1999 E-450 Super Duty Trailer Brake Controller

[IrnBear]

Hello All
and
Thank you in advance for any help with this.

I am a new owner of a New to Me 1999 30ft Coachman Leprechaun
It is on a 1999 Ford E-Super Duty Chassis

I have checked all fuse spots and anything pertaining to a trailer has a fuse.
The rear has a 7pin plug

Under the dash is (i hope) a plug to connect my brake controller too. Like I have in my Ford Expedition.
Only problem, there are two separate plugs, One Grey (like in my Expedition), one Brown.
The brake controller Ford Harness fits either one…

Does anyone out there know which plug is for the brake controller?

Thank you again,

IrnBear

[j-d]

Glad you stuck with it and got it working!

[IrnBear]

It was/is the Brown connector 🙂
Plugged my controller in
and
WahLah, power to the brakes and no smoking wires..

Thank you all for the responses.

IrnBear

[j-d]

I just found This Page which explains how to wire controllers.
Watch out for the word "BROWN" on Ford up to 2002 which sounds like yours. Brown refers to the WIRE INSULATION COLOR not the color of the Plastic Connector it's in. In other words, you should find the colors LEADING INTO the connector you need to use. Knowing Bryan, it's Brown.

Be sure to read the NOTE at the bottom of the linked page.

Also, the "Predator Series Controller" colors seem to be pretty much standard. The Tekonsha I installed had those colors.

Finally, do you have your Controller? If you haven't I strongly recommend one with a Digital Display. You'll change settings according to where you are driving. The Tekonsha did not have display so I have to "feel" for the knob setting I need. With Digital you can turn the dial to numbers you remember to have worked well before. If you bought one without display and can still upgrade, suggest you do.

[j-d]

AH, #20, thought I was focused looking at that panel. That's the fuse I blew on my daughter's rig not realizing it was Hot all the Time, not through the Key. Have you verified it's not blown? You can pull it and test across with a meter or use that ice-pick test light and another source, like the battery. Don't just inspect. Test to prove it's good. While it's out, you should find +12VDC on one pin of the fuse socket or the other.
That 20A is the Fuse I'd suggest replacing with a Breaker. I forget the formula but I think you should protect at about 15A per Trailer Axle. A site like Tekonsha should be able to confirm that.
Back to it, once you confirm power at #20 and Fuse/Breaker is good, you should also see it come on go on one terminal of the Brown connector (not Gray, I always Bet on Bryan) as you remove/insert #20. Then another terminal should light as you apply the coach brakes. Third terminal should test as Ground, and the last one should test OPEN. It's for the Blue Wire back to the 7-Way.

[IrnBear]

Spot #20 on the under the hood fuse panel
Electric Brake Controller
20Amp fuse

Seeing how I can't imagine the MH has any electric brakes, I assume this is for a controller for the trailer wires

Now to have some time off to check on all this 🙂


Thank you,

IrnBear

[j-d]

I only saw Fuse 11 "Brake Position Switch" and its 15A is not enough to run electric brakes. It actually varies with how many axles on the trailer. Did you spot a fuse for "Trailer Brake Controller" or similar.
Don't see much reason why you couldn't wire the Controller's "Signal" (RV Brake Application) to the Controller from any point. Does one pin go Hot when you step on the Brake? Is Fuse 11 good?
From there you could find Blue (trailer brake apply power) under the coach and connect to Controller. At that point, Power from Battery to Controller through a Breaker, Ground from anywhere.
Starting to wonder if all 7 wires coming forward got connected to Ford's harness.
Bryan, how'd you do it?

[IrnBear]

carringb wrote:
Definitely the brown one. I looks you might be missing the trailer battery charge relay under the hood.

On that note however.... Might be a good idea to break some tape on the wire harness going to the 7-way, and make sure that actually extended all 7 wires, and not the the four required for most lights.

The 7 plug at the end has all 7 wires 🙂

[IrnBear]

j-d wrote:
Nice PIX of those fuses. Can you give us shots of the labeling that shows which fuse serves which circuit?

Here you go….. Right out of the book :C





IrnBear

[carringb]

Definitely the brown one. I looks you might be missing the trailer battery charge relay under the hood.

On that note however.... Might be a good idea to break some tape on the wire harness going to the 7-way, and make sure that actually extended all 7 wires, and not the the four required for most lights.

[j-d]

If Bryan told you "Brown" it's Brown. He has that van and tows a trailer with it. Use one of these
with the clip on a known good ground. I wouldn't think the key even has to be ON for a brake pedal push to light the tester's handle when you touch the pin that went hot. Unless you blew a fuse like I did. Nice PIX of those fuses. Can you give us shots of the labeling that shows which fuse serves which circuit?

[IrnBear]

This is the fuse panel under the hood


This is the fuse panel under the dash


Brown Plug


Grey Plug


Thank you for the replies..
I have checked the book to the fuse panel and all trailer slots have fuses.
I'll test the plugs and see what happens when I activate different things.
Maybe if I press on the brake, one of the posts in one of the plugs will have power to it.

Both plugs are at the foot wall left of the steering wheel. The brown is more near the brake and the grey is more near the dash.

Thank you again,

IrnBear

[carringb]

IrnBear wrote:

Only problem, there are two separate plugs, One Grey (like in my Expedition), one Brown.
The brake controller Ford Harness fits either one…

The one you want is nearly behind the brake pedal (brown?). The near the steering column is for "modified vehicle power" and also there are some pass-through circuit to under the hood.

[j-d]

Last Ford I worked on, the Controller Circuit was ALWAYS HOT and the way I ran the wiring, I blew the underhood fuse. Do you have a diagram of your Fuse Box(es)? You could probe the two connectors with an "ice pick" test light (other end of tester has a wire you connect to ground). Then eliminate a connection by seeing which works with the fuse IN and not when it's OUT.
For some reason, I keep thinking you need the GRAY connector, but I don't blame you for checking.
In addition to the Flasher suggestion, I'd add: Replace Braking Fuse(s) with Breaker(s).

[navegator]

There are two places where you will find fuses, one is under the dash left corner and the other one is in the engine compartment also on the left side, on the cover of both there should be a list of what fuse goes to what and the relays on the one in the engine compartment.

The fuse box in the cabin also has the turn signal relay, I suggest that you replace it with a heavy duty electronic one, the cheap ones supplied are not strong enough to power all the lamps of the combined turn signals.

navegator