as far as i can see around the spare tire everything is stock yet im having some weird problems with my trailers that work perfectly fine on my dads f250 and my moms explorer.
the signals are the exact opposite of my trucks, hazards dont match eachother and when you hit the brakes it goes to park lights, let off the brakes and it goes full on brakes.
im thoroughly confused as to what could be doing this.
the terminals are bit dirty.

 

sounds like the wires after your plug (on the trailer) are mixed up, maybe if therre is a spot there they are pliced together or something, try that if you know how to run a test light you can work from there

 

well i tested it from the wiring harness, something on the truck is effed up, but what? i tested it and the light didnt match up with the taillight from the wiring harness.. had a hard time getting a good connection with the right turn signal, and when i did neither signals matched the trucks signals... is it just me or is something screwed up and confusing as all hell? plus, the car trailer we use works fine with the f250, but my truck locks the electric brakes up and leaves em locked up. its only my truck thats messed up but i dont understand where or how to find out where. it looked like the stock ford style connecter by the spare tire in the frame rail...

any light to be shed on this?

 

Sounds like you are using an after market adapter for the wrong truck.
Take it back a get another for your year, the package was possibly mislabeled.

 

well i checked from the adapter too but then i pulled the 7 to 4pin adapter out and checked out the 7pin ford trailer wiring and it did the above as well. the left and right turns dont match the tail lights flashing... thats confusing me. i dont get why that is.

 

Did you buy your truck new? If not, the previous owner may have had a trailer with funky (Non Standard) wiring, and changed a few of the wires on the truck end to match the non-standard trailer. If somebody mis reads the standard lay out of a 7 way connector and uses the Female end chart to wire the Male end, the Left and Right Signals will be reversed and power going to the wrong place, brakes to park lights and so on.

I know it's a pain but if you bring your truck to an RV Dealer, they will probably have one of those 7way/4way pig-tail kits for your truck. Just lower your spare and they can temporarly plug a new wiring harness in the square connector next to your spare and see if that fixes it. If not then the problem is farther up the stream. if it is a Harness problem, it'll either cost you $50 to keep the harness they tested with or you can play around with your current one to make it right. If the problem is farther up the stream then... ah.... well.... hummm..... Good luck with that :o

Dpostman

In case you need it:

 

power is going to the correct places its just effed up. the left signal is in the correct place, but it flashes the exact opposite of the tail lights. 4 way hazards didnt even match eachother on the trailer. everything was messed up in some way. but the signals were on the correct side of trailer, and harness.
yes it was a used truck. but the wiring isnt messed up in the manner you were thinking. its going to the correct places, its just not going in the correct manner, timing of flashes are off. and park/brake lights seem to be inverted when it wants to be.

 

Ok. Now I get it..... uummmmm...... Gee, that IS a Funky wiring problem. Wish I had seen this before. I'll be very curious to see what the cure is if/when you get it solved. Please post it for us. In the mean time I sincerly wish you the best of luck, but I would be inclined to think that it is a freakish small problem, like a Bad relay or some thing of that nature. Make sure that the relays that are involved are the right part numbers for your truck. If not, it may be working the Opposite than it is supposed to. If they do match, look at swapping with a new one.

Dpostman

 

I'm no expert on 1997 f150 wiring (I just bought one myself), but I do know a couple things about wiring in general. First thing I'd do is check all the connections, make sure there's no corrosion. If so, clean it up SPOTLESS CLEAN with a brass or metal wire brush, and apply some dielectric compound to plugs and terminals. This ensures maximum electrical transfer of power and prevents corrosion (the only product that does both). Then I'd look for a bad ground. If it's like you say, that the plug seems to do the proper functions, your ground connection used for that plug may be bad, thus power goes into a circuit (ie-r/h flasher) and has no way to get back to the battery without taking an alternate route (ie-through the taillight wire of the same r/h flasher). Seen this a few times. Easy to test. Put your vehicle park lights on... connect the ground clamp of your test light into that pin of the trailer plug, and test the TEST end of your testlight against the GROUND terminal of the trailer plug. If test light comes on, ground is good. If not, test against the frame/bumper of the truck, should come on if frame/bumper is well grounded. Repair your trailer plug ground wire as required. If not, you have a bad wiring problem somewhere, I'm not jealous !!!

Denis.

 

ok im very confused here, ive got a whole box full of 7 relays up front where the engine minifuse panel is suppose to be, and that mini fuse panel is move to the fender. that relay box is not a ford box from the looks of it, its full of ford relays but the box has no ford markings at all. it has one relay for left, one for right. the other 5 i have no clue what they are for but they are there.

i also took the whole wiring harness apart, and replaced it with one that was off my dads 87 ford which had been put on aftermarket and taken back off, never really used. now i get no park lights or turn signals, and i was touching the wires themselves. i put dielectric compound on everything too. but i did hear something arc once, didnt catch it.


but somehow i need to figure out those 7 relays and what the hell they do and who put them there? some farmer or ford? if youd like pics lemme know and ill take some and post em. im about to just say screw it for trailers lol.

 

You know what they say, Klitch, a picture is worth a thousand swear words !

 

When trailer hookups do strange things, check your trailer ground connection. A bad trailer ground will make it do unexplainable things.

 

http://www.futureplayus.com/Brandon/P1010572.JPG
http://www.futureplayus.com/Brandon/P1010573.JPG
http://www.futureplayus.com/Brandon/P1010574.JPG
http://www.futureplayus.com/Brandon/P1010575.JPG

theres 4 pics of the box that has no ford markings but is full of ford relays. the grey 2 on the end are the 2 i can feel click when the signals are on i took a pic of the pins on the relay to try and show the discoloration on them from getting so hot. i kinda wonder if thats a problem too. 4 of them, the outer 4 get hot when i turned the 4way flashers on. no clue what the black one does or the inner grey 2.
and i do think i lost my ground now, but i do have power for the + end but not for park lights, signals or brakes.

 

That is a FORD Factory Towing Relay Box, wish I had one.
Everything that goes to the trailer plug comes from those relays.

You will have relays for:

1. Left turn & Flashers Realy
2. Right turn & Flashers Realy
3. Trailer Battery Charge Relay
4. Trailer Back-Up Relay
5. Trailer Marker Light Relay
6. and maybe a Trailer El. Brake Relay

 

So what you're saying is "vehicle wiring (socket) is correct, but trailer lights aren't. Check the plug (trailer) wire for correctness. Even when they were just 4 wires, things were messed up. Now its 7 wires. Awesome. Good Luck.