OK, the suspense is killing me!!! Spill it!
I think I was infected with a poltergeist, and thought of seeking an automotive exorcism.
My electrical issues started when I fried a fuse (
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193590&highlight=melted+fuse ), #20 in the FJP, this fuse feeds the RAP, GEM and the radio.
After taking the radio out and doing a little detective work on the wiring, I discovered a melted mess on the vehicle side of the radio connector ( sorry no pictures ).
After cleaning up the mess I rewired power and ground to the radio. The constant 12v was routed directly from the battery with a 7.5 amp fuse in line, the ignition switched 12v was routed from fuse #20 in the MJB ( with a Add A Circuit fuse holder
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Product_ID=1527 ] with a 7.5 amp fuse ), ground came directly from the battery.
Back at the radio connector, I cut ( and insulated the ends ) all the wires except the 8 feeding the door speakers.
The radio was reinstalled and played fine with the ignition switched on, however, once the truck was started, the radio would cut on and off. Assuming that there were more fused wires, I dug deeper into the harness. I did indeed find more fused wire, some of which ahad the insulation melted completely off. After excising this mess and insulating the ends, I turned on the radio and it worked fine ( as before ) with the ignition on and continued to do so after the truck was cranked. Another problem solved.
Now on to the bizarre....
The “parking lights on with the ignition” came back to life, ie, the parking lights now only work as designed, with the light switch. Further, the panic alarm (
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193745&highlight=gem
) on the key fob remote once again functions normally.
My conclusion: since *** fuse #20 feeds the GEM, the RAP ( which communicated with the GEM ) and the radio. The melted fuse/wire issue must have shorted something in or leading to the GEM. It was resolved when the wiring to the radio was cleaned up.
It appears that root of the problems was a short in the wires aft of the radio connector. The etiology remains unknown, my thesis is that somehow a wire rubbed and removed its insulation.
Once again all is well with my Explorer.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to all who offered assistance.