So the battery in my 09 Ford Platinum went dead the other day. I gave it a boost with Jumper cables and got it started instantly. Now every time I start the truck I get a message in the info center that says "Trailer Control Module Failure" or "Trailer Brake Module Failure". I cant remember which words it specifically used, but it was one of those. I searched the forums and found nothing on it. Does anyone know what it could be? Thanks for any help. My truck does have the integrated trailer brake controller.

 

blown fuse or your computer needs to be reset. Try taking off the ground wire on the battery for 30secs. Otherise it will have to go go dealer for reflash

 

I took the connection off of the battery and let it sit for a little bit, still get the trailer brake module fault message. I looked at a bunch of different fuses under the hood and in the passenger footwell, nothing looked out of place.

Anyone have any other things to try? Is this device specifically controlled by Fuse 21 in the engine compartment? If so, I may try to replace that fuse just to make sure.

 

I just put a tune on the truck a day or two after the battery went dead and the message had already appeared.

If I have to take the truck in to the dealer I guess I should put the truck back to stock?

 

Yeah I would turn it back to stock. Problem with tuners is they dont necessarily erase everything and dealer can still find it. And if the dealer thinks that tune messed with the controler they wont cover it. Only other thing I can think of is the trailer light plug receptable by the hitch is faulty. I had a problem with mine on my 08 F250, that was known problem on those. But from what I can see the location is a little different on the new ones.

 

well I am out of warranty so I am not too concerned about them not covering something. I am past my 3 years 36,000 miles.

 

The dealer can not see if the vehicle has been tuned. They can see it is throwing a P1000 which could mean the battery has died recently. The diesels is a whole other story but the gas motors, even the 2011s, are not going to be seen by the dealer. For something like this they are probably going to go fuses and than replacement.

 

the tbc module is probably toast.....you're going to need to bring it in to a dealer to verify....

 

how would that thing fry itself, my truck sat in the garage for two weeks while I was away on work and then sick and I jumped the battery to get it started and now the module is possibly fried?!?! Ridiculous. i havent hooked a trailer to the truck since June.

 

Little follow up on this for anyone that may have this issue.....I had my truck in to get an oil change and have them look at the module fault message I was getting. They ended up taking out the module, cleaning the connections, plugging it back it, and then it worked.

That is what the service manager told me, so I am not exactly sure, but if yours isnt working that is a pretty cheap option to see if it fixes it. The service manager told me it is around 500 to have that unit replaced.