Good afternoon!

Got some good info while searching, but was hoping to get some more specific details if possible.

2000 EB expy as stated in title, 285K miles. I have been battling a battery drain situation for a while now (2ish months). I originally thought it was the rear wiper motor left on (motors dead), found that the switch was on, turned it off and pulled the fuse to prevent recurrence.

yesterday, my wife, while driving it home from the store informed me of the following issues:
- radio would intermittently turn on and off
- internal lights intermittently worked
- theft light flashed during the entire ride home (25 min)
- digital odometer always seemed a bit touchy (sometimes showing, sometimes not) didn't show at all.

when i got home from work, i went out and tried to turn it on and got nothing. before inserting the key, the internal lights worked and radio illuminated before i actually tried to crank. when i tried to crank, the lights went out and obviously it didn't attempt to turn over.

thinking it could be related to the battery drain, i tossed a trickle charge on it over night. this AM, i tried to turn it on with the same results. showing 12.54V at the battery. but then i noticed a relay going crazy clicking. opened the fuse box on the bottom left of the drivers side and found the #2 relay clicking wildly. When i went to pull it the plastic crumbled... so, grabbed it with pliers and yanked it out.

since i destroyed it pulling it out, i replaced it, and went to turn it over and wa-la! everything started right up, no issues at all. more so, the odometer lit from the start and stayed on the entire time! I also checked the charging on the battery and it read at 14.5V (all previous readings had been 13.1V @ the most). I was amazed that so many issues were resolved by replacing one relay...

but of course that wasn't the main problem... drove it a little later and noticed the odometer going in and out.. when i got home and tried to use the fob to lock the doors, they didn't respond. looking back in the truck, i noticed the #2 relay was clicking again (but MUCH slower now).

reading on this sight points to the GEM module being the culprit (we do have the moon roof)

before pulling the fuse box and GEM out, i would really appreciate some input by anyone who has experienced similar issues and what they eventually found was the problem? Kind of in a pickle here, as i work full time and am back in school for my MBA full time along with 2 kids under the age of 4. meaning not only do i not have any money lol, i don't have a lot of time either so im hoping i can rely on the experience on the forum to troubleshoot quickly.

I am VERY adept with my digital multi-reader and consider myself a seasoned DIYer.

Thank you for your time and help! sorry for the stupidly long post!

 

I've been dealing with GEM module issues too. I also have a moonroof. There are drain tubes at the front left and rear right side of the tracks. My wife noticed water dripping inside the truck at the left front corner of the headliner. I retracted the moonroof and found water pooled at the front drain. So I snaked electrical wire down the drain a couple of feet. Then I poured hot water down it to flush it out. I don't know if it fixed the problem since it hasn't rained since I did this a week ago. And even if it did fix the water problem, I don't know if the GEM was permanently damaged. Our problems were with the windshield wipers not working, radio display not lighting up, fuel gauge/overhead fuel display not working. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info! it all helps! So this evening, go to start it up and get the no crank issue (definitely here #2 relay clicking). pulled the relay for a few minutes and then put it back, kept clicking, and no start.

saw that someone on here said to pump the brake to get the relay to stop. pumped the brakes 2-3X and clicking stopped, and truck started up.

digital odo is still intermittent, so obviously the problem continues. research continues... signs continue to point to GEM, but once the car starts, other than the odo, everything else works! locks, wipers, dash lights, windows, horn...

i rolled back the moon roof and didn't find any standing water, but it smelled moldy, will try fishing out the drain tomorrow to see if that does anything either way. haven't really noticed that the floor has been wet from leakage after any rain either....

i know that before i bought it in October 2012, the Prev owner had just had the windshield replaced. i have no way to know if that means anything one way or another lol. it did rain on Wednesday last week, so it all could still stem from that...

 

so after driving it just now, when I parked it, and turned it off it all died again and the relay clicked. pumped the brake 3 x and everything came back. weird, does that point to gem?

 

Did you ever find out the problem?

 

matter of fact i did. but it wasn't relay or GEM related at all. so the next time it presented no crank no start, i had my multimeter handy and tested the power @ the relay and at the starter. i wasn't getting 12 volts @ either spot. I started to take the battery out to have it load tested, and noticed that the bolt holding the positive cable in place had rotted and broken, so the cable 'could' move around ever so slightly.

i replaced the bolt, cleaned the connector and battery post really well and it started right up. haven't had a problem since. kind of embarrassing that such a basic maint. thing tripped me up.

 

At least that was a simple fix. I have a '03 Navigator that has been giving us problems, even though the cranking seems to be fine. Just the cluster, locks, radio all seems to act up. Occasionally the seat goes back and forth while driving. I am leaning toward the battery. I may get that tested today. I am going to check the connections too! Thanks for the update!