Hey everyone. I've come to this site for aid many many times. Most of the time, I have found answers to the questions I have. This time, I got a little baffled and fed up, so I made an account to post for help.

*Back story*

A few months ago, while driving on a bumpy road, my 2002 f-250s door locks started locking and unlocking on their own. Early on, the problem would eventually go away. As time progressed, the issue began becoming more and more sever. Every time the truck was started, the locks would go nuts, the door ajar light would stay on (even though all the doors were closed, interior dome lights would stay on, clicking from the dash, etc.)

*Issue*

After doing a little bit of research, I found many users on this site that had similar issues, and went through the hellish process of replacing and re-programming their VSM--the module most likely responsible for all of the above mentioned problems. I bought a new VSM, and put it in. Now, I know that I am supposed to get the thing programmed. As of this moment, the door locks work, but only manually (by pressing the lock/unlock buttons in the truck). The remote still doesn't work, and the interior dome light stays on permanently until the battery is unplugged. I am planning on taking the truck to the dealership tomorrow and having them program the VSM (a job for which I don't want to pay more than $60...but we'll see). Do you guys think this will once and for all resolve my issues? Does the light staying on even after the replacement of the VSM mean anything other than the module needing programming?

Any help on this topic would be greatly appreciated as I've been pulling out my hair for 3 months dealing wit this nonsense.

 

From what I've read, having the VSM programmed will likely fix your issues. Be sure to let us know how it goes.

 

Heading down to the dealership now...hopefully this will fix it!

 

Updating, just in case anyone else ever stumbles upon this thread looking for a solution. Basically, the dealer programmed the new VSM, and all is dandy. Everything works perfect now, thankfully! Just like most things, the issue is pretty easily fixable if you know what is causing the problem...figuring out it was the VSM was the most frustrating part of the whole ordeal. Anyways, problem fixed!

 

how much did they charge you?
how much was a new VSM?
my 02 has had some of the same issues

 

The new VSM cost me about $150...but from my research, some people got it for less, others got it for more. It seems to depend on your dealership/geographical location...

Programming it was $65. If you're having similar issues, I would definitely try unplugging the VSM first and seeing if that does stop whatever issues you're having. From what I've read, there have been numerous issues with the VSM on the '02s

 

Similar Issue. My remotes stopped working and the keypad didn't work properly. Everything else seemed to be operating fine. Bought a New VSM had the dealer program it, apparently from data they pulled from the old one and BAM.... My remotes work again my Keypad is back in action... BUT!..... The truck now thinks the front doors are open when they are closed, when I open the back doors or hatch nothing happens, no dome light, nothing. The radio stays on after. Dealer Charged me $108.00 with Tax for the programming. Tech tells me I need new door sensors. ( you want me to do it? ) Go home plug in the old VSM everything back to the way it was before the dealership stepped in. MY remotes and Keypad don't work but everything else functions as it should. Called them on the phone this morning, guy was real quiet on the phone. I said is there a way to program this thing from scratch with data you guys have in your system? He said yeah, thats what we did, we took the data from the old module and put it on your new one. I said, NO, like what if the unit was fried and couldn't be read? He goes, Oh yeah we have a way of doing that. Got some good info from a retired tech that says the software transfer doesn't always go so smooth and they should just use the "as built" data in their system to do it right the first time. Hopefully my issue is finally corrected on Friday.

 

update? I want to hear if you got this new VSM reprogrammed

 

Ok, just got home from the dealership. They RE-Programmed my VSM, ( Also Called the CSM according to the Tech ) and viola!, all my problems went away. Everything working as it should. I asked them to not even try and flash the new module by using the old one. I asked them to use their computer to bring up the AS Built Data and use that. They agreed that it would be better since the 1st time around didn't work successfully. Was in and out in 45 min. No charge for the second time around as their shouldn't have been. Paid $110 for the new VSM/CSM and $108.00 with tax here in NY for the 1 HR it took to program. I did however remove the lower dash under the radio and ashtray and have the module dangling out onto the tranny hump to save them the hour or two it would have taken them to get the old one out and button it all back up, so that did save me money. New most updated part number is 4C7Z-15604-AC.