Need some help pretty quick

[Rodbuster]

Hello again,
As many of you know, I just purchased a new Key Largo which is the first RV that I have ever owned. I have been on this forum many time with numerous questions...all of which where answered with great ideas and solutions.

My wife and I have been very excited in planning our first adventure which is supposed to start tomorrow morning. That's why I need some help.

I can't get the lights and the brakes to work.
The reason is.... when I left the dealership with my new RV to head home I assumed that all the lights and brakes were working. I never checked them before leaving the dealership (my fault). When I got home, my wife and I really started looking at the RV and we just wanted to admire it. I then noticed that there was a metal electrical junction box mounted on the frame of the kingpin. The wireing that goes to the 7 pin connector on my truck was not clamped on with a cable or clamp connector. I took a closer look and sure enough, the edge of the metal box had cut through the outer insulation and had actually cut through 2 of the inside wires.
I called the dealership and my salesperson asked me to take a few pictures...which I did. I told him that I didn't care to drive it it that condition because I didn't know if I would lose my brakes. I made a schematic of what wires were connected to what wires, then I purchased a new hard plastic J-box and connected all the wires back the same way I took them off. When I tried everything, nothing worked. Could it be that I made an error in making my schematic...it's possible, but I really don't think so. I took my time to label and mark every single wire one at a time. I now wonder "if" I had lights on my way home. By the way, when I came home, it was during the day.

I now have lights...after trying many different combinations, but I can't get my brakes to work. Yes, I have looked at the Heartland manual (pages 21 and 22)...still no luck.
I just came in at 11:45 PM, I've been working on this problem for 7 hours. My wife is in bed... I'm not looking forward to telling her about not leaving tomorrow. She will be disappointed.
I'm going to try and call Heartland first thing tomorrow. I've heard really good things about them trying to help their customers.

Any ideas ??? Sure could use some help.
Rodbuster

 

[wonka]

Silly question, did you check your fuses in the truck? Could have blown a couple when you shorted out the wires
Bill

 

[olcoon]

I don't know if this will help you or not. I did a google search & found this. What I know about that stuff is let someone who knows about it do it! In the Google search I entered Elec. brake wiring & it came up with a bunch of stuff.
http://www.championtrailers.com/Electric%20brake%20control%20wiring.pdf

 

[WilmanJim]

Rodbuster,
You didn't specify what type tow vehicle you have but I know my Ford has a seperate set of fuses for the trailer in the fuse box under the hood.

 

[hoefler]

Most vehicles today have separated the tow harness from the tow vehicle electrical. In GM and Dodge, there is a separate fuse box under the hood that houses these fuses. If you have a newer truck, there also is a computer that runs the trailer electrical. On some of the Dodges, when you trip the internal breaker in the computer, you have to go to the dealer to have the computer reset.

 

[Rodbuster]

Good morning,

I didn't sleep well at all last night... got that darn trailer on the brain.
Thank you very much wonka, olcoon, WilmanJim and hoefler. In answer to your posts, I ask a good friend of mine to come over last night to see if he could help me. He's a real good mechanic on boat engines. Maybe I should have bought a larger boat. Anyways, yes we did check the fuses in the truck...thank you olcoon for the web site...WilmanJim, I have a 2011 Ford F350with the 6.7 diesel, and yes we checked the fuses under the hood as well as the fuses under the dash on the passenger side... and hoefler, I'm going to call the dealership where I purchased the RV in a few minutes and also follow that up with a call to Heartland. If they can't point out an obvious mistake then I'll try the Ford dealership to check on the computer reset.

Once again, I thank you very much for taking the time to try and help.
Rodbuster

 

[jnbhobe]

I think your on the right track. Your Ford does have fuses for lights signals and brakes. Check your owners manual for the positions. //heartlandowners.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=7-Pin_Harness This may help with the wiring at least for one end.

 

[traveler44]

If you can check with a tester and see if you are getting anything through the contacts on the pigtail that might save you having to go into the trailer wiring. Ford has fuses and relays in the fuse box under the hood. Mine needed a relay cube to get the 12V charging through the pigtail. A Haynes repair manual should show the location of the fuses and relays. Tom M.

 

[tmcran]

Number of topics on brake wiring problems with Ford intergrated system. Check RV.net search. Also on the Ford forum. Contact a good trailer place that sells farm and ranch trailers. They have testing equipment that will diagnosis the problem.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Rod, how are you checking the fuses?? Sometimes just eyeballing them wont work. You need a meter or a 12V test lite. If your Ford has the new style square colored fuses that have the clear top....then remove the fuse and test to see if you have ignition power (key on) to one side of the terminals. If you do, put a fused jumper across the 2 terminals and see if the brakes work. The one thing I don't know is if Ford has a relay in that circuit. I know that GM does not, just a fuse. Your KL does not have any fuses that control the brakes. Its a wiring problem in a fuse or wire harness in the truck or at the junction box. If the wires are NOT shorted to ground now...then its wired wrong or a blown fuse.