Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Trailer Brake Problems


Recommended Posts

Just bought a 2004 VLX and towed it home. Trailer pulled great. Upon trying to back it into the garage the brakes would lock up. I contacted the seller and he said the cylanoid should release this when the truck was in reverse. Needless to say I was unsuccessful with this. I had to use a piece of metal wire to connect the cylanoid to a hot spot on plug, I also tried with my sisters 99 Expedition. No luck with that either. I have a 2004 boatmate trailer and a 1999 F-150. Can anyone help me out with this.

Link to comment

Does the trailer brake line have a 5 pin connector? If so you also need to have a 5 pin connector at the vehicle end otherwise that last pin doesnt see voltage. That last pin is typically the brake lock out wire anyways. One thing I do personally is to simply rotate the plug backwards so that the 3 male plug ends hit the 3 female and teh 1 female is hanging off the end. Whenever I am backing up I just hop out for a quick second and rotate that plug. Then again I could just take the time to run a single reverse triggered wire, I just havent had time.

Link to comment

There was a problem with Ford trucks and them putting the incorrect relay in the truck's electrical system causing it to not power the B/U light circuit. You might want to talk to your Ford dealer before you start running new wires.

Link to comment

In the meantime, flip the electrical connector as mentioned above and make sure your lights are on. Or, you can use something to manually lock out the trailer brakes (stick a socket in the surge mechanism, etc.).

Link to comment

First off, I'm assuming that you're using the round 7-wire connector on the truck and not the flat 4-wire. The flat 4 will not have a back up signal wire.

We had an '02 Ford and the back up circuit relay was not installed. It was included in a plastic bag with the electric trailer brake wiring harness.

You can check the back up signal lead using a volt meter at the wiring receptacle by the hitch receiver. The pin-outs should be in the owner's manual (it's a standard seven-wire receptacle but I don't remember which lead off the top of my head).

At least you discovered this while backing into your driveway. I found out about ours on a busy boat ramp. Mad.gif

Link to comment
ulie - welcome to the site and to owning Malibu boats.

Looks like you've gotten the answer to your Q. Good luck with your new boat.

Thanks everyone. I am using the seven pin connector and I guess I will check with Ford before I start running wire.

Link to comment

Wakegirl- since I'm too lazy to get out of my chair and go figure it out.... will this fuse you speak of effect the reverse light on the tow vehicle? I noticed last week that my Suburban has the reverse lights go on, but not on the trailer. I thought it would end up being a ground on the trailer issue, until I hooked it up behind my Titan and the reverse lights (and brake lockout) worked just fine on the trailer.

...wondering if I should start at the fuse you speak of.....

Edited by jayjoans
Link to comment

I have the same problem with my Ford Expedition. There is a second fuse box under the hood, and from what I could tell from the manual the fuse for the backup lockout is in that box. I checked that fuse and it looked OK but replaced it anyway. Still no luck. I gave up and just flip the connector as recommended earlier. This is not a problem with my Grand Cherokee. Something with Fords I guess.

Link to comment
I have the same problem with my Ford Expedition. There is a second fuse box under the hood, and from what I could tell from the manual the fuse for the backup lockout is in that box. I checked that fuse and it looked OK but replaced it anyway. Still no luck. I gave up and just flip the connector as recommended earlier. This is not a problem with my Grand Cherokee. Something with Fords I guess.

CinctKid,

You can go to Ford and get a Relay, I believe it is number 203 check the manual to be sure. But it was not installed on my 99 F-150 or my sisters 99 Expedition. It was less than 10 dollars and took two seconds to install.

Link to comment
Wakegirl- since I'm too lazy to get out of my chair and go figure it out.... will this fuse you speak of effect the reverse light on the tow vehicle? I noticed last week that my Suburban has the reverse lights go on, but not on the trailer. I thought it would end up being a ground on the trailer issue, until I hooked it up behind my Titan and the reverse lights (and brake lockout) worked just fine on the trailer.

...wondering if I should start at the fuse you speak of.....

It may be the same, or not. Our Chevy has separate fuses for the backup lockout & the reverse lights. We had trouble with the reverse lockout when we first picked up the '06 & it turned out to be the fuse. The reverse lights worked just fine even though the lockout didn't.

Link to comment

I have the same problem with my Ford Expedition. There is a second fuse box under the hood, and from what I could tell from the manual the fuse for the backup lockout is in that box. I checked that fuse and it looked OK but replaced it anyway. Still no luck. I gave up and just flip the connector as recommended earlier. This is not a problem with my Grand Cherokee. Something with Fords I guess.

