trailer brakes

[trumpetguy]

My brakes stopped working during a haul. Truck fuses are all good. CIC flashed a check trailer brake message. Any ideas?

[bugeyedriver]

Have you confirmed they are not engaging when you press the brakes. Do you have a fellow traveler that can press on the brakes while you listen near the wheels? Were they working while underway and just quit? Did you ensure the 7pin connection is still snug? (I had one fall out while I was underway because I likely did not push it in far enough to engage the latch). If you were disconnected during a rainstorm, did you make sure the connector was free of water before plugging in, either by blowing it out or using WD40? Have you looked under neath your trailer for a loose electrical connection?

 

If all else fails, are you near a shop that could run an electrical brake diagnostics on your system if you limped into their business?

 

Good luck. Let us know the outcome.

[ScubaRx]

My Sierra does that on occasion. I've read on several of the General Motors truck forums of this happening to other owners of like products. I believe (as others do) that sometime the plug loses contact with the truck for an instant and the truck reports that message. The contact is always remade instantly on our truck and it has not continued. This has happened two or three times.

[trumpetguy]

Prior to losing trailer brakes altogether I was getting the error messages... "trailer brakes disconnected, then connected". I have ckecked the plug, sprayed with electrical dryer, several times during the trip. The brakes simply will not engage, even when activating manually using the switch.

 

I was hoping there might be an in line fuse on the trailer to check. I will call Oliver today for their help.

[ScubaRx]

Check to see if the brakes have a good ground.

[mountainborn]

Steve is right. An intermittent ground seems to be the most common cause of erratic trailer brakes,

[trumpetguy]

I spoke with Dustin at the factory today and he also suggested I check the ground. The ground block is under a seat hatch and is chock full of wires all of which are very tight. I assume the blue wire is the brake wire. It is spliced into other wires. Before I mess with that I will try to get the brakes to energize using a 12 volt battery. I should hear the magnets click if they engage. If that works I can focus on the vehicle. It would seem that my wife can apply the brakes while I touch a test lamp to the ground and brake pin in the receptacle. If that fails I make a trip to the repair shop.

[ScubaRx]

I had a problem with the brakes on my first trailer that ended up being a poor ground. Raise the cushions and compartment cover on the left side of the front dinette. Look toward the rear of the trailer with a flashlight. Near the support for the battery box there will be four wires entering the cabin from the back side of the wheel well. Two blue and two white. These pairs are tied together with the blues going to positive 12VDC and the whites going to ground. On my trailer the white wire goes directly to the grounding bar located on the frame right before you. It is the ONLY white wire on mine, all the rest are yellow.

 

If yours is set up differently, find the wires coming from the wheel well and trace where the white wires go. They could be tied to a ground (yellow) wire somewhere else but they have to go to ground for the brakes to work.

[trumpetguy]

Thanks Steve. This helps a lot and I will have a look first thing tomorrow.

 

Daid

[trumpetguy]

Brakes fixed.

 

After checking All the possible connection points (there aren't many) I decided to give the plug another look. I had sprayed some electrical cleaner into the holes already. Used some carb cleaner and compressed air and voila...brakes. I will follow Dustin's advice and purchase some Dialectic Grease to discourage future corrosion. Living half a mile from salt water makes for a perfect corrosion environment.

[Hap]

My wife and I picked up our 2014 Legacy Elite II 23.5' at the factory last April 1st. We meandered to Washington state and then spent almost three months in Alaska and then back to Florida where we put our trailer in covered storage for a couple of months and then down to the Florida Keys for several weeks. So far we have pulled the Oliver for approximately twenty two thousand miles and love it. May 1st we will be leaving for about five months in Utah and Colorado.

 

Before I hook-up our trailer, I take 0000 steel wool and clean the rust off of the hitch ball which I've been told by a Chevy service manager is the grounding point for the trailer. I keep the trailer in storage with a roof cover, but it does get weather from back and front while stored so I keep the trailer plug in a small plastic bag.

 

Thanks

Hap

[JuniorBirdMan]

As mentioned here and on numerous other forums, brake problems are caused by a faulty ground 99% of the time. Finding it, however, can be quite a job.

 

I had been plagued for some time by brakes not working and a "Trailer Disconnected" nuisance warning on my tow vehicle, especially (but not always) when braking. Connecting to another tow vehicle produced the same result, so the problem was the trailer itself. The lights always worked, but the brakes didn't. I replaced the trailer wiring harness (outside) after finding that it had been spliced using butt splice connectors and wrapped with electrical tape. No help. Cleaned the 7-pin connectors at both ends and treated with dielectric grease. No help. Replaced/greased all electrical brake connectors under the trailer and checked all (I thought) connections I could find, both inside and outside the trailer. Continuity and resistance tests on the brake magnets were right on, but the problem persisted! ARRGH!

 

Out of sheer desperation I traced by hand the wiring harness inside the trailer from the front all the way to the back – not real easy to do since portions of it were inside protective sheathing. All the way in the rear on the streetside I felt butt splice connectors inside the sheathing. Opened it up and the connectors appeared to have once been clear but were now green. When I cut them open I found they were so corroded that only about one small strand of wire remained. Apparently, this is why the small current from my multimeter would get through and produce good test results but not so for the larger current required to activate the brakes. I replaced them with heat shrink butt splice connectors filled with dielectric grease and voila! No more problems!

 

Hopefully this might help someone who may experience similar problems. I'm sure I spent at least a dozen hours on this one.