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Long post, but am at wits' end...

Off and on--mostly on--I have had problems with the IBC/trailer brakes on my '09. Numerous RV techs and 2 Ford dealers have not been able to make it work the trailer brakes. Everything worked fine for first 2 years/maybe about 70000 miles. One day, towing in CO mtns, the "Trailer Wiring Fault" message appeared, and my problems began. 2+years later, I don't have reliable brakes. On a better note, I went 135000 miles before needing rotors and pads, even with the poor braking.

Through all this, I have all running and turn/brake lights.

Pulling the emergency cable locks the brakes.

I had previously replaced both the truck side harness and the trailer harness, both have molded plugs. When replacing the truck harness, found that 3M clips had been used and redid the connections by soldering. Have off and on worked with the grounds in the trailer junction box and gotten temporary good brakes. Throughout it all, there has not been found a fix that works for longer than maybe 3-400 miles---either I have a hard braking sequence or a bumpy section and the dash beeps a warning and up pops either "Trailer Disconnected" or "Trailer Wiring Fault." Lately, just towing and without any reason, the Trlr Disconnect pops up in the message center, then resets itself in 10-30 seconds.

I recently purchased the EZ Connector harnesses http://ezconnector.com/ and have begun the installation of both harnesses. Since the trailer and/or truck won't match up to any different truck/trailer, I got the adapters also.

Replaced the truck bed harness with the new EZ harness, which is a PnP connection. Cleaned up all the factory wire connections (truck harness and bumper plug). All had tons of dielectric grease in them. Put the new EZ harness in and used the EZ to 7-pole trailer connector to hook up to the trailer. All lights again work, but weak braking when test pulling.

Before changing out the trailer to the EZ harness, I have gotten the following volt/amp readings at the truck bed plug:

IBC setting Volts Amps
10 13.6 6.61
9 12.34 5.92
8 11.02 5.28
7 9.8 4.66
6 8.39 3.97
5 7.1 3.25

Didn't see any need to run down below on 5 on the controller. Does anyone know if these readings are as they should be before I tackle the harness on the trailer?

Any other tests I could try to pinpoint where the problem may be?

Thanks.

Joe

 

Joe, your readings are way off. Jump up to the top of this forum in the tech section and you will see I posted readings from my IBC quite a while back at the different levels while working the manual slide. With your trailer brakes are at full chat you should be seeing 3 amps per wheel or typically about 12 amps total down the blue lead. Six to seven amps just won't get it.

My thought is this is s tough problem because it is intermittent. When you get the "trailer disconnect" message the brake controller is saying something has opened the circuit, although it looks to me like the circuit is already partially open.

What you know so far is pulling the break-away locks up the trailer, so the trailer circuit is good. You still, however, could have a chafed lead on the trailer brakes so be sure to check the connections at each wheel.

Let's say you checked that and it all looks good. Before you replace any parts, you have to get a handle on why the amp output is so low when the trailer brakes are fully activated. That is a controller issue or a connection issue.

Can you tell me what the previous techs did in checking this system?

Steve

 

Steve,
A Ford dealer hooked up a plugin tool to the bed plug with red lights that were indicators for the lights/brakes/turns and declared it good. Then they hooked up a laptop the OBDII connection and said the computer showed the controller to be operating correctly. Previous Ford dealer just said it was ok, I wasn't around to see what they did.
RV tech out of Provo area used VOM to check volts, but not sure he checked amps. He cleaned all the connectors in the truck harness and that is where all the dielectric grease came from. Jacked a wheel up and jumped the trailer connector battery direct to the brakes and the spinning wheel locked immediately. After all his work, we hooked the trailer up and drove around maybe 10 miles and the brakes worked perfectly. Also he cleaned up the junction box connections in the pin box. We left with excellent brake function--lasted maybe 500 miles, then the "wiring fault on trailer" message hit. This was back in summer 2011 on way to Alaska. Off an on, I could hit the manual, and could feel some drag. In Grand Prairie, AB, tech showed me the contacts in the trailer harness weren't clean, and scraped them off. Again, had brakes. At that point, had the trailer harness replaced and left with brakes. It was long, tho, that the message reapppeared, and no brakes. Each morning, when starting out, can use the manual lever and get pretty good drag. But driving, there doesn't seem to be much help from the brakes. Around 50-60, you can barely feel them coming on using the manual lever. This is how it has been working (or not) since then.
Thank you for responding.
Joe

 

I think it is a controller issue. It gets hot from operation and then starts the message.

I have no proof. But it appears to me that there really has been no testing of the controller.

What you could do is to take the cover off the center stack so you can access the controller. Maybe check those connections there for loosness/bad connections.

 

Let's assume controller is good for a minute.

Volts tell you next to nothing unless you are simply trying to demonstrate a connection. With a bad connection, you will have voltage until you load the system, then it goes away. Dielectric is an insulator. You can use it to seal out moisture, but it does not increase connectivity. You note, however, that each time connectors were cleaned, you have brakes for a time. You are also reported extremely low voltage and amp draw at the seven pin to the trailer. Can you tell me how you are measuring that amp draw?

Steve

 

Scott,

You may be right, but improving connections seemed to help. It has to be connections or controller as sliding the manual he has to see a 12 amp draw. He doesn't so there is no way he has ample brakes at present.

