bonesy
Member
- Joined
- July 17, 2009
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
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- City, State
- DC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1996 5.0L Eddie Bauer
In a few long winded and desperate posts a while back, I mentioned that all of a sudden my Power Lock Motors would continually spin and never engage. Worst of all, this problem was intermittent. The suggestion was something was going on with the Anti-Theft system...
Well, while I was making some much needed engine compartment repairs (belt, pulleys, tensioner, big 3, etc.), I was also installing a new audio system at the same time. With this issue, I ran with the Anti-Theft suggestion thinking that I had grounded into somewhere I was not suppose to or tapped into a power line that shared with the Anti-Theft (although looking back this makes no sense because anti-theft "always hot" is blk/wht whereas audio "always hot" is light green/purple so it would have been difficult to mistake the two colorings unless one thought blk/wht was a ground and the tap would have been in parallel so the anti-theft would not have seen a voltage drop). I pulled out the voltmeter and was checking at all stops with the relays, anti-theft model, and the tailgate power lock motor. I was trying to diagnose a voltage drop that would allow the motor to spin but not the actuator to engage. I could not find this drop...
I was studying the wire diagrams and could not formulate a new strategy, and truthfully with the amount of switches and relays in the system between the Anti-Theft and the Door Switches and which component is currently causing the problem I still don't fully understand how the system works, so I abandoned thinking it had anything to do with the anti-theft. This was the turning point.
When I installed the new system, I routed new speaker wires for a tweeter through the driver side molex. When I reattached the molex, I had thought that I held the wires taught enough the the molex parts would come back together without problem. Well, I thought I would just open the molex and make sure that everything reattached correctly since it seems like the Driver Door Lock Switch seem to be a big player in the system and was the only component I had not examined. As it turns out the wires folder inside the molex and the plastic shielding was smashed. Now, I don't know exactly what was going on inside the molex: 1) The speaker wires could have been intermittently causing bad connections within the molex and/or 2) the smashed shielding could have been causing a short with the connections.
Lessons:
1. Be careful with wiring through the molex. I am going to rewire the speaker wire and add the proper connectors so no wires are continuous through the molex.
2. If you are having power lock problems (especially if the motors continuously spin) try to examine your molex first. Yes there is a large screw to hold it tight, but never know if it came loose or if there is something inside causing the issue. Its a lot easier to start there than pulling off trim panels and reading the voltage of every point in the system.
Well, hopefully my mistake well help someone one else out . . .
Well, while I was making some much needed engine compartment repairs (belt, pulleys, tensioner, big 3, etc.), I was also installing a new audio system at the same time. With this issue, I ran with the Anti-Theft suggestion thinking that I had grounded into somewhere I was not suppose to or tapped into a power line that shared with the Anti-Theft (although looking back this makes no sense because anti-theft "always hot" is blk/wht whereas audio "always hot" is light green/purple so it would have been difficult to mistake the two colorings unless one thought blk/wht was a ground and the tap would have been in parallel so the anti-theft would not have seen a voltage drop). I pulled out the voltmeter and was checking at all stops with the relays, anti-theft model, and the tailgate power lock motor. I was trying to diagnose a voltage drop that would allow the motor to spin but not the actuator to engage. I could not find this drop...
I was studying the wire diagrams and could not formulate a new strategy, and truthfully with the amount of switches and relays in the system between the Anti-Theft and the Door Switches and which component is currently causing the problem I still don't fully understand how the system works, so I abandoned thinking it had anything to do with the anti-theft. This was the turning point.
When I installed the new system, I routed new speaker wires for a tweeter through the driver side molex. When I reattached the molex, I had thought that I held the wires taught enough the the molex parts would come back together without problem. Well, I thought I would just open the molex and make sure that everything reattached correctly since it seems like the Driver Door Lock Switch seem to be a big player in the system and was the only component I had not examined. As it turns out the wires folder inside the molex and the plastic shielding was smashed. Now, I don't know exactly what was going on inside the molex: 1) The speaker wires could have been intermittently causing bad connections within the molex and/or 2) the smashed shielding could have been causing a short with the connections.
Lessons:
1. Be careful with wiring through the molex. I am going to rewire the speaker wire and add the proper connectors so no wires are continuous through the molex.
2. If you are having power lock problems (especially if the motors continuously spin) try to examine your molex first. Yes there is a large screw to hold it tight, but never know if it came loose or if there is something inside causing the issue. Its a lot easier to start there than pulling off trim panels and reading the voltage of every point in the system.
Well, hopefully my mistake well help someone one else out . . .
