After the 5th time of my local Ford dealer looking at this to no avail I call upon the forums wisdom!
The radio and windows will quit working intermittently. A bump or hitting the dash or slamming the door used to bring them back on but not anymore. Anyone have any ideas? We have changed relays but didnt help.

 

you have a grounding problem somewhere. the problem is it is intermittent, so it is hard to troubleshoot. you may want to consider just running new grounds to the windows and radio if you think it might fix it.

 

The problem is somewhere before the 2 split power because they always come on and off together. I thought about ground but would they both be grounded together?

 

I had this happen to me but not on an intermittent basis; my cure was to change a fuse in the fuse box inside the cab of the truck. I forget which fuse it is since I wound up pulling every single one out but I would suggest looking there perhaps.

 

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My 2002 does not have a GEM but rather a VSM (vehicle security module). From what I gather, it's about the same thing and I had to replace mine when the fobs stopped working. The VSS cost $125 and I installed it myself. Come to learn after I installed it, I had to temporarly plug in the old one, have the dealer scan it and re-flash the info into the new one. Nothing but the fobs worked right so if they say the GEM needs programming, it will most likely act the same way. Programming cost me $80 athough the dealer would have charged over $300 to do the whole job.<o></o>
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Looking through the manual it says
Vehicle Security Module
Removal and Installation

NOTE: Prior to removal of the vehicle security module, it is necessary to upload module configuration information to a diagnostic tool. This information needs to be downloaded into the new module once installed. For additional information, refer to Section 418-01 .

So if the VSM is your issue you might see what the dealer charges for just the computer work compared to letting them do the whole swap. We can get you instructions on the R&R if you need them.<o></o>
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Chris, you're dead on! I have a similar gremlin issue in my 2002 that sometimes creeps into existence, but I think mine is actually related to the battery and grounding wiring which I will eventually take care of when I relocate my batteries.

From all the digging around I did, I believe the VSM is behind the radio on the firewall<o></o>
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<TABLE class=MsoNormalTable style="WIDTH: 100%; mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in" cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.75pt; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8; PADDING-LEFT: 0.75pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.75pt; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8; PADDING-TOP: 0.75pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" vAlign=top>Quote:<o></o>
<TABLE class=MsoNormalTable style="WIDTH: 100%; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: .05in .05in .05in .05in" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 itxtvisited="1"><TBODY><TR style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes" itxtvisited="1"><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #d4d0c8 1pt inset; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.05in; BORDER-TOP: #d4d0c8 1pt inset; PADDING-LEFT: 0.05in; BACKGROUND: #efefef; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.05in; BORDER-LEFT: #d4d0c8 1pt inset; PADDING-TOP: 0.05in; BORDER-BOTTOM: #d4d0c8 1pt inset; mso-border-alt: inset windowtext .5pt" itxtvisited="1">Originally Posted by F250_ <v:shape id=_x0000_i1026 style="WIDTH: 9pt; HEIGHT: 9pt" alt="View Post" type="#_x0000_t75" o:button="t" href="https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/742319-new-problem-today-post6337697.html#post6337697"><v:imagedata o:href="https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/images/buttons/viewpost.gif" src="file:///C:\Users\Johnson\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtml1\01\cl ip_image001.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape><o></o>
From all the digging around I did, I believe the VSM is behind the radio on the firewall.<o></o>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Yes, the VSM is located directly behind the radio. You have to remove the radio to get to it. My truck had a chattering relay in the VSM, drove me crazy for the first 3 months I owned the truck. (I bought it used.) I was ready to have the dealer install a new VSM at the tune of $800!!! but I had to replace my batteries and voila, chattering went away.

I've read elsewhere that bad batteries and/or connections can cause your problems. good luck<o></o>
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