Ok, first I have a platinum edition. Awd fully loaded. It had a coil pack go out, and I replaced that. I also put on a cold air intake to attempt to up the oh so crappy gas mileage it gets. Now, I calculated my mileage the last few weeks. I drive mostly on the highway, but some city. I am averaging 7 MPG!! Power is great, but there has to be something wrong. I checked the plugs, there is no power loss or rich gas smell from the tailpipe. I do my best to be easy on the pedal. Any ideas?


Next, as far as my heated and cooled seats are concerned, I understand that if the battery dies, or gets changed, I have to have the modules reset by the dealer. That is pretty retarded, any known way around this? I am very good with vehicle electronics but I was wondering if someone else did this yet.

oh, one more thing to note, where the hell is the parking brake pads?! I changed the back brakes, pulled off the rotor, and I noticed there are some metal plates there and all the pad linkage but the pads are not there. As in not installed. WTH?

On a related subject, the cruse control does not work. The light comes on, on the dash. It will not hold the speed, no matter what I do. So, any ideas?

 

Welcome to the forum.

Yeah, 7mpg is not right, even if you are very hard on the throttle. Even if I drive mine hard in stop and go I get around 11-12 mpg. When is the last time you had a tune up performed on this Aviator - at least had the spark plugs changed? Also, the symptoms of poor fuel economy but running well sounds a lot like an issue with either a dirty Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor or Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) sensor. But, the best thing to do would be to put a scan tool on the truck and monitor the engine parameters real time, checking the function of the various sensors with respect to the short term fuel trim numbers. Any chance you have access to such a scan tool?

I'm not sure what you are referring to regarding needing to have the modules reset by the dealer after the battery dies or has been changed. I've changed the battery and disconnected it while working on various electrical parts and NEVER had to reset modules. The heated and cooled seats continue to work, heck, even my driver memories remain stored. I have a professional scan tool and actually just scanned the system last night after having the battery disconnected all last weekend and there were no "not programmed" faults for any module, but a couple did show a code for a low battery.

The parking brake pads are exactly where you suspect. If you look around on this forum you'll read that it's a common issue for the parking brake pad friction material to un-bond from the shoe, disintegrate, and do exactly what you found. They're not real easy to change out either (but it is possible if you're patient).

For the cruise control, have you checked the cable linkage between the cruise control servo and the throttle body? Also, you mention the cruise light comes on. I'm assuming you mean it stays on, at least for several seconds, after you enable the cruise.

-Rod

 

Thanks. It looks like the miliage is getting better. Closer to 14 now. Im still going to clean the MAF. The plugs look great, looks like they have been change not long ago. I have only had the truck a month.

Neither of my heated/cooled seats work. The lights dont light up either. Fuses are good. Know where I need to go next?

ebrake- As long as I know that is a common problem, I can fix that.

The cruise cable looks great. as a matter of fact, nothing looks worn at all.

 

The driver and passenger seats each have their own climate control modules, but they do share common power circuits. Since neither seat works, I'd start with the common stuff. Check fuse 2.10 (10A) in the Central Junction Box. It should have power through it with the key in the Run position. You also need to check fuse 1.31 (30A) in the Battery Junction Box which should have power through it at all times.

Does the switch backlighting work when the parking or headlights are turned on?

-Rod

 

I will check the fuses tomorrow. No lights come on at all on the switch when the lights are on or off.

 

We get Warthogs buzzin around here all the time!

There is a Ford TSB that is suppose to help with diagnostics of the speed control (fordspeak for cruise). I don't really know if it's helpful without the workshop manuals though. PM your email address if you want a copy of TSB 06-8-3. It might help. Do you have that TSB Rod?

 

Yep, I just pulled it up. Interestingly, one of the first things it instructs to check for is aftermarket or incorrect bulbs, particularly in the brake circuit, such as LED taillights. While I would expect an issue with the brake circuit to cause the cruise to not engage at all, and hence no instrument cluster indication, it's worth checking.

The TSB also explains how to put the speed control system in to self test mode which I didn't know existed. That sounds like a good thing for A-10 to try. There's a lot of good information in that TSB, thanks for pointing it out.

-Rod

 

Good ol DM, I miss it there. I was there back in 09. Those tsunamis are pretty crazy. I shot you a PM

 

The **** with the 1-5 settings are backlit but not the heat/cool switch. I have power to both fuses also. I tested them with a testlight

 

Okay, since the temp control dial lights, it sounds like the grounds are good.

I think I know the answer, but I'd better ask anyway. You mention you have power TO both fuses, did you also confirm you have power THROUGH the fuses as well?

If you want the wiring diagrams for the climate controlled seats, send me a PM and I'll get the PDFs to you. I'll also take a look at them to see if I can think of any other quick checks to perform.

If you have a buddy with a professional scan tool they may be able to access the modules to see if they are reporting any issues. My Autel DS708 will give me quite a bit of info on the climate controlled seats, and will even let me bypass the buttons and command the TEC elements from the scan tool.

-Rod

 

I have power going all the way to the switch. I pulled the switch apart and checked contacts and everything looks good.

 

Ok, scratch that. I DO NOT have power to the switch. Even with the park lights on, I dnt have any power going to the switch

 

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Just a vid I shot at the range a while back.

 

Looking at the diagrams for the switches (which should be in your inbox now), I guess I can see where you would not register any power to them. If your 2003 is like my 2004, the button backlighting will not come on, even when the headlights or parking lights are on, unless the ambient lighting sensor believes it's dark outside. So if you turned the headlights on while parked in a driveway in the middle of the day, the illumination wire may not have any sign of power. The power from the fuses goes to the driver and passenger seat modules rather than the door switches.

With the information in the wiring diagrams, you could use a test wire that's a known good ground to "force" a signal for Heat or Cool. On cool you should notice a small fan kicking on.

FWIW, when I bought my Aviator used last year the blue LED for the driver's cooled seat switch was bad, so even though it was working, the switch never indicated that. Well, until I opened up the switch and replaced the blue LED and installed a larger current limiting resistor.

-Rod

 

Shorod, PM sent