Hello there. Newbie to ford-trucks but we just bought a 2002 Excursion and it has a few issues I would like a little help with. First off the door ajar light will not go out, however the dome lights are not on constant, they come on briefly while the key is removed and do work with the roller switch. Also the radio doesn't shut off with the key removed until the timer relay kills all power. I have ohmed the door switches to ground all the way back to the VSM/GEM module. The door lock/unlock switches do nothing for any of the doors, the actuators don't even try to move. The auto headlights also do not function. Any help is appreciated.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ch-folder.html

 

Regarding the door locks, do you hear the relays clicking behind the dash? If you pull the cover above the driver foot (with the slots for the pedals) and air diverter duct, and look up behind the stereo you'll see a black box. Pull the cover off and there will be three relays. You should hear them clicking when you lock/unlock. If you get nothing, I'd start with swapping them out. If you get a click but no lock movement, I believe it's time for the foil fix.

 

I thought by looking at the prints the GEM/VSM on the 2002 has integrated relays controlling the lock/unlock actuators, I'll have to look again and check for those relays. Thanks.

 

I had similar issues with my 2002. I thought at first that the VSM was bad, but it turned out that the wire between the VSM and Instrument Cluster was broken somewhere. There is an orange wire that connects all the control modules together. It's present at the VSM, OBDII port and Instrument cluster, among other locations. In my case I ran a new wire from the OBDII port to the VSM and everything started working again.

My symptoms were a little differemt though. My door locks worked. Auto headlights, dome light, and door ajar light were not working. Also the radio would stay on.

The way it's designed is that the door lock/unlock switches go to the VSM. If the VSM has power then the door locks should work, this function is independent of the Instrument cluster.

The door switches (that trigger the dome light, door ajar light and accessory off when you open the door) also run through the VSM but the VSM doesn't actually control the other functions. It communicates to the Instrument cluster that a door ws opened and then the instrument cluster turns on the dome light and shuts the accessories down.

I think the first thing you need to check is if the VSM is getting good power and ground. After, check for continuity on the orange communication wire between the VSM and Instrument Cluster. If all that checks out then it's likely your VSM and possibly Instrument Cluster is bad. 2002 was the first year that ford had this new setup with the VSM and if you do some reading you'll find that there were unfortunately a lot of issues with the module.

One more thing, before 2002 the door switches were different then 2002 and later. The earlier ones were normally open, so when you opened the door the switch closed and supplied power to the circuit that controls the dome lights and door ajar light. The later ones were the opposite, normally closed, so when you opened the door the circuit opened and the open ground signaled to the vsm that a door was open.

I think I had a thread on this a few months ago with some good info in it. I'll post the link when I find it.

 

Here's the link to my thread with my fix. I don't know if it'll be the same for you but there might be some useful info for you there:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...y-vsm-bad.html

Let us know what happens and if there's anything else we can help you with, there's a lot of people on here with lots more knowledge then I on these trucks. And as mentioned above, there's a lot of useful info in the tech folder.

And welcome to FTE!

 

Thanks for the info. I will double check stuff again tomorrow. Everything has checked out so far and I thought it was the VSM so I had that programmed/replaced and no luck. I may have a couple of issues going on, just need time to check it out more. Ford dealer said the VSM programmed fine so I at least have continuity from the DLC to the VSM but maybe not from the DLC to the instrument cluster. If I do need a cluster does that one need programmed and where does the odometer memory come from will a new/used instrument cluster change your odometer reading?

 

Interesting that the VSM was replaced and the door locks still don't work. It might be a wiring issue to the switches. Tracing these issues can be a pita, but if you have diagrams and some patience it's doable.

I think when the cluster is replaced the mileage stays on the cluster, so if you get a used one it will say whatever the other vehicle has. I'm sure there is a way to change this, it is digital after all so something should be able to reprogram it. I don't know who can though. Might be dealers only. I don't know.

 

Double post...

 

I did some more checking on the Excursion today. Checked for power on C2113B sockets 1,3,8,14 all had 12.5V loaded. Checked ground on C2113a socket 14 and it is good/will handle a load. Checked for outputs to the door locks on C2113a sockets 1,7,8 and get nothing with the lock/unlock switch activated. Ohmed wiring from VSM through the lock/unlock circuit to ground and had around .5 ohms when switch was activated, went ahead and applied another ground to socket 2 and 3 at different times to eliminate the door lock/unlock switches and wiring still nothing. Unhooked C2113a and applied power and ground to wires 1,7,8 alternately and can lock/unlock all door lock actuators so all actuators and wiring from VSM to door locks is good. Ohmed all door switches from VSM through each door switch circuit and had .5 ohms to ground on all circuits until the doors were opened then the switches would open breaking the circuit. Ohmed the UBP bus wire the orange one at the VSM all the way to socket 7 of C220a at the instrument cluster and had .5 ohms also. Sorry this is so long but I am out of ideas and am back at square one pouring over more prints. Any one else ran into this issue or have any other ideas?

 

I have located a used instrument cluster at a salvage yard but am hesitant to try a used one as I don't know if it had any issues when removed. On the schematics the door lock/unlock switch doesn't directly ground the relays for the acutators in the VSM so I am not sure if a faulty instrument cluster could be jamming up the microprocessor in the VSM not allowing the lock/unlock circuit to work.

 

Was the replacement VSM new or a junkyard part? It's really odd that the VSM isn't outputting the signal to the actuators. You said you applied power to the actuator circuit after the VSM, maybe try grounding the input to the VSM from the door lock switch, should be terminals 2 and 3 on connector c2113a. One of them is lock and one is unlock.

The only thing I could think of is that the dealership may have programmed something wrong, it shouldn't matter though for the door locks. I believe the programming only affects the auto headlights and dome lights and maybe a few other functions, I'm pretty sure the door lock/unlock is directly through the VSM and has nothing to do with the instrument cluster which should mean that the lock/unlock function doesn't need to be programmed. But I could be totally wrong on this. I know that when I had the communication issue my door locks and the keypad were still functioning normally, so it definitely does not need the instrument cluster to function. I hope this helps.

 

Interrupting here for a second. Seen this before in forum and wondering what it's for.

 

I did ground the inputs from the door switches-sockets 2 and 3 BK/WH and WH/RD wires and still nothing, no noise/movement at all. The VSM was a brand new OEM part and was installed/programmed at the dealership.

 

There's no delete option for us as peons (vs moderator, excuse me - modictators), and sometimes when posting via mobile it will double post even if you hit Submit once. Basically it's our way of not looking like we're spamming up the place.