I am thinking pull the trigger slowly on the controller as two Ford dealers have checked it with their boxes and both are reporting it is good.

Steve

 

Steve,
Used a dig VOM to check volts and amps at the truck bed plug. You speak of amp draw--does that mean I need to have a load hooked to the controller? Not much of an electrician for theory/testing procedures.
Also, now there are no splices/soldered connections in the harness--everything is PnP. I feel good that there is as good a contact in the harness plugs as can be. But, I tell you, the contacts in those plugs sure seem wimpy.
Joe

 

To check amp draw, you must have the trailer plugged in so the magnets load the controller when you use the manual slide. Setting it on 10 you should see 12 amps on your meter. I am assuming you have your meter set on amps and it is connected in series between the blue lead in the junction box and the blue lead to your brakes after you disconnected the blue lead to the brakes in the junction box.

Steve

 

Will do that tomorrow.
Thanks.
Joe

 

With the volts being more or less correct (batt volts at maximum setting) and the amps low, the fault is on the trailer. There may be a broken wire at one or both of the axles, or chafed at the hanger where they drop down to the axle. I'd start the search by looking at where the wire goes from fixed to flex areas, that's the most common non-connector failure point.

 

I agree the amp draw is way off, but the reason I made the earlier suggestion is to verify he is checking the amp draw correctly. I can not tell how it was done or if it was done by any of the technicians from the preceding post.

Just stepping back and looking at the numbers two magnets are on board and my first suspect for chafed wiring would be going from the driver's side to the passenger side of the camper with the wiring running through the axle, although I am not sure how the OP's is done.

It would be nice to know if the problem could be duplicated with another trailer or if the RV techs had used a trailer emulator and gone for a ride with the owner to verify actual output to the trailer.

I would absolutely stop replacing parts until I had a diagnosis.

Steve

 

I hate to say anything here as you guys are the xperts on this, but has anyone checked the most simple thing being the "ground". You can have good voltage but amperage may not be sufficient.....just a thought.......my breakaway break uses the onboard battery to engage..again, just thinking the simple things thru here....

 

I think any suggestion that focuses on anything that lowers amp draw is free game. In situations like this, I back all the way up and pretend I know nothing about anything that has been done in the past.

I get told things all the time, but was taught to "never assume", so I start by verifying voltage and amp draw. I have to see it with my own eyes, or in this case get the OP to be my eyes.

The problem in this case is you know the easy stuff has been done at least twice and the problem is intermittent which makes it a bear to diagnosis.
In my world, I define "expert" as a person who is persistent enough to be wrong many times, until they are finally right.

Steve

 

More info on testing done before--the term trailer emulator is new to me, so looked it up. Apparently, this is what the Ford dealer used that I saw--a black plugin gadget that had red lights on it to indicate that running lights/stop and tail lights/brakes were working. I did not know it simulated a trailer being hooked up to it. Looked exactly like the one on etrailer.com site. Also, had the truck at Discount Hitch in Arlington, TX, while back--they hooked up a large box with actual lights in it, and showed me that the light indicating trailer brakes got brighter when the manual lever on the IBC was moved over.
And, I remember the tech in Provo who spent quite a bit of time on this did get under the trailer and looked over the wiring that could be seen. Most of it is either inside the axles or the underbelly, tho. The entire running gear is Dexter, the brakes are listed as 8K capable (12 1/4 x 3 3/8). All the innards were inspected by Indiana Interstate in LaGrange, IN, in April 2011, before our Alaska trip, when they replaced the NevRLube bearings and the springpaks. IN Interstate is run by a former DRV employee and he was probably working at the plant when my trailer was made. Specifically, he said the magnets were fine. I had had the problem before having the work done, and it happened again not long after leaving his shop. He would (should) have looked the wiring over at that time. I know myself there is no sign of chafing on any VISIBLE wiring.

To reiterate what isn't happening----when sitting still in the driveway, applying the manual lever results in strong braking, BUT NOT AS STRONG as when the emergency cable is pulled. When driving and applying the manual lever, the drag is no where near strong enough to slow the trailer in any reasonable distance. And there is the intermittent message "Trailer Disconnected" followed by "Trailer Connected" shortly that just happens now and then. I don't remember any "Trailer Wiring Fault" messages lately.
Guys, I really appreciate the time you are taking to help me figure this out. I wish I had the faith in a close-by shop to turn this over to them--truck and trailer--but don't know of any. The one shop that does tons of custom trailer work is the one that used 3M clips to orginally install the bed plug with the B&W hitch.
Should be able to get an amp reading with the trailer connected sometime today.
Thanks.
Joe

 

Morning Joe,

Here is the missing piece. Once I had the emulator plugged in with that long 20-foot cord, we would have gone for a ride as I would want to see exactly what was going on when we were moving. This is the piece that tends to get left out. What I want to know is this: when you do not have an error message, what is the controller putting out in a hard stop? I don't like lights, I want numbers. Lights don't provide the information you need. You need quantitative measures.

Also you have to ask yourself, if the voltage out at the receptacle on the truck is the same as the voltage out when you pull you break-away, why are the trailer brakes weaker?

If the problem were constant, this would be a piece of cake, so we start at the beginning. Forget everything that has been done and let's fix this puppy!