Well, been here a while but not posted much. Many, many thanks to the many contributors. You've saved my buns on so frequent an occasion.
Alas, now I really need help!

First off - I have searched ALL the posts, this board and that. Hoping for a solution, I think I've read a billion posts. Seems no has a confirmed fix.

Here's the specs -
2000 Excursion
150k miles
6.8 L v-10 auto

Pretty much std except for tow brake

NO user installed addins - factory radio etc.

good recent battery - has been charged and works

no blown fuses found

tranny lock light on stem not showing (repaired once already, broken wire) need to check again

Lots of electrical quirks -

Added a GRD to the driver's door, drivers side works now, but now the passenger's side front and rear windows don't work

Rear hinged window work on one side as well.
Driver's side mirror heater doesn't work either. (Pass. OK)

The rear washer didn't work for a while. Finally found the fluid in the passenger's side rocker (about a year ago), hose was loose. Fixed it. Problem was there before that though.

I have had the windshield replaced when cracked about 1.5-2 years ago.

Problem is when it rains - intermittent.

It cranks but will not start. Might happen, might not. The problem usually goes away. This time, New Mexico is wet and it's staying around.
Electrics go bonkers. Doors lock themselves, key chime keeps going after key is pulled. Sometimes disco the battery helps. Tried the keying reset trick.

If turned off, indicator lights have dim light. PATS flashes rapidly (sometimes). If left alone, it will drain battery.

Fiddle with the wires under dash, things change.
Changed out some relays.
Tried every thing short of the GEM and battery saving relays.
Had the dash apart several times.
Checked the grounds as well and am aware of the issues.

OK - I LOVE this truck. If they made a new one, I'd go into major hock to buy one. But this is starting to drive me to a new rig.

I'm an old fart recovering from a stroke and will be out of a job soon, so funds are limited. I need to settle this out economically.
Therefore, I saved the GEM and battery relay till last.

I'm sitting here next to the GEM on the couch.
Can't find any sign of water anywhere. Terminals are shiny and good for its age - no corrosion. No way to test it (all the Ebay ones say tested, how do they do that?) Fuse box looks good too.
Why did they make this thing so complex?
I have spent hours poring over wiring diagrams and module manuals. I'd hate to have this issue on a 2015!

Before I break down and try a different used GEM at $200 (yes I know about matching #s, that's why its out) and maybe on to a cluster -

Any thoughts I missed or links to successful posts? When somebody does finally have a fool-proof solution other than throwing parts at it we should memorial and market it to support the board.

Please share your thoughts.

 

I'm sorry I could not find the post but there is someone here that had this issue & solved it by sealing out the rain coming in under the hood. If I remember correctly ( sketchy ) When raining or car wash the water was entering the center of the engine compartment trough a crack or seem in the weather striping. The water was pooling on the engine & causing a no start condition. The title is something like, Sealed up my hood or engine compartment As luck would have it saw it yesterday while going through 38 pages of post looking for the Zoo DAD mod (which I never found & just gave up) . I wish I could use the search feature on this forum worth a flip

 

It was v10ex (Brent) I'll look and see if I can find it.

 

Found it, it wasn't the thread I was thinking of but posting it so no one else goes looking for the same one again.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post12209418

 

He did have a quite a few dollar or less repair tricks.

 

This is not the one I was thinking of BUT it's a great one. The other is the same issue BUT was causing a NO-START not just a misfire.
THANKS for the help Apocalypse. Please tell me someday how the heck to use the search with out getting 40 PAGES of what your not looking for

 

I switch the search to title only... works great

 

HOW, Please

 

search tab at top middle of this screen, then a little tab will open click advanced search, then after typing in what your looking for in search box right under it there is a drop down box with option for search titles... hope that helps.

 

Another trick, is to use Google - they have ALL our posts indexed.. I often find it's a piece of cake to find the thread(s) I want on FTE by using Google's massive search engine..

I think the "issue" with FTE's is it doesn't rank the matches, so searching FTE for "flushing brakes" finds everything title with flushing or brakes. Whereas Google seems to find where BOTH words are together and puts them at the top of the list. (Perhaps I'm just having a senior moment... but that's how it seems to me )

 

Thanks guys for all the help - did the GOOGLE and the search - not new to this at all. I will check out the listing - I had never seen the "sealed engine compartment solution", only the leaky windshield.

Pulled the GEM in the living room, let it sit a week, reinstalled and now she runs - windows (pass) still no good but I think its the rocker issue.

I'll check out the link on sealing things up. But, there was NO sign of water anywhere. I wonder if you could slip a silica gel pack in the GEM and solve it as a humidity problem (this is the core issue I think, after examining the board). I think one of the discrete devices is suffering from environmental influences.

You could change out the silica once a year or so (I can whip out the GEM in 10 minutes now!) Even thought about a humidity sensor, a meter and a warning light for feedback. To much overkill - silica gel.

These things are just plain finicky. Anybody ever do a retrofit with a Mega Squirt, third part PATS, etc. I wanna keep mine forever, but someday we're not going to be able to fix the GEMs and PCM. Made other stuff run this way, but this EX is like a nasty cancer - everything's intertwined. You would need multiple systems for replacement.

Anyway, thanks for the help. I will keep trying and report back. Running for now.

You know, if all the newer cars are as this intertwined as the EX (and I'm sure they are), we are in for a hill of beans as the newer modesl slip to us back yard guys.

Time to get an electrical degree I guess.

 

Ya know - the more I think about it, the leaky engine compartment makes sense.
I have replaced my coil and had rusted rear plugs. Hmmmm....

Will do this too and see what happens - instead of the GEM drying out could have been the engine compartment while we were waiting. Glad I did spend the green for the replacement GEM yet.

Now I have to wait for it to rain in New Mexico (?) or use a hose to test.

 

...didn't spend the green....