer brakes on the axle i.e. the pins on the truck output are just wired directly to the trailer brakes themselves, no mysterious controllers, nothing to put in storage mode etc.

My dealer is checking whether the truck part number has been updated i.e. if there is a new revised part available as I'm inclined toward thinking the plug is physically a problem based on the lack of "feel" plugging in and the pics I've previously posted. However dealer doesn't seem too excited about finding root cause ?

My suggestion is that anyone with this problem, since it's such a serious safety issue, go to the NHTSA website and report it as an "Electrical" problem. That at least will get Ford's attention?

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[JEB]

I also have an Airstream and had the same problem. Here’s what worked for me. Before plugging in the 7-way, make sure the truck is off completely. Not just the motor, the full electrical system. To know for sure, look at the license plate lights and verify that they are off. Then plug in the 7-way. Then start the truck. You have to make sure the electrical system on the truck is shut down completely and the 7-way socket is not getting any power. Just shutting off the motor without waiting for a minute or two for the electrical to power down won’t do it.

 

[chrisp993]

Before plugging in the 7-way, make sure the truck is off completely

JEB, other people seem to have had success with this also, and it makes sense from perspective of truck electronics somehow needing a clean slate to calibrate the brake output ... although other vehicles seen to manage just fine! However it doesn't account for the trailer brakes disappearing randomly some time after the journey has started This method also involves a reconnection, so could be that is the difference?

I'd still be interested if anyone else with this issue has an opinion on how well the 4-pin adapter plug supplied with the truck fits the truck receptacle - good? bad? compared with other trucks?

 

[JEB]

JEB, other people seem to have had success with this also, and it makes sense from perspective of truck electronics somehow needing a clean slate to calibrate the brake output ... although other vehicles seen to manage just fine! However it doesn't account for the trailer brakes disappearing randomly some time after the journey has started This method also involves a reconnection, so could be that is the difference?

I'd still be interested if anyone else with this issue has an opinion on how well the 4-pin adapter plug supplied with the truck fits the truck receptacle - good? bad? compared with other trucks?

What I suspect is happening with the brakes disconnecting during a journey is that the truck is stopped briefly and then restarted prior to fully powering down.

As for the 4-way adapter, I’m not sure how instructive that will be. A 4-way doesn’t have a live brake connector. But to the extent it is relevant, I haven’t noticed any difference between my Airstream’s 7-way, the 4-way adapter that came with the truck or my Curt 7-way diagnostic adapter as far as the quality of the connection. All seem equally solid and pretty much the same as my previous tow vehicle.

 

[chrisp993]

What I suspect is happening with the brakes disconnecting during a journey is that the truck is stopped briefly and then restarted prior to fully powering down.

As for the 4-way adapter, I’m not sure how instructive that will be. A 4-way doesn’t have a live brake connector. But to the extent it is relevant, I haven’t noticed any difference between my Airstream’s 7-way, the 4-way adapter that came with the truck or my Curt 7-way diagnostic adapter as far as the quality of the connection. All seem equally solid and pretty much the same as my previous tow vehicle.

JEB in my case the trailer brakes failed after about an hour on the road, no stopping or starting, they worked and then they just stopped working!

The 4-way adapter I'm talking about is the 7-way to 4-way adapter supplied with the truck - for use if someone needs to connect to a trailer (without brakes) with a flat 4-pin plug. In my case the 7 way adapter was extremely difficult to insert in the truck plug vs. easy in other trucks. Hope that clears up what I'm talking about?

 

[Ed21]

I'd say it's a truck problem. You shouldn't have to click your heels three times, jump up and spin around to get trailer brakes to operate.

 

[JEB]

JEB in my case the trailer brakes failed after about an hour on the road, no stopping or starting, they worked and then they just stopped working!

The 4-way adapter I'm talking about is the 7-way to 4-way adapter supplied with the truck - for use if someone needs to connect to a trailer (without brakes) with a flat 4-pin plug. In my case the 7 way adapter was extremely difficult to insert in the truck plug vs. easy in other trucks. Hope that clears up what I'm talking about?

Yeah, I know what you meant. I’ve tried three different plugs—the 7-way on my Airstream, the 4-way adapter that came with the truck and a diagnostic adapter I’ve had for years. The connection is the same.

Your experience of the brakes losing connection while in transit is troubling.

