I removed the battery terminals this afternoon to clean the oxidation that built up over the past few years. Cleaned 'em up real good, installed the cables to the posts, applied some protectant to the terminals and shut the hood.

Now the problem....

I can no longer lock the doors from the outside with the keypad. I can unlock the doors with the door mounted keypad, just can't lock them when I leave the vehicle.

Also, the message center (location where the odometer reading would be) now constantly cycles thru with this message. "RF Door ajar" "LF Door ajar"; that, and the dome light is constantly on, it will only turn off if I open the RF door! It will not turn off if I start the engine and drive, and the only way to get the odometer mileage to show up is to depress the reset pin. If I turn off the engine, the "RF Door ajar" "LF Door ajar" message immediately comes back on as soon as the engine is turned back on. And yes, I've checked and rechecked all of the doors, they're shut completely.

Earlier I posted that I can't get in the truck with either of my key FOBs, that and the door lock for the key sometimes will and sometimes won't allow me to lock/unlock the doors.

This sucks, plain and simple. I got some feed back as to where the module may be concerning the use of the key FOBs, thank you for that info. I'll be looking at that this weekend.

Anyone got any idea as to what I may have done, or coincidentally may have occured when I cleaned my battery terminals?

To recap...

Dome light will not shut off unless I open the RF door!
False message constantly displayed in message center!
Can't lock doors using drivers side door mounted key pad!
Doors will no longer lock automatically after people have put on seat belts, vehicle is put in gear and drive off!
Can't lock/unlock doors using any of the two remotes!
Manual keyed door lock is hit or miss locking/unlocking doors!
No, I won't give out my address!

Thank you,
RustyFuryIII

 

It seems that your GEM Module has gone possessed. My 05' Ex. did the same thing when I changed out the battery last summer. A friend of mine who works for an auto electric co. walked me through some steps and it worked like a charm. Before doing these steps make absolutely sure that your battery is in good working order.

REMOVE KEY!!!

1) Turn off everything(radio, heat, lights) and unlock all doors.(Pull bulb from hood if equipped)
2) Let down driver side window
3) Disconnect battery(negative post first)
4) Reach through driver side window and turn on headlights(do not open any doors for any reason).
5) Go find something to do for 30 to 60 minutes.
6) Reach through driver side window and turn off the lights
7) Reconnect battery(positive post first)
8) Open only the passenger front door to crank vehicle using only an original key if PATS equipped.(manual transmission, you will have to crawl through to depress clutch.
9) Let vehicle run at least 5 minutes before touching anything(lights, locks, radio, etc
10) Get out and replace bulb under hood(driver door OK).

After doing the above check for problems. Keep in mind that you still may have to reset your key fobs. Instructions are in your owners manual. Good Luck, this worked for me the first time. I can't stress enough on how much a bad battery/alternator will affect the electronics on these newer vehicles.

Good Luck!

 

Well, this is a stretch, but here's a possibility:

Maybe as you were re-attaching the battery cables, there was a series of brief connections and disconnections, causing the computer to boot up, partially drain down voltage, and begin to re-boot again, before being completely booted the first time.


I'd try disconnecting the battery for a complete drain down, then re-connecting cleanly.

 

FordxFour,

Thanks for the reply. I'll definately be trying that tomorrow.

BareBones,

That's exactly what I noticed. I had a heck of a time getting the positive terminal back on the post. And yes, noticed several times where I made and broke contact with the terminal while trying to tighten the nut. Hood light flashed on/off several times while tightening positive terminal.

Hopefully FordxFour's suggestion will get me out of this pickle.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

RustyFuryIII

 

other thing that could be going on at the same time is door latches. the door ajar sensor is part of the latch assembly, so if its in need of lube they can act up. my preferred lube is howe's penetrating oil, or wurth's chain lube, both excellent products that don't dry out, but don't attract much dust