Hello,

my name is Johannes an I live in Germany so please excuse my bad english. I just bought a 99 F 350 4x4 Canadian version. Now some strange things occure:

Sometimes the transmission shifts very rough, the OBD light is on, the speedometer is working intermittend during driving.

When I shut the engine off the blower ist still working without ignition and the interior light is going on and off when I turn the AC ****.

When I took Fuse 15 (GEM, PCM) out, the blower stops.

All this problems only happened twice during 4 Weeks and 5000 miles.

I read already a lot about the GEM and controled the windshield and the fuse box. Everything is totally dry.I also cleaned all the ground points I found but it doesnt help.

So here are my questions:

- Can I check the GEM if its O.K.?
- Are there ground points under the dashboard I should check?
- Could it have something to do with the Battery Saver relay or the ACCY Delay Relais and where are they?
- Are there any other reasons for these phenomenas?

It would be very nice if somebody could help me with these problems, because here in Germany I cant find a Ford Mechanic who knows the F 350.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Johannes

 

you need to find out what the ODB codes are... and go from that.

 

All this problems only happened twice during 4 Weeks and 5000 miles.

Intermittent problems are much harder to solve than constant ones. I would disconnect the battery and then pull the plug from the GEM and reconnect - and look for corrosion of any kind on any GEM connectors. You might pull and inspect various fuses under the hood and dash, and re-seat them, to be sure they are making a solid connection.

 

Hello Steve and Chuck,

thank you for your fast and helpful answer. I will try that. Any suggestions to the 2 relays?

Thanks again and greetings from Germany

Johannes

 

I should have added... getting the OBD II codes.. also will tell if the computer is working .... and able to read the truck sensors... and report it...

and with that information.. be able to work from there...

as IF the computer is not working correctly... all else is bad data (information)

 

Start out with disconnecting all the main battery cables from the battery(s) down to the starter. Clean them all and reinstall them tight. Use some battery spray-on type terminal protector on them once they are clean and tight. This will keep them clean for a long time. Ohm the cables, even if they look good they can be bad. Replace any cable in question. Test the starter solenoid. Once all the main battery cables are checked next look for any other smaller grounds under the hood and under the dash. Clean and secure them as well. Grounds are very important in a negative ground vehicle. Especially if its older that 5 years old which yours is. Now that the basics are out of the way if your still experiencing the problem you likely have a intermittent open or intermittent short to ground somewhere. Time to start wiggling wires under the dash, under the hood, under the chassis. Could be the instrument cluster. They have been known to go bad causing all sorts of intermittent problems. Get a service manual one with wire schematics and wire diagrams. Try the battery cable thing above first. If that doesn't solve it then take a look at one system at a time and completely trace it out from its power source to ground. Example: Say the dome light is acting up... Trace its entire circuit. If nothing is found move to the next component that's intermittent. After you have gone through what you believe to be all the troubled circuits start to look for the ones that are common to each other. For example: what else is in the dome light circuit. Start tracing it the same way one thing at a time. If you skip around you will only frustrate yourself and never find the problem.
If you do solve the problem please circle back here and tell us what you did to fix it.

 

Hi Droldsmorland,

thank you very much for your expert answer. I will check the system how you describe.

Could the Battery Saver Relay have something to do with the problem and where ist it located? I cant find it in the fuse compartment.

Could you please tell me where the grounds are under the dashboard especially for the GEM and for the fuse department?

Thanks again and greetings from the Germany (with a lot more taxes)

Johannes

 

Hi Droldsmorland,

thank you very much for your expert answer. I will check the system how you describe.

Could the Battery Saver Relay have something to do with the problem and where is it located? I cant find it in the fuse compartment.The fuse box location and fuse diagram will be found in the owners manual, or on line if you don't have one in the glove box. Dont know what a battery saver relay is?

Could you please tell me where the grounds are under the dashboard especially for the GEM and for the fuse department? You'll have to get a schematic or diagram off line or through the dealer or just go hunting for grounds. Every year of truck is different. Start with the under the hood grounds.

Thanks again and greetings from the Germany (with a lot more taxes)

Johannes

 

Hi,

thanks again. Of course I know what a battery saver relais is, but I cant find it in the two fuse compartments and it isnt described in the owners manual.

Here we dont have any Ford truck dealers, thats why it makes everything so difficult...

Greetings

Johannes

 

GOOGLE is your friend. You should be able to locate what you need here or through Ford on line. If you have good mechanical & electrical abilities you should be able to find it. If you don't have these skills it will be a challenge. In that case Id recommend finding a good mechanic that you trust and wont charge you a ton to do some troubleshooting. Check with FORD dot com or Ford accessories dot com. You shouldn't have too much trouble tracing things down once you have a road map(diagram) showing the locations of components. Then just start tracing wire looms. The grounds aren't hard to locate. But like I said earlier start simple with the under hood grounds from the battery(s) all the way down to and including the starter as they are more likely to be corroded verses the grounds in the cab.
Look at this site too for diagrams. I find that googling a question will find things faster and easier here verses using this sites search tool. Electrical problems are very dificult to solve online.
Guten Tag

 

Hi,

thanks again, I will try it that way.

Greetings
Johannes