09 Explorer No star, theft light. Took apart the steering column, fell down a rabbit hole. Help!

[abakedapplepie]

I posted this thread last week looking for some answers (didn't find any) but you can see what my symptoms are: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...eft-light-blinking-gauge-cluster-dead.446294/

So anyway, I ordered a new transciever since a $40 part is cheaper than any trip to the dealer. It didnt work, but when I took apart the rest of my steering column trim i found many many disturbing things.

1. The main harness coming to the steering wheel has 4 cut wires
2. The old transciever on the steering column has a set of two wires superglued to it, going to a little grey box. That little grey box also has two wires coming off the main harness. grey box part # 8L3Z-19F365-BA
3. There is a wire coming off the steering wheel that has been spliced and is leading up into the dash cavity
4. The car is equipped with a Ford auto starter. I had assumed this was a factory offering, but now I see this thing has been apparently hacked in. it is zip tied up behind the steering column and has a haphazard array of wires leading all over the place.
5. There is a weird momentary switch wrapped in heat shrink coming off of the harness that has the 4 cut wires and the two wires going to the "weird grey box"

Imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/RYqiI

most of the wiring harnesses look like something has been done to them, theyre all covered in melting black vinyl tape , some of it was cut and split open.

What the hell could possibly be going on? Did someone botch a ford auto starter install? Was this thing stolen and repaired really ****tily?

 

[Explorer_PL]

Instead of dealer, I would stop by alarm/remote start shops (but you can't drive it - right ?). Looks like that type of a job. The place I used cut and spliced the wires to the door locks and I had the car unlocking and locking anytime it was raining or snowing outside. After 2 years of going crazy I found a bundle of wires under the door sill where the water was shorting the circuit.

The alarm shops do not do a good job all the time, sometimes they employ "kids" who just cut and tape wires.

 

[JeepGuy25]

If you are planning to tackle this yourself, then my suggestion will apply. My favorite way to attack someone elses wiring hacks, is to ditch it all. Anything and everything associated with whatever you are working on, should be removed. Fix any main wiring harness wires that are cut, and anywhere there is a tap or splice, clean it up and at least put some fresh electric tape on it.

Get rid of ALL that crap. Then see where you stand with the truck. Will it start? Is everything working?

If you really want the FORD remote start, then reinstall it...but do a better job. Or once you are back to ground zero, take it to a shop to have a remote start installed. I have a Viper system on my car and I LOVE it. Im not a huge fan of aftermarket alarms usually, but this one is nice. I have a module that allows me to lock, unlock, and start from my phone.

In any case, I just dealt with a similar situation with my Explorer. Vehicle belonged to a firefighter. So I had TONS of crap. An old K40 radar system that was wired int all over. Lots of power wires for lights and stuff. It was a mess. I did exactly what I said here. Stripped it all out, and re-did it. You'll be surprised how many issues it will solve as well as how much better you'll feel knowing its not a mess.