Electrical issues revisited....

[inh]

bought a new GEM hoping to fix the passenger window that likes to roll down on its own but not roll back up, the interior courtesy light that wont turn on when doors are open but can be turned on via the switch,and the power locks/seats that no longer work. I installed teh GEM tonight, and nothing has changed. I checked out some wiring diagrams on the auto shops computer, and it looks like the only thing all these have in common is power coming from the power distribution box under hood. I checked (and replaced) any bad fuses, but still.. The dome light wouldnt work at all if it wasnt getting power, not just when a door opens. And all the power windows work, just no the front passengers.

Im at a total loss, short of tearing open my drviers side front fender and checking wires.. But i dont think any wires run between the inner and outer fender.. i dunno. kinda bummed

 

[Larry2010]

it's not clear, did you actually find a bad fuse and replace it? If you did, go back and check it again cause if it's blown again it's a good indication you have a short in the wiring ... a pinched wire shorted to ground most likely

 

[inh]

I did check, and the fuse is still good. THe power locks/power seat fuse was blown, but its fine now. Changed it awhile ago and still no worky

 

[inh]

bump

 

[ExplorerDMB]

You didn't happen to have both of the GEMs next to eachother and then put the old one back in did you? That would be a pain. Anyhow, Very interesting problem. Well since the lights will come when activated with the switch that means your lighting circuit is fine, but something isn't right with the switches that the doors use to turn the interior lights on. You need to find the wiring diagram for those. Also, I wonder if the NGS (ford scan tool) will go into the GEM and allow you to switch on and off certain things (command). I might have to look into this tomorrow at work when I'm goofing around up there.

-Drew

 

[inh]

THe new one is definatly in, cuz the old on is on my floorboard and is covered in dust
One wierd issue is the dash lights that stopped working and now work (they started working before i swapped GEMs) as for the power window on the passenger side being a pain, after tearing apart my drivers door panel and the passenger one, i think the motor is shot, because the connector to the motor is giving it 12 volts when i hit the switches, andthe resistance of the motor is 9ohms whereas the resistance on the drivers motor is only 0.9ohms. I think i may have a short somewhere in the wire that lets the driver roll down that window.

and about the power locks, the only wire i could find that would keep all the locks and such from working is the main power wire, so im gonna go tear apart my truck and test that with a multimeter now :/

 

[inh]

Found the problem! About a foot long section of wiring harness that runs down the drivers side to the rear of the truck melted and burned together! I guesstimate about 20 wires that are gonna need to be re connected. fun fun!

 

[ExplorerDMB]

damn...that many wires melting together that's a bad sign...hopefully it won't short. I wonder if your old GEM will work?

-Drew

EDIT: if the GEM caused the wiring issue then I wouldn't put it back in, but maybe the wiring issue happended before you thought the GEM was done/toast

 

[inh]

the GEM causing it wouldnt have melted wires almost righ tin the middle of the harness though, i think. THey were shorting out so i pulled the neg batt cable and started tearing the wires apart. Its gonn ahve to wait till friday when i get paid cuz i have no way to get anywhere and no money to buy wire and connectors. this is gonna be fun. i dont really plan on putting my old gem back in anyways. ill consider it $160 spent in finding the problem ,and replacing a part that probably wouldve failed later on.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Let me ask you this - how do you plan on repairing the wires?

-Drew

 

[inh]

Went to walmart and bought a 25 foot extension cord to hack up, along with 50 connectors to splice in new wire. Looks like theres about 25-30 wires that got ruined...

 

[inh]

decided to just replace the whole harness... digging in to it, the problem (kinda) was a ground wire that runs from the rear drivers side door to the rear passengers door. SOmething had to have been shorting on it, causig it to heat up and melt all the inulation off itself, until it finally got hot enough to start melting other wires.

while temporarily installing the replacement harness tonight, i noticed the wire has no insulation all the way under the carpet and rear seat to both rear doors. freakin sucks. i wish i knew what happened. i think that a wire carrying +12v got cut or something (there was a lot of dirt and misc objects inthe tray the wires rest in) and started shorting. either way looks like im gonna have to order a harness for the passengers side door as well.

 

[410Fortune]

Sounds like a fluke, something happened to your body harness, a dead short is really the only thing that will cause enough heat to melt the insulation, etc.
You are actually VERY lucky your truck did not burn down!

Any chance some stereo wiring gone wrong could have caused this?

 

[inh]

i know i keep telling my self how lucky i am the thing dindt burn to the ground. now im glad i keep a fire extinguisher in there

doubt it was stero wires, as they havent been touched. all that was installed was an aftermarekt head unit, using one of walmart high-speed factory wiring adaptors. havent had any issues with the stereo.

the only thing that ground wire goes to is the 2 LEDs in the power window switches, and even then, one the wire enters the door, it splits, one going to the LEDs, the other going to a lug grounded on the door. So there must have been a dead short somewhere else, probably by the drivers seat which is where there was the mass amount of wires melted together, and also the most amount of dirt, small rocks, and misc junk in the wiring trays.

 

[410Fortune]

Or something heavy enough on the floor to cut the insulation on a + wire?

When I was finishing up my 4.0L conversion years ago I was hooking up my new voltage gage and I accidently crossed the + wire to ground, I was upside down bolting it to the back of the gage and when I was done I stood up, smelled smoke and 2 seconds later I had a SMALL FIRE where the wire came through the firewall! Quick thinking I cut the wire as quick as I could and put the fire out. I was there for another 4 hours upside down, fixing the 8 or so wires it damaged before I could finally drive my 4.0L truck for the first time! Almost lost the BII on that day and possibly a friends HOUSE!!

 

[inh]

OUCH! that woulda sucked! Im soOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad my truck hadnt burned to the ground. i love it more than anything.

all my funky electrical issues are clear. rear wiper returns to its 'perch,' power locks work, dome lights work. its beautiful!

tomorrow i'll pull the rear seat and run the wires the right way