Brakes????

[beman1956]

I have 2013 keystone Springdale travel trailer tower by a Ford F-350 diesel. Ok my problem is that brakes only activate when I manually use the brake gain switch that was factory installed, when I hit brake pedal I get nothing, no braking what so ever. I put volt meter on the trailer plug at the rear of the truck, when using the switch manually I get 14+ volts on all pins, when I use brake pedal I get 14+ volts on one pin only. Should I change plug in rear of truck or is it something up line in the wiring around brake?? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.


THANKS

[bsmith0404]

Based on what you're saying, I'm guessing your trailer brake lights are not working either? Your trailer brakes only get power from one wire, (pin 2, bottom right pin on truck connector), pin 4 (top right pin) is your 12 volt charging pin. The others are for your brake/trailer lights and an auxiliary pin. If you are not getting power to any of them, I would trace back up the line a bit and find connection points where you can pull apart and check for power. You may just have a loose connection somewhere. Most likely somewhere under the dash where they wired in your brake controller.

Here's a diagram of your wiring.

http://www.darren-criss.org/7-blade-...b10a5d74e.html

[beman1956]

All my lights work fine, just brakes only activate by using gain switch manually. Wondering if it's a trailer wiring problem? Should that power the blue wire at the trailer junction box?? Confusing why manually brakes lock up but with pedal no brakes.

[bsmith0404]

To me that sounds like a disconnect between the brake pedal and the brake controller. When you're pressing the brake pedal, the controller is not activating the trailer brakes. I would still be looking at the connections under the dash. There is a wire from the brake switch behind the pedal to the brake controller, my guess is that is the problem. The brake pedal activates the controller, your settings determine how much power is sent to the trailer brakes. When you activate manually, you are basically doing the pedal part at the controller. Since the brakes work when you activate manually, that tells me everything is good from the controller back.

Here's info for installing a new system to help you understand the connections.

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-install...m-scratch.aspx

[JRTJH]

The last time I troubleshot a problem with the brake activation on a Ford, the problem was the brake light switch located on the stem of the brake pedal. It wasn't closing when the brake pedal was pressed, so it didn't send the signal to the brake controller to start activation. When pressing the "manual control" located on the brake controller, it worked as designed, but the brake controller wasn't getting the signal from the brake pedal (through the brake switch) to activate with "normal braking using the pedal".....

Essentially, if you get braking action when using the manual lever, then the electrical connections from the brake control to the trailer and from the 7 way pin to the trailer brakes is working. ALL the electrical power from the controller to the trailer uses the same wire and connectors whether you push the brake pedal or the manual lever. The ONLY difference is "internal in the brake controller and from the brake pedal to the controller. Otherwise, it's the same wiring.

Good Luck

[bsmith0404]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

The last time I troubleshot a problem with the brake activation on a Ford, the problem was the brake light switch located on the stem of the brake pedal. It wasn't closing when the brake pedal was pressed, so it didn't send the signal to the brake controller to start activation. When pressing the "manual control" located on the brake controller, it worked as designed, but the brake controller wasn't getting the signal from the brake pedal (through the brake switch) to activate with "normal braking using the pedal".....

Essentially, if you get braking action when using the manual lever, then the electrical connections from the brake control to the trailer and from the 7 way pin to the trailer brakes is working. ALL the electrical power from the controller to the trailer uses the same wire and connectors whether you push the brake pedal or the manual lever. The ONLY difference is "internal in the brake controller and from the brake pedal to the controller. Otherwise, it's the same wiring.

Good Luck

Yep the switch or the wire from the switch to the brake controller. The switch also operates the brake lights. So if the brake lights are working, I'd check the wire from the switch to the controller. If the brake lights are not working, check the switch.