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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / September 2007Suggestions
I am a little short on facts on this case, but would appreciate some suggestions before I go further. My sister was attempting to connect a late model Ford pickup (details on the engine and tranny lacking at this point) to a dual axle lowboy trailer. After backing up and pulling forward several times, she manages to engage the hitch ball with the trailer socket, and get it connected. She noticed that the trailer lights are not working properly. Now, she attempted to drive away with the trailer and found she could not get the tranny out of park. After exhausting her options, she left trailer and pickup on the farm and returned home in another vehicle. She feels the problem may be due to the problem with the brake lights blown fuse, etc). I doubt this, but dont know much about the newer generation of Ford trannies. I have seen trannies lock into park when the vehicle was in a position to put load on the driveline, or when the linkage may have been damaged. I need to go with her to try to resolve it, but would appreciate any info that might make this job easier. (I intend to disconnect the trailer and see if I can free up the parking pawl, check linkage, etc, and pull the trailer home with my vehicle if all else fails.) Thanks > I am a little short on facts on this case, but would appreciate some > suggestions [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Thanks That could easily be a blown fuse problem. IIRC the brake/gear selector interlock is powered by the brake light circuit. >> I need to go with her to try to resolve it, but would appreciate any info >> that might make this job easier. (I intend to disconnect the trailer and [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >That could easily be a blown fuse problem. IIRC the brake/gear selector >interlock is powered by the brake light circuit. Agreed. Fix the brake light problem and the interlock problem will get fixed too. The interlock is forcing the driver to have their foot on the brakes before engagin the tranny and a blown fuse will disable the interlock in a fail-safe mode. >I need to go with her to try to resolve it, but would appreciate any info >that might make this job easier. (I intend to disconnect the trailer and >see if I can free up the parking pawl, check linkage, etc, and pull the >trailer home with my vehicle if all else fails.) > >Thanks She is probably right so don't give her much grief yet! All new cars have the interlock so that you have to have your foot on the brake to shift out of park. On many of them if you don't have power for the brake lights you don't have power for the interlock release. Steve B. > >I need to go with her to try to resolve it, but would appreciate any info > >that might make this job easier. (I intend to disconnect the trailer and [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Steve B. All the more reason to avoid automatics. Don't have those problems with a real manual transmission... Hate automatics... Ick! BTW: '97 Chev. pickup dash removal??? Anyone??? >> >I need to go with her to try to resolve it, but would appreciate any info >> >that might make this job easier. (I intend to disconnect the trailer and [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >All the more reason to avoid automatics. Don't have those problems with >a real manual transmission... Hate automatics... Ick! IT's really not a problem. If people read their owners manual it explains how to get around the interlock if it's not working. "Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message > IT's really not a problem. If people read their owners manual it > explains how to get around the interlock if it's not working. Good point. I suspect few actually read those manuals until some problem occurs...possibly laziness, but also an indication of how poorly some of the manuals are conceived and organized. Sis brought over the owner's manual yesterday. At least it had the fuse location chart in it, but didnt say exactly which type of fuse it uses. (I find there are two types of blade fuses on the shelves, so I bought both). The trailer wiring is suspect, as I am told that horses or other animals on the farm may have been nibbling at the external wiring runs. The "failsafe" operation on this Ford is apparently not shared by all new vehicles. I haven't owned a Ford in years, and expect that trend to continue. > "Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message > > IT's really not a problem. If people read their owners manual it [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > some problem occurs...possibly laziness, but also an indication of > how poorly some of the manuals are conceived and organized. I read the manual cover to cover. I also order the factory service manual and read it cover to cover more than once. Of course I'm probably in a single digit group of people in the who do that. > Sis brought over the owner's manual yesterday. At least it had the > fuse location chart in it, but didnt say exactly which type of fuse it uses. > (I find there are two types of blade fuses on the shelves, so I bought > both). It's worse, there are at least three of the blade type fuses, the original ATC type they most people are now familiar with, a mini version and a maxi version. All the same basic design, just three physical sizes. At least some overlap in ratings too. > The trailer wiring is suspect, as I am told that horses or other animals > on the farm may have been nibbling at the external wiring runs. External wiring runs??? What kind of POS is it? Run the wiring up inside the trailer frame or enclose it in a suitable conduit. > The "failsafe" operation on this Ford is apparently not shared by all > new vehicles. I haven't owned a Ford in years, and expect that trend > to continue. I doubt it's an actual intentional fail-safe design, probably just a poor design that happens to have that side effect when confronted with the specific issue from the trailer. A different issue would probably release magic smoke from under the dash. >"Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message >> IT's really not a problem. If people read their owners manual it [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >new vehicles. I haven't owned a Ford in years, and expect that trend >to continue. Unfortunately, the lights now days are often controlled by the computer. It used to be a simple matter to wire in extra lights, or for cop cars to hook up flashers to the factory lights, etc. For some of the new cars they specifically warn that you cannot do that stuff because it will mess up the whole computer controlled light system. The newer Chevy impala's have a warning about tapping into the lights to make them flash on police vehicles - it's a no no. "Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message > The newer Chevy impala's have a warning about tapping into the lights > to make them flash on police vehicles - it's a no no. In this case the Furd has a factory setup for towing. The lighting is apparently not the problem "Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message > IT's really not a problem. If people read their owners manual it > explains how to get around the interlock if it's not working. > In this case, it really IS a problem. I went through the owners manual.. > Not a damned word about how to get around the problem. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > I will, later, try to post what the shop reports. > "Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message > > IT's really not a problem. If people read their owners manual it [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > > > I will, later, try to post what the shop reports. So it did release the magic smoke from under the dash... "Pete C." <aux3.DOH.4@snet.net> wrote in message > So it did release the magic smoke from under the dash... No, apparently it didnt.....at least, not from the trailer connection. The wiring was okay. Animals, particular some cattle, often will gnaw on exposed wiring, such as the trailer connector plug. But, it turned out that this was not at all the case. There were no fuses blown, and I looked at every one of them. The ones associated with the interlock were also checked with a VOM, just to be sure there were no hairline failures. I asked if anyone had tried to "strongarm" the shifter, which can damage it and prevent shifting, but the answer was no. At this point, the cause is unresolved. >"Pete C." <aux3.DOH.4@snet.net> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >At this point, the cause is unresolved. Not sure about that particular vehicle but from my memory I think the general solution to interlock problems is to turn the key to the UNlock position, that's the first click. This is not the ON position, it merely unlocks the steering wheel and does not turn on anything electrical. When its unlocked you should be able to move the shifter out of Park without interference from the interlock mechanism. Then you put it in Neutral and start the car (you should have your foot on the brake for safety). That is typically how you get around a messed up interlock. May not be how your truck is set up however. It surely should be in the owners manual somewhere but might be hard to find among all the safety warnings. >>I need to go with her to try to resolve it, but would appreciate any info >>that might make this job easier. (I intend to disconnect the trailer and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > shift out of park. On many of them if you don't have power for the > brake lights you don't have power for the interlock release. Thanks to all who have posted answers. We will add a selection of fuses to the toolbox, and have a go at it on Friday. My sister called AAA to go out and tow the Ford 150 pickup into the shop. It had hung in Park. The driver of the tow truck just manhandled the shift lever and finally managed to free it. (I had been warned not to do this as it can bend linkage parts). The Ford dealership just shuffled their feet, looked at the sky, and said "It seems to be okay now". Not very satisfactory behavior from the Ford, but then, I dont buy Fords. |
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