I've had this 2000 2WD V10 Excursion for a few months now.

It's been an ongoing process of fixing little things.

I've been chasing a couple of things I believe (based on a lot of forum time) are GEM related:
- inconsistent remote range - sometimes great, sometimes really short (like at the door), sometimes not at all
- rear wiper acting weird

Thanks to this excellent thread, I had an idea what to look for in the junkyard.
So, when a 2000 popped up in my favorite local pick-a-part, I grabbed the GEM and fuse box for $20.
The junkyard fuse box and GEM showed no signs of water intrusion or corrosion and came out of a 2000 2WD V10.
I figured, it was worth an experimental shot.

After practicing in the junkyard, swapping the GEMs only took about an hour.
The hardest part is getting the 2 big plugs off the back of the fuse box.

I put the junkyard GEM on my fusebox.

On the plus side, truck starts and everything seems to work.
I'll need to drive it a while to be sure.
The remotes work after re-programming.

On the down side, the keypad on the door no longer works and I have no clue what the code is.
I totally forgot about this and did not think to look for the code tag in the junker. Long shot, sure but worth a look.
I guess I'll get it scanned.

I appreciate the excellent information in this forum.

I attached pictures of the GEM and fusebox if anybody is curious.
You have to remove the GEM from the fusebox to read the programming information.

GEM info from my EX

GEM info from junkyard EX

Fusebox from my EX

Fusebox from junkyard EX

Fusebox part number from my EX

Fusebox part number from junkyard EX