CinctKid,

You can go to Ford and get a Relay, I believe it is number 203 check the manual to be sure. But it was not installed on my 99 F-150 or my sisters 99 Expedition. It was less than 10 dollars and took two seconds to install.

Thanks, I'll give Ford a call and see if that does the trick. Not a big deal to flip the concector, but just one of those little pains.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Wakegirl- since I'm too lazy to get out of my chair and go figure it out.... will this fuse you speak of effect the reverse light on the tow vehicle? I noticed last week that my Suburban has the reverse lights go on, but not on the trailer. I thought it would end up being a ground on the trailer issue, until I hooked it up behind my Titan and the reverse lights (and brake lockout) worked just fine on the trailer.

...wondering if I should start at the fuse you speak of.....

It may be the same, or not. Our Chevy has separate fuses for the backup lockout & the reverse lights. We had trouble with the reverse lockout when we first picked up the '06 & it turned out to be the fuse. The reverse lights worked just fine even though the lockout didn't.

I have '98 chevy... same issue. Where's THIS fuse located? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I fabricated a sweet little metal lock-out bracket for insertion behind the pin on th3e trailer and I'vbe had zero problems with the manual approach. Funny thing after years of owning and I/O with nothing like this ever happend. And I had to call the dealer for the poor man's fix it. I'm not sure all of these trailers '06 type, come with a lock out solenoid.

Link to comment
I use two 9/16" nuts and fashioned a springy thingy out of a coat hanger to hold them in place before applying reverse pressure on the surge mechanism.

I saw where you can pick up springy thingys at wally's 10 for a buck. That's a great idea I'm makin' one. You can't begin to imagine how high my BP reached after I dragged this huge piece of plastic crap (malibu)home, for the first time, and then discovered it wouldn't just be easily "backed up" a slight incline into the shop... Man I was PO'd. Something entirely new and irritating.

Link to comment

Wakegirl- since I'm too lazy to get out of my chair and go figure it out.... will this fuse you speak of effect the reverse light on the tow vehicle? I noticed last week that my Suburban has the reverse lights go on, but not on the trailer. I thought it would end up being a ground on the trailer issue, until I hooked it up behind my Titan and the reverse lights (and brake lockout) worked just fine on the trailer.

...wondering if I should start at the fuse you speak of.....

It may be the same, or not. Our Chevy has separate fuses for the backup lockout & the reverse lights. We had trouble with the reverse lockout when we first picked up the '06 & it turned out to be the fuse. The reverse lights worked just fine even though the lockout didn't.

I have '98 chevy... same issue. Where's THIS fuse located? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I fabricated a sweet little metal lock-out bracket for insertion behind the pin on th3e trailer and I'vbe had zero problems with the manual approach. Funny thing after years of owning and I/O with nothing like this ever happend. And I had to call the dealer for the poor man's fix it. I'm not sure all of these trailers '06 type, come with a lock out solenoid.

Sorry Rizzo, didn't see this yesterday. Our fuse was in the fuse box that's located under the hood. Your owner's manual should have a diagram of what fuse is for what (it seems like on our '01 there's about 3 pages of fuse diagrams Crazy.gif ). I don't remember exactly what it was called, but I do remember looking for anything that had to do with either backup lights or trailer lights. We pulled fuses one at a time until we found the right one & sure enough it was blown. That cured the problem for us.

Link to comment

Thanks man, I'll give it a search this weekend I hope it's this simple to fix.

Sorry Rizzo, didn't see this yesterday. Our fuse was in the fuse box that's located under the hood. Your owner's manual should have a diagram of what fuse is for what (it seems like on our '01 there's about 3 pages of fuse diagrams Crazy.gif ). I don't remember exactly what it was called, but I do remember looking for anything that had to do with either backup lights or trailer lights. We pulled fuses one at a time until we found the right one & sure enough it was blown. That cured the problem for us.
Link to comment
Thanks man, I'll give it a search this weekend I hope it's this simple to fix.

Sorry Rizzo, didn't see this yesterday. Our fuse was in the fuse box that's located under the hood. Your owner's manual should have a diagram of what fuse is for what (it seems like on our '01 there's about 3 pages of fuse diagrams Crazy.gif ). I don't remember exactly what it was called, but I do remember looking for anything that had to do with either backup lights or trailer lights. We pulled fuses one at a time until we found the right one & sure enough it was blown. That cured the problem for us.

Ummm, FYI, Wakegirl is a girl.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...