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GEM module replacement

Do you mean the parking lights on the exterior of the car?

I'm full of ideas... some of them might even be helpful!
 



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Do you mean the parking lights on the exterior of the car?

I'm full of ideas... some of them might even be helpful!

Yes, the exterior parking lights.

Joe, better to be full of ideas than full of sh**. :)
 






Joe, the HU is not a replacement for a Ford unit. The Ford HU went up for sale years ago. The new Alpine CDA-9883 is a replacement for a JVC that I have had for years.

I believe the issue is with the connector. I shall repair it tomorrow.

The "parking lights on with ignition" problem is the last of my GEM issues.
 






What I was asking is which factory stereo was in it originally? That'll tell me which diagram it is... But I would agree it's probably in the harness.

The parking lights don't pass through the GEM IIRC. Let me look in a bit...

-Joe
 






Joe, its been gone so long, but I think it was a Mach. It had AM/FM radio, cassette as well as CD.

There was rear controls in the high console; no steering wheel controls.
 






If it was a mach, you would have had the factory subwoofer. Did you?

If not, Fuse Junction panel, #20 (7.5A mini) feeds the BK/PK wire and should be hot in ACC or RUN
FJP #28 (7.5A mini) feeds the RD/BK wire, and should be hot in START.
FJP #29 (25A mini) feeds the LG/VT wire and should be hot at all times.

The fuses and colors should be the same for the MACH unit as well. There were some additional ones that fed the sub and RICP, but with an aftermarket HU, those are probably non-functional now.

As for the park lamp/ignition switch issue, that's got me stumped. I see nowhere where the ignition switch and parking lights interface directly. However, they've got to be getting power from somewhere, so let's do some digging.

First question: DO YOU HAVE AUTOLAMPS?

Looking at the schematic, it appears that the parking lights are fed from one of two power sources: First would be the main headlight switch, and second would be the battery junction box. Unfortunately, both sources are hot at all times, so we need to pin it down to one of the two if we can. In the BJB, pull fuse #11 (15A mini) and turn the key on and see if the lights come on. If they do, we know it's either getting power from the main light switch, or back-feeding from the GEM. (When you turn the lights ON, the power should go to the GEM as an input, so the GEM knows they are on)

Now, my next step would be to attempt to unplug the headlight switch. Some people insist you need to remove the IP to do so, but if you're dexterous and have small hands, you should be able to remove the three screws that hold the interior fuse panel in place, and swing it far enough out of the way that you can reach up behind it and disconnect the headlight switch. It's not easy, but I've done it.

Once it's unplugged, try it again.

The third thing I would try is to remove the park lamp relay and try it again. It's in the relay block I mentioned in one of yesterday's posts... somewhere to the right and below the steering wheel. I can't make out the location exactly from the picture. If pulling the relay stops it from happening, it'll narrow down the possibilities to something that grounds that relay. Have you spliced into anything back there for an accessory? (fog lights, etc...) If so, you may be inadvertently grounding the relay, causing the lights to come on...

This one's got me stumped... Start there and let me know what you find!
 






No factory subwoofer.

No autolamps. Nothing spliced there.
 






Joe, I pulled fuse # 11 in the BJB and turned on the ignition and still have parking lamps illuminated.

I am off to the gym now but will try to find the relay next.

I will have to pull the IP as my hands are rather large and will not fit through the space behind the fuse panel.
 






Before you do that, let me check and see if we can cut the power to the light switch without unplugging the switch.... gotta dig...

Hmmm... :scratch: it appears that the parking light circuit on the headlamp switch is also fed by the battery junction box Fuse #11, sooo..... That would mean that when you pulled that fuse, it also *should* have cut the power to the headlamp switch as well. Soooo..... We can logically assume that it's not the relay feeding the power to the lights, it's got to be back-feeding from something else downstream of the relay. (The fuse feeds power to both the coil and the load, and the power from the switch is connected to the other pole of the relay (it's a DPDT on-on relay in case that makes sense)

The only major component connected downstream of the relay is the PATS module, but all it does is ground the relay to trigger the lights when they flash with the anti-theft perimeter alarm. It does not feed power directly to the lights. The only other thing I see there is the dimmer module, but that..... wait a second... :scratch: :lightbulb:

Are just the exterior parking lights coming on, or are the instrument panel lights also coming on? If it's just the outside lights, then I'm still stumped. If the IP lights also come on, then I might be on to something there.... I'm wondering if you have a bad dimmer module, and it's back-feeding into the headlight switch circuit and powering the lights? The only way to know would be to unplug it, and then try the headlight switch. If you regain control by unplugging the dimmer, then I would suspect it's toast.

I'm wondering if this might be the root cause of the other issues you had? (Or at least a couple of them...)

Keep me posted... this one's got me stumped...
 












IIRC, somebody had a similar issue once before... Let's look at what they all have in common:

This was me, on my '05 a while back. I was installing my LED map lights, and accidentally crossed the two wires before I taped them... killed everything listed and scared me crapless, since the dealership told me that I might have killed the instrument cluster. Drove me crazy since I assumed that it would either be a large fuse under the hood, or one of the interior fuses, but all of them checked out according to the wiring diagram. Eventually, I went through checking every fuse, and found that a 15A fuse under the hood was blown. Turned out that I misread the diagram, and was looking at the same number fuse, but under the dash, not under the hood.

Glad to see that your major problem is solved, though, Al.
 






It's good to know my memory hasn't completely failed me.... yet. :p

-Joe
 






Parking lights on with ignition issue resolved.

Details later; too tired to type.
 






OK, the suspense is killing me!!! Spill it!
 






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.
 






Here are a few shots pf the fried wiring ....
 

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Here are a few shots pf the fried wiring ....

Holy crap.... glad to hear that there was no perminant damage to any electronics from that mess.
 






I know this has already been resolved but did anyone think that the parking light issue could have been as simple as the illumination wire in the radio harness and totally unrelated to the GEM? If the radio harness melted the illumination wire probably made contact with the keyed power wire for the radio. Turn on the key and the wire has power and is shorting over to the illumination wire. The radio lights normally dim with just the parking lights on so it sounds feasible to me. I might be totally on the wrong track but it made some sense to me.
 



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I know this has already been resolved but did anyone think that the parking light issue could have been as simple as the illumination wire in the radio harness and totally unrelated to the GEM? If the radio harness melted the illumination wire probably made contact with the keyed power wire for the radio. Turn on the key and the wire has power and is shorting over to the illumination wire. The radio lights normally dim with just the parking lights on so it sounds feasible to me. I might be totally on the wrong track but it made some sense to me.

That might be the case with an OEM radio. I have an aftermarket one with no dimmer wire.

Thamks for commenting anyway.
 






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