With hard rain my electrical system goes hay-wire. Blower comes on, stays on after shut off truck and many other things till out of rain for a day. Must disconnect battery to reset. I thought this would be a common problem but I see no other similair complaints. Anyone know of an easy fix? My dealer service department just looks at me like I'm crazy. I need to tell them what to do. Siouxlake

 

Certain year trucks had windshield leak problems. I don't know if yours falls into this category, but I would look carefully under the dash for and dampness. You might also try a water hose in strategic places to figure out whats going on.

 

I know exactly what is wrong. I fixed it this weekend on my 2001 Expedition. You have a leak in your winshield and it does leak onto your GEM which is bolted to the backside of your fuse block. The gem is not broken. The problem is that there is water inside your fuse block and as signals change to the GEM there are voltages going to the wrong pins. Remove your fuse block/GEM, unbolt the GEM, remove the relays, look at the screw holes that the bulkhead connectors bolt to. You need a drill that is THE SAME SIZE as the surrounding metal (about 1/2"). Drill down about 1/4" without hitting the threaded hole too much. This will allow the screw-hole-things to be pushed out through the back. Pry open the fuse block and start removing the plastic plates one at a time. There are lots of metal bars and shapes that need to be kept in place so keep it in order as you disassemble. Dry out each layer with paper towels or air and then spray liberally with WD40 or similar to displace the water. When you are done put it back together and be happy you spent nothing on it. Fix the leaky window or it will come back. note: when you are removing the layers be careful to watch the metal pins that go into the layer below. as you pry up get a long flatblade screwdriver and go under the layer to pry up each pin. When you reassemble the unit the same thing has to happen. sometimes you have to push the pins around to get them in their correct holes. Each plastic plate has a recess for each metal bar so if you get confused, look for a recess that is a similar shape to the metal bar. Good luck. Takes about 2.5- 3.5 hours.

 

IMPORTANT - disconnect the battery negative before starting this project!!!!

 

ur not the only one i have a 97 expedition facing the same problem my awd lights start to flash my tranny begins to stick spedometer does not work my drivers side window doesn't go down and when the truck is off the blower and all the lights stay on when the truck is idiling and in reverse or in park the starter begins to make that screaching noice as if i 'm holding the key in the start position take my email address so we can keep in touch to see if we solve our problems dapaflex2000@yahoo.com give me a holla if u solve ur problems and i'lldo the same ur not alone i thought it was just me

 

I have had no problems since I rebuilt my fuse block. Everything works perfectly and it has rained alot lately. I haven't yet fixed the winshield but when I reassembled the fuse block I cut two large drain holes at the lowest point. I would bet that between the wd40, which displaces water, and the drain holes, that you could run a hose on the fuse block and not have a problem.
If you need help you can give me a call or if you are hesitant to do the work we could arrange for you to ship it to me and I'll rebuild it for you.
Just email me and let me know.

Joe