Strange Electrical problem
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Strange Electrical problem
I have a 2002 F250 with a strange electrical problem. My door ajar light is always on, the interior lights do not come on when the doors (all 4 crew cab) are opened, the chime doesn't chime when the key is left in, and the radio stays on when the door is open with the key off.
The lights will come on with the control on the dash, and they will also come on with the remote door FOB, then go off.
I checked all of the fuses, and every one is OK. We replaced the driver front door latch switch, didn't help. In fact, it might of made it worse.
Any ideas?
Thanks
The lights will come on with the control on the dash, and they will also come on with the remote door FOB, then go off.
I checked all of the fuses, and every one is OK. We replaced the driver front door latch switch, didn't help. In fact, it might of made it worse.
Any ideas?
Thanks
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From: Finger Lakes
I know that some Fords came with a proximity switch, should be a black square or round piece with two wires coming out, my guess is it is on the drivers side. My old explorer had them and they all went in about the span of a year.
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No proximity switches in the first-gen SD that I know of.
The door-ajar light can be a sticky switch in the door latch. Spray liberally with WD40 and it should unstick.
That can cause the lights to stay on a long time, and then the GEM will turn them off after a long timeout - and they might not come back on, because the GEM doesn't realize the door was closed and then opened again (sticky door switch).
Did these problems suddenly start all at once, or did you buy the truck used and it came like that?
Someone might have rigged the ignition switch to not chime (there's a mod for that).
The radio, I don't get it.
Is there an aftermarket alarm in it?
The door-ajar light can be a sticky switch in the door latch. Spray liberally with WD40 and it should unstick.
That can cause the lights to stay on a long time, and then the GEM will turn them off after a long timeout - and they might not come back on, because the GEM doesn't realize the door was closed and then opened again (sticky door switch).
Did these problems suddenly start all at once, or did you buy the truck used and it came like that?
Someone might have rigged the ignition switch to not chime (there's a mod for that).
The radio, I don't get it.
Is there an aftermarket alarm in it?
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I've owned it from day one. It just started this last week. I've dumped almost a full can is all of the doors. The light doesn't come on when any of the 4 doors are opened. Then it started, then it stopped. That was today after the WD40 was tried.
I got bumped in a parking lot, and since it was in the shop, I had them replace the driver door switch. That didn't fix it. I was told that there isn't a GEM in this vehicle, and that function was in the cluster. But guys here are telling me the VSM is bad. It has to something common with all 4 door latches. Unless all 4 are in series, and one is really stuck.
I may run back to the dealer tomorrow and ask them more questions.
I have 97K miles on it now.
I got bumped in a parking lot, and since it was in the shop, I had them replace the driver door switch. That didn't fix it. I was told that there isn't a GEM in this vehicle, and that function was in the cluster. But guys here are telling me the VSM is bad. It has to something common with all 4 door latches. Unless all 4 are in series, and one is really stuck.
I may run back to the dealer tomorrow and ask them more questions.
I have 97K miles on it now.
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Joined: Oct 2004
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From: South Onondaga, NY
electrical
tmitchell5188 - Got a quick question for you....do you have any electrical accessories wired in to the truck? Especially anything that has a battery....such as a portable radio/charger? portable GPS/charger? anything at all like that? If you do......you have a bad relay or something in the wiring of the the accessory. I will just about guarantee it.....I had the same thing happen to me!
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OK, here's the deal. I gave up and took it in to a Ford dealer's used car dept. service dept. I have a guy who does side jobs there. He checked every thing, and said that he didn't have any communication with the VSM. He said that it could be the VSM or the cluster. Since the VSM was the cheapest item, we tried that first.
Well that was $130 wasted. Still didn't fix the problem. So I gave up, and took it to the main Ford dealer regular service. They came back and said that they think it was the cluster, but needed to make sure. After a day and a half of trouble shooting they came back with the cluster is fine, and so is the VSM.
They worked with Ford tech support and came up with they had to download the software into the cluster, and it fixed the problem.
Put it in the classifieds - krewat
Tom
Well that was $130 wasted. Still didn't fix the problem. So I gave up, and took it to the main Ford dealer regular service. They came back and said that they think it was the cluster, but needed to make sure. After a day and a half of trouble shooting they came back with the cluster is fine, and so is the VSM.
They worked with Ford tech support and came up with they had to download the software into the cluster, and it fixed the problem.
Put it in the classifieds - krewat
Tom
Last edited by krewat; Jul 29, 2008 at 09:14 PM. Reason: Removed what looks like a for-sale ad ;)
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