Troubleshooting Pairing Issues With Curt Echo C51180 and 2020 Ford Expedition Limited

Updated 08/17/2021 | Published 08/14/2021

Question:

I installed my Curt Bluetooth today on my 2020, Ford Expedition Limited and spent about hour with little results. When I plugged it in it never shows the blue flashing LED, just black. I tested this on my 2008 Ford F-350 with no issues with a blue LED flashing, but its not for my F-350 since it has a brake controller. After about 6 attempts I finally was able to remove any trailers from the Ford Expedition you can give it trailer names on the Ford dashboard. After applying the brake and adding a new trailer it finally saw the controller in the App. However it still would not connect, after another try it finally connected to the App. We are now in the 45-min mark of my time. All the lights work on the trailer with the Curt harness, whether it is connected to the App or not, but the Ford does recognize a trailer is attached. After I was able to connect just once I walked out of the vehicle with my phone left it running to see if I could apply the brakes from the App and it lost its connection. Tried to connect again with no success. It appears it is extremely moody with a 2020 Ford because of the tech in the Ford. Any tips to make this expensive brake controller work more efficiently with my Ford?

asked by: Eric

Expert Reply:

I reached out to my contact at Curt and even though your 2020 Ford Expedition Limited has the newer style towing computer, the Curt Echo # C51180 should still work.

You will need to make sure that before pairing the Echo that you have your Expedition running, and have it in tow haul mode so that the correct power is being sent back to the 7-way connector. It likely needs a trailer connected to the Echo first as well, as that is what the 2018+ Ford F-150s require due to the tow system having load detection built in.

I would give that a try, and email me if this does not fix the issue so we can go into more in-depth troubleshooting.

I included a video of the # C51180 for you to take a look at.

expert reply by: Samuel C