97 Ranger CRAZY Electrical issues. Help!!

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Jul 13, 2013 | 02:19 AM

georgieboy

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97 Ranger CRAZY Electrical issues. Help!!

Just Bought 97 Ranger 2.3L 5 speed. Everything worked except interior cab light and cab brake light. Also the wipers and A/C blower only work on highest speed when I bought it. I assumed there was a problem with the switches, bulbs and/or fuses. But when I picked it up last evening I noticed the dash lights were very dim on the way home. Then when I got home I shut everything off and removed the key. I then opened the drivers door and touched the brake pedal and the dash lights and the parking lights came on along with the "key in ignition" bell alarm each time I touch the brake pedal. If I close the door the dash and parking lights come on but the key in ignition does not sound. With so many things malfunctioning I don't know where to start. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Jul 13, 2013 | 03:44 AM

SirArgus

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check your battery connections and all other ground connections you can find. bad ground can cause loads of problems.

Jul 13, 2013 | 08:09 AM

johnday

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From: barton city mi

I wouldn't know where to start either, except with the blower speed. It sounds like your resistor pack/bank is fried. It's common on our Rangers. I think I'd get the other problems worked out before I changed out the pack though, just to be sure whatever the problem is, isn;t causing the blower problem as well.

Jul 13, 2013 | 01:27 PM

KF4EYR

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Joined: Dec 2003

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From: florida

first check fuses for blown or loose fuses, then check under hood for blown or loose fuses, then check battery grounds and body grounds,,, also check circuit breakers under the hood also,,, i had a bad ground from battery to fender and bad connection on the cab ground...was making things wacky...

Jul 13, 2013 | 09:43 PM

georgieboy

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Thanks everyone. Will keep you posted on the electrical. Today I had some trouble with the clutch. I could not push clutch in to start it. Thought I had pressed the brake pedal by mistake, it was that hard. So finally I pushed clutch pedal as hard as I could with key is start position and it started and then pedal went down normally and I got it home. After shutting it off at home it did it again. I am thinking it might be the clutch master cylinder. Any thoughts?

Jul 13, 2013 | 11:48 PM

ford2go

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From: Frequently frozen MN

I'll repeat some stuff that I've read on this forum. Rangers have something called a GEM module -- General Electronics Module. It controls a lot of electrical stuff in the cab.

You might want to search on GEM to see if there's any discussion that helps. From what I understand, the module can be affected by water and is damaged if the windshield leaks.

(Just a side note -- at the now closed Ford Plant, they had a rain test booth. If a new truck's windshield leaked, they squirted it with silicone. So these windshields must have some kind of a leak issue. )

I know next to nothing about hydraulic clutches, but I wonder if something was jamming it up. Just a thought.

GOod Luck,

hj