Brakes Stopped Working after CW Visit.

[ugeesta]

Not sure what is going on. The brakes worked fine when the trailer went into the shop 5 months ago.

Had warranty work done, one of which was to change a leaf spring out. When we received the trailer, I noticed it had a new breakaway switch in the pin. Not sure why but didn’t ask and was not part of the warranty work.

On the way out the truck wave me a warning to check the trailer wiring so I played with the pigtail and the brakes worked. I got the notice on and off an the way home.

Yesterday I played with the pigtail but still have the problem but now I have no brakes more than having brakes.

Last thing I did before putting it away was pull the breakaway cord hoping the brakes wild lock. Nope.

So, I have no power going to the brakes. The light work fine.

I’m calling CW to see what the hell they did to the brake wiring. I know this will mean taking my trailer back to CW, but it’s a 3 hour round trip and God knows how much lost time in the shop. If it’s an easy diagnosis and fix, I’d rather do that.

[Edd505]

First issue was leaving it with them 5 months, lots of time to mess things up.

[opnspaces]

I would ask why there is a new breakaway switch on your trailer when they were supposed to change a leaf spring. The two are not related and you have a right to know what happened to your trailer that they felt they had to put a switch on. Their answer might give you a clue to why your brakes aren't working well. But regardless of that, if I was you I would be cutting out and redoing every connection from the umbilical cord to the each brake magnet.

Also many times the brake wires get chafed where they run through the inside of the axle and short to ground. If you do the connections over it would be a good idea to run new wires along the outside of the axles. Get some long zip ties and run the wire behind the axle to protect it from flying debris when driving down the road.

[old_guy]

if they put on a new break away switch they may have screwed up the wiring job and or connections. or the break away switch is faulty

[wnjj]

ugeesta wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:

K Charles wrote:
Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.

If I had to guess I'd say the probability of this is in the 99+% range.

Would that provide intermittent complete brake failure or just affect the single brake?...

That depends upon if the broken or poor connection is between the plug and all of the brakes or just at one wheel. There needs to be a complete reliable connection from the plug to all brakes, including power and ground.

[ugeesta]

wa8yxm wrote:

K Charles wrote:
Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.

If I had to guess I'd say the probability of this is in the 99+% range.

Would that provide intermittent complete brake failure or just affect the single brake?...

[wa8yxm]

K Charles wrote:
Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.

If I had to guess I'd say the probability of this is in the 99+% range.

[Big_Dog2]

I had a similar problem several years ago. It turned out to be a ground wire in the pigtail was loose. I recommend you check/tighten all the connections inside the pigtail. Hope your issue is resolved as easily as mine was. Good luck.

[Lwiddis]

You noticed the brake issue when? Five months ago?

[ugeesta]

Did you drive without the breakaway cable? Hence the brakes were on, overheated and likely now ruined? Sounds like it.

Yes/no. I pulled the breakaway cable and drove for about 30 feet. Just enough to see if the brakes worked.

[ugeesta]

joebedford wrote:

What does "I have no brakes more than having brakes" mean?

It means the brakes would work intermittently. I’m going to try to clean the plug a little better an apply some dielectric grease to see if that helps

[CA_Traveler]

ugeesta wrote:
Had warranty work done, one of which was to change a leaf spring out. When we received the trailer, I noticed it had a new breakaway switch in the pin. Not sure why but didn’t ask and was not part of the warranty work.

On the way out the truck wave me a warning to check the trailer wiring so I played with the pigtail and the brakes worked. I got the notice on and off an the way home.

Did you drive without the breakaway cable? Hence the brakes were on, overheated and likely now ruined? Sounds like it.

[Ranger_Smith]

ugeesta wrote:

K Charles wrote:
Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.

I checked all the connections at the brakes and they looked good.

Looks are deceiving. Looking good and an actual good connection are 2 different things.

[joebedford]

I get the check trailer wiring almost every time I hook up. I have to wrap a bungy around the 7-pin cable and connector to pull it tight up to the truck. I think the connector pins have spread and don't make good contact - time to replace that connector. You may have that problem.

OTOH, if your trailer battery is charged, pulling the breakaway pin must give you brakes regardless of the condition of the cable/connector at the truck end.

I've seen trailer brakes that were incorrectly wired in series instead of parallel. They don't work well that way.

What does "I have no brakes more than having brakes" mean?

[Ron3rd]

ugeesta wrote:

K Charles wrote:
Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.

I checked all the connections at the brakes and they looked good.

Check for voltage at the brake itself with a meter and the brakes applied