Truck is a 2000 Expedition EB. Trouble with the alarm/dome light coming on.

Travelled 80 miles today to a training session. Got called out of the training 3 times due to my alarm going off. I saw the dome light on when I approached. My wife saw it on early this morning also after walking the dogs. I couldn't get the alarm to stop going off so I went down to the local Ford dealer and left my coworkers at the training.

Service department said they couldn't do anything with an aftermarket alarm. I showed them that it was a Ford System 3/4 alarm and they said that is aftermarket. I finally got it to stop by playing with the valet switch which was 1/2 broken. I didn't buy the thing new and never owned a vehicle with an alarm. Now the dome light was still on. They said they could fix that. I've owned the truck for 2 years.

The hooked it up and monitored all of the door "PID's". That's what the paper says. They couldn't find out why it was happening. They said it had to do with the "aftermarket Ford alarm". They wanted to remove it. I don't have any use for an alarm and there was still the factory one anyway. They removed it and said I was all set. $95 diagnositic fee and another $100 to cut the wires on the alarm. I went back to my training and the alarm didn't go off anymore.

Got home and was fueling up and my dome light was on again. The running board courtesy lights are on also. Parked in the driveway and the lights keep going on and off. The keypad on the drivers door which had worked up to this point is not working now. I went out and waited for the lights to come on again and the keypad illuminated also. I locked the doors and all lights went off again. I unlocked them with the key fob and the dome and courtesy light came on but not the keypad light.

Does the keypad backlight come on only when pushed or when the interior lights come on. I am thinking there is a problem with my keypad and has nothing to do with the alarm they cut out of the truck today. I was in a pinch and had to do something because I had 2 other guys in a training class and the entire facility was being disrupted by the alarm. I was no where near home and didn't want a dead battery.

Anybody have a 2000 Expedition that can verify if the function of the keypad backlight with the dome light? Does the keypad illuminate everytime the dome light/Courtesy lights come on or only when the keypad is pressed? I have a feeling my problem is the keypad.

Any ideas?
GP

 

Is the door ajar warning lit up on the dash? It kind of sounds to me like one of the door may be "stuck" open. Spray some WD-40 into them and open and close them a few times and see if the lights go and stay out.

 

Nope the door ajar light doesn't come on. As soon as the truck is started, the symptoms go away. I think they were monitoring the door switches. I am not sure but I think that is what they mean by PID's?

Just went out there and watched again. The keypad illuminates before anything else and keeps blinking on and off while the dome light is on.

GP

 

It sounds like you may have a bad GEM module or Interior Lamp Relay in your Ford. ALLDATAdiy.com. The testing for these as well have you monitoring the following PID data: IGN-GEM, INTLMP, and also PID's for your door switches, but it sounds like you have already checked those in your Expedition.

 

Do you know if that includes the rear hatch and glass, or did they just check the front 4 doors?