I did notice an extremely odd behavior when the “smart” controller went haywire. During one instance when the brake controller lost connection, the brakes would activate fully if I turned on the headlights. Turned them off, the brakes would release. It seems these controllers re-configure based on the load it’s seeing. Bad!

 

[Antimatter]

We also had the trailer brakes go from working fine to not working during the same driving session. See my previous post.

 

[JEB]

We also had the trailer brakes go from working fine to not working during the same driving session. See my previous post.

That’s bad. But to do a little more sleuthing, are you certain the brake controller was actually working and connected when you set off on your journey? Did you start up, see the pop up that said “trailer connected” and then headed out assuming all was well? Or did you separately verify that that the controller was also working by giving the override a squeeze to make sure it was reading the brakes? Just because the pop up saying “trailer connected” looked fine does not mean that the brake controller is also connected. Unfortunately, the controller has to be separately verified to make sure that the trailer brakes are actually working.

What MAY have happened is that the brakes were never connected when you started out—you understandably assumed that “trailer connected” also meant the brakes were connected to the controller— and you only discovered it during your journey when you needed to do a hard stop. But that’s just a theory.

Shouldn’t have happened in any event. Bad programming

 

[chrisp993]

Are you certain the brake controller was actually working and connected when you set off on your journey?

Journey started by leaving Pittsburgh Intl Raceway, which is a *steep* winding downhill road, so yeah I'm sure the trailer brakes were working at that point - sometime later on the toll road in Ohio they stopped working - which was an unpleasant surprise!

 

[JEB]

Journey started by leaving Pittsburgh Intl Raceway, which is a *steep* winding downhill road, so yeah I'm sure the trailer brakes were working at that point - sometime later on the toll road in Ohio they stopped working - which was an unpleasant surprise!

I will try to replicate this tomorrow. I have previously had the unpleasant surprise of thinking that the trailer brakes were working based on the “trailer connected” pop up only to find that they weren’t. But a mid-journey disconnect hasn’t hasn’t happened to me since I started squeezing the controller override to verify connection before setting out.

 

[Antimatter]

That’s bad. But to do a little more sleuthing, are you certain the brake controller was actually working and connected when you set off on your journey? Did you start up, see the pop up that said “trailer connected” and then headed out assuming all was well? Or did you separately verify that that the controller was also working by giving the override a squeeze to make sure it was reading the brakes? Just because the pop up saying “trailer connected” looked fine does not mean that the brake controller is also connected. Unfortunately, the controller has to be separately verified to make sure that the trailer brakes are actually working.

What MAY have happened is that the brakes were never connected when you started out—you understandably assumed that “trailer connected” also meant the brakes were connected to the controller— and you only discovered it during your journey when you needed to do a hard stop. But that’s just a theory.

Shouldn’t have happened in any event. Bad programming

Yes. Brakes were connected and working as we were mountain driving.
We went from Kremmling CO to Silverthorne, thru the Eisenhower tunnel and descended. Working the whole time. Using them.

Then as we approached the Denver metro it was not working. We had to downshift and use our hazards.

 

[JEB]

Yes. Brakes were connected and working as we were mountain driving.
We went from Kremmling CO to Silverthorne, thru the Eisenhower tunnel and descended. Working the whole time. Using them.

Then as we approached the Denver metro it was not working. We had to downshift and use our hazards.

This is good empirical data based on the behavior of the brakes and it does appear that you lost them at some point. But what I was really hoping to see is if anyone manually activated the brake controller before setting out, verified from the gain pop up (not the ”trailer connected” pop up) that the controller showed an active connection, and then subsequently lost the connection while driving. I haven’t seen that specific scenario yet. In my experience, there were a few times when I thought the trailer brakes were working based on how the truck was stopping only to learn that they actually weren’t connected at all—I just thought they were. I haven’t experienced a disconnect while driving after verifying on the gain screen that the trailer was connected.

 

[chrisp993]

JEB, I think you're suggesting that people may not notice the trailer brakes aren't working and need to verify with manual operation ... my case is a 7500lb car hauler and I suspect Antimatter is a similar weight travel trailer. You'd have to really be not paying attention to not notice if the trailer brakes were working or not ... with that sort of weight, the difference is profound, not to mention the obvious feel of the trailer brakes engaging!

Anyway, FWIW, subsequent to the trip back from Pitt Race I have also verified trailer brakes operation pulling out of my driveway with a manual squeeze, only to lose the brakes again a mile down the road ...

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