2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid

The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact had received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V193000 (Electrical System) and the vehicle was taken to the local dealer and the integrated trailer brake control module software was updated. The recall repair was completed. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the trailer brake module fault warning message was displayed and turn signals were blinking rapidly. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.

Infotainment system shutoff twice during operation on 12/13/2021, proceeded to pulse between displaying and not displaying. System non responsive to touch. Continued to respond to tactile button input and play sounds. System again shutoff, without pulsing, twice on 12/14/2021. Brought to dealership to schedule evaluation. Concerned that system will shutoff during reversing.

Trailer brake controller spontaneously fails while towing. This is an extremely well documented failure for the 2021 F-150 7-pin connector and is a very serious safety problem. The trailer connection was verified and the trailer brake was manually activated at the start of towing to ensure it was working correctly. Spontaneously during towing, the trailer brake suddenly stopped working. This was confirmed by manually activating the trailer brake switch. This is a very well documented problem experienced by a large number of owners: https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/trailer-brake-not-working.3039/

Towing faults. Trailer brake faults. System resets itself after truck shuts down and problems go away until an unknown later time. These problems can happen at any time while towing and can cause the tow vehicle to loose control especially when brakes are applied. Happened many times over a 4800 mile trip. The work around fix is to stop every now and then, turn off truck and wait 15 min before reattaching trailer wiring. This problem has not be reproduced by a dealer because the problem goes away after the truck sits and resets itself. At first a trailer module fault would appear when the problem started, after some time the faults would not appear and the trailer brake module would just stop working without warning.

The contact's father owned a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while his father was driving at 75-80 MPH on self-driving mode, the electronic steering wheel inadvertently locked, causing him to lose control of the vehicle and the vehicle crashed into an exit sign on the interstate. The air bags deployed. Then, the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably 260 yards and crashed into a tree where the vehicle came to a stop. A police report was filed. The contact stated his father sustained injuries and was transported out of the vehicle to the hospital by emergency units. The contact stated his father deceased 4 hours later. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot, where it was totaled. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 2,000.

The issue is with the trailer brake control system on the 2021 Ford F-150 truck. During normal driving/towing conditions the trailer brake will stop operating. This is a serious safety issue as it puts the safety of myself and others at risk if I am not able to control or stop the vehicle due to lack of braking control. The same problem has been reported on online forums with no solutions provide by dealers. I have not taken the vehicle to the dealer yet for this issue. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone. There were no warning indications prior to the failure. I noticed the failure when applying the brakes when stopping for a traffic light.

When towing a trailer with trailer brakes, the trailer brakes are tested and confirmed to be working at the beginning of the journey, but at some point during the journey, the trailer brakes will stop working with no indication compromising my stopping ability. This issues has occurred multiple time and can confirm there are no problems with the trailer brakes themselves. This same issue is being reported by multiple other 2021 F150 owners.

THE TRAILER BRAKING SYSTEM ON MY NEW 2021 F150 POWERBOOST MALFUNCTIONS EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE. WHILE TOWING MY 27 FT AIRSTREAM TRAILER THE BRAKES WILL OFTEN STOP WORKING. THEY ALWAYS WORK WHEN I BEGIN A TRIP, BUT THEN THE BRAKES FAIL DURING THE TRIP. I RECEIVE A NOTICE WHEN ATTEMPTING TO MANUALLY APPLY TRAILER BRAKES FROM INSIDE THE CAB THAT THE TRAILER IS NOT RECOGNIZED. SEVERAL OTHER NEW F150 POWERBOOST OWNERS ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUE AND THEIR EXPERIENCES CAN BE FOUND ON THE F150GEN14.COM USER FORUM. I HAVE INCLUDED A LINK TO THE FORUM THREAD. https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/trailer-brake-not-working.3039/ SO FAR NONE OF US HAVE ANY SUCCESS WORKING WITH FORD DEALERS. I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL AND THEY ARE NOT HELPFUL. I ALSO CALLED FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE BUT THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING IN THEIR DATABASE INDICATING THERE IS A PROBLEM. THE ONLY CLUE I'VE FOUND SO FAR, FOR MY TRUCK, HAS TO DO WITH THE SEVEN PIN PLUG. WE HAVE TRIED TWO DIFFERENT TESTING DEVICES AND BOTH SHOW THERE IS ABOUT A 6 SECOND DELAY SENDING A SIGNAL TO THE EBRAKE PIN. THE OTHER PINS FOR LIGHTS FIRE IMMEDIATELY, BUT THE EBRAKE PIN HAS A DELAY. OTHERS ARE LOOKING AT THE BRAKE MODULE IN THE TRUCK AND OTHER PROGRAMMING ISSUES. AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE USER FORUM THERE ARE MANY THEORIES AND NO SOLID SOLUTIONS YET. I HAVE HAD MY AIRSTREAM BRAKES INSPECTED TWICE AND THEY HAVE NOT FOUND ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE A 7K LB TRAILER PUSHING YOU DOWN A STEEP MOUNTAIN WITH NO BRAKES IS TERRIFYING. SOMEONE IS GOING TO HAVE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT IF FORD DOES NOT TAKE THE ISSUE SERIOUSLY AND FIND THE CAUSE.

Trailer brakes although operational at start of journey intermittently fail to operate some time thereafter at which point they stay failed. This happens without any warning or notice to the driver. All indications are that trailer is attached correctly e.g. vehicle self diagnosis of trailer lights shows lights operational and trailer connected. Operating the trailer brake via. dash brake controller either shows normal BUT no trailer braking occurs OR will show an error message "No Trailer Attached" but trailer attachment is verified through trailer lights shown (by truck) as operational. Safety implications of this should be obvious - no trailer brakes will force truck to stop truck+trailer combo using only the truck brakes, leading to drastically increased stopping distance or possibility of brake failure e.g. on long downhill stretch of road. Dealer is unable to reproduce the problem, has suggested changing brake controller (but really for lack of other ideas) and agrees that the physical fit/dimensions of the trailer plug itself seem poor quality compared to other trucks - possible cause? Other instances of owners experiencing this problem are documented in this forum thread: https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/trailer-brake-not-working.3039