When Stepping on Brake Pedal and Connected to Dump Trailer Brake Light Fuse Blows on 2004 Ford E-350

Question:

When I hook up my dump trailer to my 04 e350 and depress my brake pedal it blows the fuse to my brakes. but I can hook up same trailer to my 03 Tahoe and everything works fine.

asked by: Laura

Expert Reply:

It sounds like there is back feeding to the van from the trailer when you step on the brake pedal and that is what is causing the fuse to blow. There may be a higher rated fuse on the other vehicle which could be why it is not blowing. It is also possible that there is corrosion in the van side trailer connector that you will have to clear out.

You will want to make sure that the trailer connector on the van and on the trailer are pinned out to match each other. I have provided a link that includes some wiring and trailer connector diagrams so you can see the standard way each is wired. You may need a circuit tester like # PTW2979 to test the pins on the vans connector to determine if it matches what the trailer requires or if something needs to be changed.

You will also want to make sure that all the grounds are attached to clean and corrosion free bare metal surfaces. On dump trailers, sometimes you will have to run jumper grounds from the lights to the main trailer connector ground.

expert reply by: Michael H