Windows, Dome light, and 4WD Not Working, Please Help!

[ninety7Xplo]

I recently took off all of my door panels and installed all new speakers. I took out my professionally installed aftermarket CD player to hook up the speakers. After replacing the speakers and reassembling everything, my power windows will not go down, my domelights will not turn on, and my 4WD will not work. I have the auto 4WD that has a manual turn swith as well. My 4WD lights on my guage cluster will flash 3 times every few minutes and then turn back off. I didn't know if it was something as simple as a fuse but I do not know. I could use some help!!!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Do your windows go up, or are they already up? Have you checked the fuses yet?

 

[ninety7Xplo]

My windows are already up but they wont move. I dont have a diagram of the fuses so i dont know which fuse does what. I checked all the fuses on the interior fuse panel and they all looked ok. I also checked the larger fuses under the hood and they looked alrught too. It checked them quick enough i might have made an error. If i knew what number fuse to check i could look again. If it isnt a fuse it could be a short or something. Thanks for your help!

 

[dogfriend]

The windows, the domelights and the 4wd are all controlled by the GEM (Generic Electronic Module). The GEM is located behind the dash near the radio (just to the right) edit oops I guess its left, not right. Did you perhaps unplug or bump one of the electrical connectors that go to the GEM?

 

[ninety7Xplo]

That is probably what happened. I noticed they would not work right after i put the cd player back in. I will take the cd player out tomorrow and check it because right now it is raining outside. Could you tell me what the GEM looks like? Thank you so much for your help!

 

[dogfriend]

There is a picture in this thread:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149388&highlight=GEM

You need to scroll down a bit to see it. It is just to the left of the radio.

 

[ninety7Xplo]

Ok... it stopped raining so i went outside and checked it out. I checked the connectors on it and they all seemed fine. I took out the one screw and removed the GEM. I then looked at all of the plugs and the wires and they looked alright. I put it back in and they still are not working. Could it possibly be that i just have a dysfunctional GEM?

 

[budwich]

How about your door lights... do they work??? Good chance that your battery saver relay is bust.

 

[dogfriend]

Battery Saver Relay is a good possibility. It is also located behind the dash, approximately in the center.

 

[ninety7Xplo]

The door lights dont work either. How would i go about checking the battery saver relay? Would i need to buy and new one and how much do they cost? Thank you for your help!

 

[dogfriend]

I would check for voltage at Fuse 27 in the Interior Fuse panel. That fuse is fed by the Battery Saver Relay. Check the hot side to ground. It should be a PK (pink) wire.

 

[budwich]

It is unlikely that fuse 27 is your problem since you have other conditions pointing to a failure further up stream ... ie. either the relay or the power feeding the relay (most likely). You need a meter to check things.

Oops, I see that from other drawings that fuse 27 supplies more than the lights so it is a candidate. A meter is still preferred to "looking".

 

[dogfriend]

I'm not saying Fuse 27 is the problem; I am suggesting that it is a convienient location to see if the Battery Saver Relay is turning on. I would remove the fuse and then test between the hot side (pink wire) and ground. If you can't tell which side has the pink wire, then just test for voltage between both sides and ground. One side of that fuse should have power if the Battery Saver Relay is on.

 

[dogfriend]

I A meter is still preferred to "looking".

Yes, it is better to test a fuse with an ohmmeter or test light than to just visually check it. A fuse can look good but not be good.

 

[ninety7Xplo]

Problem solved!! It turned out it was fuse number 27. When i removed the fuse it looked fine. I couldn't visually see that it was blown but i replaced it with a new one and everything is working again. Thank you so much for your help. Now i know how much these forums can really help!

 

[HughP]

Hey there,

98 Ranger owner here. I've a similar problem: no interior lights, no windows, no 4wd. What is weird is I went over a speed bump (and the truck shook pretty good) last week and everything started working again, but as soon as I turn the truck off and on again, the problem came back wouldn't come back on. I've read a bunch of post in different forums and have found some really helpful stuff but still haven't been able to diagnose the problem.

So far I have:

- checked fuse 27 in the interior fuse panel: not burnt out and there is 14V across it when truck is running
- checked fuse #3 in engine compartment panel: can't measure voltage across the fuse contacts
- put a new battery saver relay in
- swapped out all relay's one by one in the auxiliary fuse box

The last thing I can think of is the GEM but I'm not sure it is the GEM after it came on briefly after hitting the speed bump. I'm thinking it wouldn't be the GEM if it's something intermittent.

Any suggestions?

 

[dogfriend]

Find a good bump on the way to work?



Maybe a bad ground connection that got jarred when you hit the bump? Look for loose grounds (ring terminals with black wires).

 

[koda2000]

i'm thinking GEM, just because if controls a bunch of stuff. maybe a bad GEM connection?