Electric Brakes Not Working

[BrianM]

I was just recently pulling my Heartland Road Warrior 413 and had an error show up on my dash that indicated the trailer brakes were not working. All lights worked fine, but no brakes. I have recently pulled another trailer with the same truck and trailer brakes worked fine. Also, I tested both hookups in truck (one in bed and one on bumper), both tested fine and the trailer brakes also tested ok. Can someone provide me some advice as to where to start on the RV to diagnose and fix?

Thanks, Brian.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Brian,

When you say you tested the trailer brakes, what did you do?

Have you tried pulling the emergency break-away cable see if the trailer brakes all engage? Don't leave it energized for more than a minute or two. The brake magnets can overheat if left energized too long.

If the trailer brakes are operating when voltage is applied, you might go back to the connection between truck and trailer. You can have power at the truck connector but that doesn't mean it's getting through the connectors.

 

[BLR]

What make and year is your truck??

Did you check fuses is the truck?


Barbara


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[Matt750]

I’ve had this happen with another 5th wheel I used to own. On mine, it ended up being the trailer brakes. They were not self adjusting. I had to jack up the trailer and adjust them the “old school” way. Spin the wheel/tire assembly and use a brake tool (or flat blade screwdriver) and move the adjusting screw inside the brake assembly through the peep hole on the back of the brake. Sounds wild, but after doing this my light went out on the truck.


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[JohnDar]

Happened once to me while traveling. Ended up being corrosion on the umbilical connection end/truck receptacle. Used electrical connection cleaner on both then worked the connection a few times, all good. Now giving them a spray occasionally is part of regular maintenance.


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[cookie]

There are several reasons why you might get an error from your controller.
You have heard a couple already so another reason is that you have a bad magnet at one or more wheel.

Peace
Dave

 

[BrianM]

Hi Brian,

When you say you tested the trailer brakes, what did you do?

Have you tried pulling the emergency break-away cable see if the trailer brakes all engage? Don't leave it energized for more than a minute or two. The brake magnets can overheat if left energized too long.

If the trailer brakes are operating when voltage is applied, you might go back to the connection between truck and trailer. You can have power at the truck connector but that doesn't mean it's getting through the connectors.

Good Morning,

When I say I tested the trailer brakes, I had purchased a 7-way towing tester that fits into the sockets. It has lights on it to indicate if each function is getting power/functioning. I also hooked up a smaller trailer that I have which has trailer brakes and the trailer brakes on that trailer worked fine.

I have not yet tried pulling the emergency break away cable yet, I will do so and see if the trailer brakes all engage. Thank you.

Brian

 

[BrianM]

What make and year is your truck??

Did you check fuses is the truck?


Barbara


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Good Morning,

My truck is a 2009 F-450. I did not check the fuses in the truck yet, but I will do. Thank you.

Brian

 

[BrianM]

I’ve had this happen with another 5th wheel I used to own. On mine, it ended up being the trailer brakes. They were not self adjusting. I had to jack up the trailer and adjust them the “old school” way. Spin the wheel/tire assembly and use a brake tool (or flat blade screwdriver) and move the adjusting screw inside the brake assembly through the peep hole on the back of the brake. Sounds wild, but after doing this my light went out on the truck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE

Thank you for the advice. As I start troubleshooting, I will look at this too.

Brian

 

[BrianM]

Happened once to me while traveling. Ended up being corrosion on the umbilical connection end/truck receptacle. Used electrical connection cleaner on both then worked the connection a few times, all good. Now giving them a spray occasionally is part of regular maintenance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for that information.

Brian

 

[BrianM]

There are several reasons why you might get an error from your controller.
You have heard a couple already so another reason is that you have a bad magnet at one or more wheel.

Peace
Dave

Ok, thank you. How would I test to see if I did have a bad magnet at one of the wheels?

Brian

 

[cookie]

Ok, thank you. How would I test to see if I did have a bad magnet at one of the wheels?

Brian

Here is a link to info on testing the brake magnets.

Peace
Dave

 

['Lil Guy']

Probably not your problem but I had brake failure leaving a park we were in. Whhen I hooked up I checked the lights and eveything good. When pulling out, brakes didn't work and light on console agreed. I pulled the plug and sprayed it with some special (don't know the name) electrical cleaner and plugged it back in. Everything worked fine after that.
On my lnew truck, I had a failure again. Turned out I had to pull the receptical mounted in the bed and readjust the pins.

 

[Bogie]

Ok, thank you. How would I test to see if I did have a bad magnet at one of the wheels?

Brian

One easy way is to get an ordinary compass. Have someone step on the break pedal. Bring the compass near each wheel from the side. If the magnet is working, the compass needle will point directly at it.

 

[Dennyha]

At the 2019 Goshen rally, I started receiving a message on my RAM truck that the trailer brakes required servicing, approximately 100 miles from arriving at the campground. I had already signed up for installation of disc brakes, but I wanted to know if the issue was on the truck side of my braking system, or on the trailer side of my system. When we plugged our Cyclone into our camping neighbors Chevy truck, we received no error messages, so I thought the problem was with my truck.
When PTB removed my drum brakes, they found one of the wires on a right brake had frayed badly and was contacting the steel on the hub. So, this would be another area to check for a cause for the error message.
Ironically, the RAM truck sensed this and reported the brake system as needing service, but the GM truck did not sense this.

 

[BrianM]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I ended up manually adjusting the brakes (all 6 of them). Hooked it back up and took it for a test drive and this made a noticeable difference in braking performance. It also made the message on the truck go away, should be good to go.

Thanks Again,

Brian M-

- - - Updated - - -

I’ve had this happen with another 5th wheel I used to own. On mine, it ended up being the trailer brakes. They were not self adjusting. I had to jack up the trailer and adjust them the “old school” way. Spin the wheel/tire assembly and use a brake tool (or flat blade screwdriver) and move the adjusting screw inside the brake assembly through the peep hole on the back of the brake. Sounds wild, but after doing this my light went out on the truck.


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This was exactly what it was, thank you for the suggestion.

Brian M

 

[Matt750]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I ended up manually adjusting the brakes (all 6 of them). Hooked it back up and took it for a test drive and this made a noticeable difference in braking performance. It also made the message on the truck go away, should be good to go.

Thanks Again,

Brian M-

- - - Updated - - -



This was exactly what it was, thank you for the suggestion.

Brian M

No problem! Glad you were able to fix it.


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[212Pilot]

i had the same problem with my Cyclone and it turned out that one of the wires was cut by the control arm that the magnet mounts on.