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2002 Explorer XLT Electrical Problems

Squilax

Active Member
Joined
November 1, 2007
Messages
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City, State
Holtwood, PA
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 Explorer XLT
I’ve searched these forums extensively and cannot find a situation like this one with all the problems happening at one time…

Last night on my way home from work, I noticed the dash lights getting dimmer and dimmer and the battery indicator needle started dropping toward “L”. Eventually the battery warning light came on, but went off when I accelerated going up a hill. The “ABS” warning light also came on. Fortunately, I made it into my driveway before the engine quit altogether.

This morning, I went out and bought a new battery – the one in the truck was the original from 2002. I installed the new battery after cleaning the positive wire terminal and replacing the negative wire terminal and ground connector.

Turned the key and VOILA! She started up fine and no problems with the battery gauge.

Now here’s the Problem: When I shut off the engine, pull the key from the ignition, and open the door, the Radio and Clock remain on, and power is still connected to the electric windows. I can open and close them with the engine off, key removed and door open. Also – the “Door Ajar” light does not come on, so I am assuming the truck doesn’t realize the door is opened and that the other devices should turn off. The door chime does not sound when the door is open and the key is in the ignition.

On the other hand, the electric locks do not work, nor do the outside puddle lights on the mirrors come on when I try to unlock the doors using the remote. There is no way to lock the tailgate without the electric locks (at least that I am aware of). Neither of my remotes will lock or unlock the doors, set off the hazard alarm, or unlock the glass door on the back liftgate. The door lock/unlock switch on the driver’s and passenger’s door does not work either.

Another issue is that the dash panel lights do not come on when I have the headlight switch set to the “auto” position. They do come on when I turn the headlights on manually.

The following has been checked out:

Battery is brand new as of today.

Alternator is working fine – checked out by a mechanic friend who has his own garage.

The fuse for the door locks is not blown.

The Delayed Accessory fuse, circuit breaker, and other fuse (30A) in the power distribution panel are all intact.

The only thing I did not check was the Delayed Accessory Relay on the top of the fuse box under the steering column.

I took it to a local Ford Dealership. The service guy told me I could either leave it or schedule to bring it in because they would need to put a diagnostic scan tool on it to figure out the problem. This would, according to him, take a lot of time (and I am assuming a lot of $$$, too!). He said he thought it might be a “module” that, in his words, “went to sleep and didn’t wake up”, or it just went bad altogether.

Any ideas????

Thanks in advance…
 



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My guess is you have a broken wire or two in the flex conduit between driver's door and chassis that is screwing with the security module.
 






My guess is you have a broken wire or two in the flex conduit between driver's door and chassis that is screwing with the security module.

Could the security module itself be bad?

Some posts on here also mention a "GEM" - what the heck is that and could that be my problem?
 






What's the build date of your '02?
 












What's the build date of your '02?

The date on the VCL inside the driver's door is 02/02 (February 2, 2002??)

That was a Saturday. Do those guys work on Saturdays??

Does that help?
 






The date on the VCL inside the driver's door is 02/02 (February 2, 2002??)

That was a Saturday. Do those guys work on Saturdays??

Does that help?

Yeah, it means it was built in Feb. 2002 and therefore is an 'early-build'. Things are complicated for the early builds. You do have a GEM. You also have a security module. Late-builds, built 03/2002 and up, have no GEM (generic electronic module) and have updated security modules and instrument clusters.

Look for broken wire(s) in the driver's door conduit.
 






Thanks - that's where I will start.

Looks like a project for this weekend coming up.
 






Sometimes the answer is so obvious you miss it...

I thought it may be a bad module, or relay, or even the broken wire mentioned iin this thread - I had read that in other threads.

Anyway - it needed a new alternator. I took it to my regular mechanic and he found it.

Everything is back to normal now :thumbsup:
 






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