I went to start my Expy today and it was totally dead....no power doors or anything. I came home from work and tried jumping it and it doesn't help at all.

Not sure what to try first...battery fuses, computer?

Thanks for any help.

 

I went to look things over in the daylight and noticed a few water drops on the drivers side handle (not door handle). It looks like the water will drip from there into the vent below it and go under the dash.

We had an ice storm last week and I guess it created a leak in the windshield. I did a few searches on here and a common victim of a windshield leak is the fuse panel and gem module. I believe this might be a job for the dealership...it will be the first trip there for this Expy in almost seven years of ownership. Thanks to this site I have been able to fix everything myself until now.

 

I would check battery cables first. One of mine looks fine but if you give it a wiggle the power goes out.

 

I would definitely check the battery, cables, and fuses before I took it to the dealer.

 

Use a hair dryer to dry everything out in the vicinity of the GEM module and fuse box. This may work if the leak was not too severe. Charge up your battery as well. Take your truck to an auto glass place and have them replace your windshield. We had the same issue with our 2000 EB 4WD, sometime in 2008. It cost us $225 for the glass replacement. We saw the problem with the original sealant used to seal/install the windshield at the factory. Basically, a good length of the winshield was missing sealant. The truck has been fine since then.

 

+1
This is common issue for 2000 model - I used to have a 2000EB and it also leaked at the ds windshield area, shorting electricals and draining battery.

 

I kept the Expy covered up with the battery disconnected until last week when we had a warm spell. I charged the battery and cautiously hooked it back up and immediately the hood light came on...sweet! I started the truck with no problem.

I called around to find a windshield place that would seal the leak instead of a total replacement. The first three places would only do a new replacement. I found a place that was willing to take a look at it to see if it could be fixed.

I was wondering how they were going to pinpoint the leak...they pulled the top and side molding back and sprayed an aerosol glass cleaner that foams up into the track and then took an airhose and sprayed it around the seam on the inside. It was easy to tell right where the leak was. It was about a ten inch stretch right above the steering wheel, everything else looked fine.

They also sanded down two small spots of rust along the track and covered it in a "super" primer and also primed the whole top track before using a black caulk to seal it. I can't see it ever leaking there again, but if it does I will get a new glass put in.

I initially thought I would be out for a new windshield,fuse block and GEM module at dealership costs. They spent about forty minutes working on it and only charged twenty bucks "for lunch". I gave them fifty and everyone was happy.

 

You can do this at home by closing all of the windows and doors while the blower motor is on high, then spray around the windshield with water. The blower will pressurize the cabin and you'll be able to see the air bubbles in the water spray.

Note: this does not work if you have Max A/C selected because that setting recycles the cabin air. All of the other setting pull the air from outside and will pressurize the cabin.