Mystery wires 2006 Safari

[ShullsinUtah]

Hi everyone,

We took the AS out for our first camping trip of the year a few weeks ago and as we were pulling out, the ford gave us a "Trailer Disconnected" message. Fortunately we were still on our street so I looped around and did a quick inspection. Nothing seemed to be really amiss, so I did a quick clean of the hitch contacts everything seemed to be fine.

The last time this happened was at 65 mph when the umbilical rubbed itself in two on the freeway. Boy, it was fun stopping the fully loaded beast without trailer brakes (fortunately we were 1 exit from a home depot and I was able to patch things up for the rest of that season (only a couple of more trips). We went to the local AS dealership at the end of that season and they replaced the umbilical.

However, on our return trip, it seemed the trailer electrical connections were acting up again. We kept getting error messages on the truck and I swear the trailer brakes must have "shorted" and engaged fully for a quick second. Again we were close to home so we made it back with no real problems (other than things just acting "funny"). I will add, that our coach batteries appeared not to be charging via the truck alternator.

At home I went to see if all the connections from the umbilical in the coach were solid and they appeared to be. However, I discovered two wires that were not attached to anything. They were bundled together in a wire loom. One is a white wire and is obviously a ground wire. There was also purple wire what I have no idea where it goes or what it's connected to. I tested them with my meter and they have live 12V power to them.

Any ideas?

I have included a photo.

[ShullsinUtah]

Originally Posted by ShullsinUtah

We took the AS out for our first camping trip of the year a few weeks ago and as we were pulling out, the ford gave us a "Trailer Disconnected" message. Fortunately we were still on our street so I looped around and did a quick inspection. Nothing seemed to be really amiss, so I did a quick clean of the hitch contacts everything seemed to be fine.

Well, I never solved the issue of the mystery wires, but I did solve the mystery of the "Trailer Disconnected" message. When we went to pull out of our campsite in Arkansas, my wife was doing the final walk around, she says "Turn on the lights". My reply was, "They are on." I look on the trucks information center and it is not showing the trailer as being connected. Uh, oh.

After some testing with the multi-meter, I discovered that the 7 way plug from the truck was not powered. A little more digging showed that the wiring harness to the back of the 7 way plug had worked it's way loose. I was able to get it snapped back in place and everything was good for the next 1,500 miles.

[Tincampers]

Might be an aux wire and the other for backup lights which the trailer, oddly enough, does not have.

[vintagemotor]

AS uses a "master" wire harness build for each model, so if your AS does not have every bell and whistle, you will find these looms terminated and wrapped up just like your picture shows ready for the next device that needs 12v power.
Very common, just not widely discovered.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by ShullsinUtah

<< snip>> I discovered two wires that were not attached to anything. They were bundled together in a wire loom. One is a white wire and is obviously a ground wire. There was also purple wire what I have no idea where it goes or what it's connected to. I tested them with my meter and they have live 12V power to them.
Any ideas?
<<snip>>

Section H in the 2006 Safari owner's manual shows colors of wires, for various items you may or may not have.