betsycam

Today I hooked up my horse trailer after not using it over winter, to move a friend's horse from pasture to town. I use an adapter for the 6 way round to the 7 way on the truck. I have two of these, one of which I think isn't wired correctly, and I think that's the one I grabbed today.

I always have issues with getting a good connection such that the numbers come up on my brake controller - no numbers, no trailer brakes. Today, the numbers came on/went off intermittently when I pressed the pedal. Then, the ABS light and Brake lights came on on the dash, and stayed on. The brake pedal was mushy. I had a short haul so went ahead (stupid). When I stopped, I could smell the brakes so I guess the rear brakes were on even though it didn't seem like it. My friend said my truck and trailer lights were coming on when I braked.

Another symptom is that my turn signals don't work. I checked the fuse panels looking for likely suspects and discovered that there doesn't seem to be fuses for the turn signals themselves. My husband and I checked all the fuses that seemed like candidates but none were blown. We had no way of checking relays, though.

So, what's happened and how can I fix it! Which fuses might be responsible (brake light on, ABS light, turn signals not working)?

Midnite

It sounds to me like there's something else going on besides an electrical problem. An electrical problem shouldn't make the brake pedal feel mushy. It might be worth getting under the truck and looking your brake lines over for leaks.

That said, I'm not much of a brake guy, so hopefully someone who knows more than me will pitch in.

Mike

Robert Rausch

This brake dash-light stuff is Greek to me. I have had my ABS and Brake lights both stay on after my first brake job (replacing the front pads) on my '95. They stayed on for a week, and one day I did an emergency, tire-locked stop, and they both went off and stayed off! It's a mystery to me.

That said, if your pedal is mushy you should do some inspecting. Is the master cylinder full? Are you still on the original master cyl? It might be time for a rebuild.

If your rear brakes are making contact all the time, it's likely they are over-adjusted. Back them off and they won't burn up. I used to drive up a steep driveway and then have to back down--after a bunch of times doing that my rear brakes self-adjusted to make braking contact all the time, and the rear brakes began to overheat and smoke. I just backed them off and they were fine.

betsycam

That's interesting about the steep driveway and the rear brakes self-adjusting. Yesterday I had just made a 250 mile round trip, mostly freeway but finishing with some windy mountain driving. I then drove the truck downhill through a pasture to get to my trailer where I backed in to hook up. It was only after I connected my trailer that these lights came on, no issues throughout the day of driving.

My brake controller keeps coming out of its cradle and hanging down by the wires which are taped together with electrical tape. A couple of those wires were pretty short when I spliced them, and I wondered if the controller getting bumped around might have dislodged something that could have caused all this. Or maybe something like that caused the turn signals to go out, while the other stuff is coincidental and unrelated?! These things always happen right before I really need the trailer!

SIXSLUG

Did you drive thru any water or mud to get thru the pasture? This can clog up the sensors at the front wheels and cause the abs light to come on.

A mushy pedal would get me looking at the master cylinder and rear wheel cylinders for leaking fluid. Also check the front calipers for leaking fluid.
Address this immediately.

The turn signals are controlled by a timer fuse. They are round in shape like a plastic water bottle cap and usually plug into the fuse bay.

On my 01 its on the panel at the side of the dash behind the access door. Its the large square on the lower forward side.

betsycam

Okay, things have gotten simpler. Brake fluid level was low. D'oh! Blinkers went back to working after I pulled a bunch of fuses to check them. When I refilled reservoir and pumped the brakes, we found a big ol' leak back by the rear left wheel, running down from somewhere above the gas tank down over the tank. The line is up in there and it was hard to tell where exactly the leak was coming from.

Guess I'll have it towed to the shop to be fixed, not something I feel like taking on, though in the past I would have been tempted!

Did I see in another thread somewhere that all the lines have to be replaced in this situation?!!

Stamey

Well, your line the runs from the front to the back must be replaced. Apparently this is a famous location for the brake line to rust through. ALL of the lines do not need to be replaced. Depending on the shop's preference, they may replace a section of the line or replace it from the rear to the closest junction in front of the leak location. In either case, they will have to drop the tank.

Chris