Electrical issues

[Boozerbear]

OK I just got this truck and it has some issues first the doors ajar light on the dash is on but all the doors are closed. I wd40'ed all the hinges but it didn't help. I checked the door for pinched wires and found 2 black wires outside the boot that were wrapped electrical tape I don't know if this was a repair or not but they were pinched off and pulled apart a little so I spliced another wire to make it longer. Both wires are the same size and black looks like it's going to some cylinder of some sort maybe the air ride pump? while checking the fuses and relays I noticed both ARS fuse and relay were missing I haven't replaced those yet I dont even know if my truck has air ride maybe thats why theres no fuse and relay.

any ideas what those 2 14g black wires.
Is normal to have the domelights heat blower?

The guy I bought it off of said he replaced the shocks maybe he used normal shocks over the ars? truck drives fine for its year. he also said it had a short somewhere he count find it so he hooked up a battery disconnect so we shut power down that way so we don't drain the battery but I'm thinking those wired in the door I fix might have been the short he was talking about and wanna test it out my self cant do that till tomorrow.

It turns out the guy that had the truck before me added a cigarret lighter to the over head consol and jumped the power wire from the dome light and the temp/compass so the dome light backfeed the whole system.

 

[J_C]

If by two black wires you mean it looks like two ends of the same wire after it broke apart, then yes you should slide some heatshrink tubing over one end, twist them together, solder, then slide the tubing into place and heat set it. If they were corroded it may need a fair bit of flux to cut through the corrosion while soldering.

You might just have one of the (5?) door jam switches going out. One at a time, open only one door and press the switch plunger in as far as it will go and wiggle it around a little to see if the alarm stops.

You can check to see if you still have an air suspension or not, but being black they're probably both grounds and it shouldn't be a problem for them to be connected together.

I don't understand what you mean by "is normal to have the domelights heat blower?". Check the rest of the wires going through the door hinge boot area. If they flexed enough to break one then others may also be broken off and unlike the ground wires, others could be contacting another wire or metal in the area and shorting that way.

Ultimately if all else fails you'd take a multimeter and measure current draw from the battery while pulling each fuse and relay in turn to see which subcircuit disconnection causes the battery drain to stop, though if it is only an intermittent battery drain instead of all the time then it may take a while to find it.

 

[Boozerbear]

I don't understand what you mean by "is normal to have the domelights heat blower?".

Sorry it was late lol

Whats going on is after I start the truck the dome lights stay on for a bit I don't know if that's normal for that model or not I just got it and haven't tested it on the road much. Also after I turn it off and remove the key the fan is still blowing air out my Accord keeps the lights powered and windows powered till the drivers door opens but not the fan so I didn't know if that was normal for Fords I've never had one before.

 

[J_C]

Do you have automatic climate control for HVAC or just a multi-position fan knob and vent choice knob? With auto climate you might have the console control module or the driving transistor pack (in the engine compartment next to the blower motor) failing.

I don't recall if there is a combination of switches or whatever that would keep my dome light on for a while but I know it doesn't after I get in and close the door. Maybe that slider knob on my windshield rear view mirror would adjust that. Try sliding that all the way to the left to see if it does anything.

 

[Boozerbear]

The door ajar light issue is fixed it was the rear hatch I just cut the white/purple stripe wire and it was all good.

I have the knobs for climate control, so I got the dome lights fixed but I still have power to the fan after I have the key out the guy I bought it off of told me there was a short somewhere and he couldn't find it so he hooked up a battery disconnect.

I have a voltage meter but it's a cheapo and bounces around so much it's hard to see if anythings draining but I'm still messing around with it I'll update if I find anything else with power.

 

[J_C]

BUT, does it have auto climate control?
Here's a related topic with a wiring diagram.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2847552&postcount=9

 

[Boozerbear]

The suns starting to go down here so now I noticed the dash lights and everything is on like the keys in the first position. my guess is a bad ignition maybe? I don't know if it has auto climate control but I dont think thats the problem since everything is on not just the fan.

 

[Boozerbear]

After some internet digging I think I might have a short to power maybe the fuse box I dunno it's to late to start digging now. I'm trying to figure out the wiring to see where I need to test any help where to start would be great.

UPDATE

After spraying electrical contact clearing the the ignition key hole things seem to be the way it should be but the temp/compass is still on and if I have the auto light thing on the rearview mirror turned on then the headlights and I think the dash lights remained on soon as I push the auto light button it all turns off like it should except the temp/comp.

 

[Boozerbear]

After reading the owners manual I found out that the headlights and dash lights are suposed to stay on after the keys removed for up to 3 minutes having the timer slider on the review mirror so that's working fine it seems.

I Removed the ignition lock cylinder and cleaned it and tested it without the cylinder in the steering column but power still remained to the fan and overhead temp/com display and sunroof.

Would a bad alternator or solenoid cause this? When I hook a voltage meter to the battery it's jumping all over the place from 12.52-14.32 after driving it for a few miles. I've read that a alternator can leak current while it has it and draw current when it's discharged any energy it build up from driving.

has anyone heard of this and how would I test it?

 

[J_C]

Because it's still powering the overhead console I suspect you have a controller module out. Is it the GEM or another? I can't recall.

A bad alternator can cause battery drain, but it won't cause the fan or overhead console to keep running. The way you can test alternator drain is to set your multimeter to current measurement, put it in series with the positive battery terminal and the positive battery cable, and measure current.

Next repeat that measurement with the alternator electrical connector unplugged. If it previously read an excessive current then stopped with the alternator unplugged, you have an alternator fault. All readings should be done with the engine off, ignition not turned on, not even to accessories.

 

[Boozerbear]

Yeah I'm stumped on this one my best guess now is I called ford to see what recalls I've won and they said I'm due for a cruise control fix while I'm there I'll see if I can get the gem flashed or programmed.

I've heard of gems going bad and stuff not working but never thought it would go bad and keep everything on. I have 2 gems ones from a junk yard and it does the same thing.

I'm still getting power to all accessory with the key out even the windows have power. From what I've read most the things that have power all run through the GEM so I took the stock GEM and sprayed it down with contact cleaner I'll install it tomorrow and see what happens it's dark and raining outside atm.