Roadmaster Invisibrake Hard Brake Pedal

[scatuma]

I'm looking at having the Roadmaster Invisibrake installed on my 2012 Honda Fit. I'm wondering where you would put the control unit.

I don't think there is enough room under the driver's or passenger seat. Hope someone can advise me on this.

Thanks Scott

[wolfe10]

Scott,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

It can be mounted anywhere. In our Ford Focus, it mounted in the truck up on the side out of the way, with only the small brake pedal air cylinder/puller under the driver's seat.

[scatuma]

Thanks for the reply, I'm hoping McBrain will reply with the location of his controller in their Honda fit. There really isn't much room in the car for mounting and no trunk. I'm also looking at the SMI Stay-in-Play it's a smaller unit and it can go in the engine compartment although I don't see a lot of room in there either.

Scott

[scatuma]

I'm wondering where you have the control unit for the invisibrake mounted in your Honda fit. I love my fit but not a whole lot of room to put the controller.

Thanks Scott

[steveharp54]

I just had an invisbrake installed in my 2011 Honda Fit, they intalled it in the hatch area on the side.

I have read with great interest about vacuum leaks. I have notice the Invisbrake does not hold the 40 lbs it is set at, it seems to work ok, when brakes are applied it pumps up and applys the brakes, but after setting a while the pressure is gone and the brake pedal seems hard. Seems something is leaking down sometimes it holds the pressure longer then other times.

From what I am reading here the box may have a defect with a short hose leaking.

Guess I will be calling Roadmaster, or is there a simple fix I can take care of?

[Cochise49]

Regarding the brake lights not working on the CRV. On our 2013 CRV we had the same problem. On the under dash fuse box, there is a red, fused wire attached to a harness that wraps around a fuse that is hot when the key is switched on. This powers the Brake Light Relay that was installed with the Invisibrake. The red wire attaches to the harness. See if the wire has become disconnected. That was the problem on ours. When the brake lights failed, the VSA and EPS "idiot" lights also came on. All resolved after reattaching the wires. Camping World will reinstall and properly secure the wire.

[wolfe10]

harp54,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Not sure if this is a problem or not-- Roadmaster could tell you.

When the Invisibrake comes on, it is both a vacuum pump to "power" the brake booster and a pressure pump to power the air cylinder that applies the brake pedal. So vacuum is established each time the brake is applied.

And, of course when not towing, each time your engine is running, the engine vacuum "powers" the brake booster.

But, checking for leaks should not be that difficult. You can block off with a solid object (such as phillips head screwdriver of proper diameter) the vacuum line at various points from pump to brake booster to verify that the system is holding a vacuum. A vacuum gauge T'ed in will give you exact info, but letting it sit for an hour after using the break away switch to power the unit for a minute will give you a pretty good answer.

[steveharp54]

Thanks Wolfe 10

I wondered if it is a vacum pump or a pressure pump, seems to be both. I notice that it would not pump up above 20 lbs Then when off it would go down. I check some of the connections by pulling the rear seat forward all seemed ok, I dropped the seat back in position and it tested again. the pressure gauge went to 40 as set, so I am on a hunt for a loose something. If it is leaking down from within the control box would that allow the system to loose vacum? I plan to pull the cover off the box for a look see, any info on this reported short hose? And if so what is the fix going back to camping world is a 2 hour drive one way.

[wolfe10]

Yes, a leak anywhere between the vacuum connection on the pump and the brake booster will cause loss of vacuum.

Use the "block off" test I posted above to trace it down. But again, each time the Invisibrake is applied, vacuum is restored. Of unless it a significant leak not sure it is a real issue-- Roadmaster would be the one to call on leak down specs.