Door sensor data error- VSM issues?

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Ozzy

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Hello all. I’m new, and I have what seems to be an old issue, but haven’t seen much in the way of solid solutions yet. Giving this a try.

I have an 05 Expy, Eddie Bauer edition I’ve owned for just over one year. From the beginning I’ve always had a TPMS error that I have to clear with reset. No biggie.

A couple weeks ago, I started to have charging issues (I thought) where I almost or actually did require a jump to get started. I discovered a lot of corrosion on the battery connectors and cables when I tried a charge on the battery to see if it held. I cleaned that all well, charged battery to full, and went all week last week on the road for work with zero problems. Came home Friday night and parked in driveway (son had my spot occupied with his four wheeler project). It was raining if that has any bearing, though I don’t notice any leaking in the vehicle. Got up Saturday morning to start the truck and go have new tires installed and it was dead. I figured the battery must indeed be bad. Go to Walmart, have new tires installed and battery checked, they say battery is good, and charging system also. I go through the rest of Saturday with zero problems.

Today (Sunday), same dead issue. But now I noticed the door locks don’t work (thankfully it was unlocked so at least I can get in all the doors and hatch), interior lights don’t come on with door opening (they do work, just not auto), the auto headlights don’t come on (manual works), I have the TPMS error, plus Door Sensor Data Error on the dash display, and of course the radio and window controls don’t auto off with door opening. They do the usual timeout of 10 or so minutes.

With these issues somehow there is a drain on the battery I’m guessing, or something that caused the initial problem I had has grown into this.

I plan to download ForScan and purchase the dongle, as it could have saved me some diagnosis time on previous issues I’ve had (bad coil packs, VTC solenoid, etc).

In the meantime, anyone have some insight as to what I need to look for? I’ve seen some issues being the VSM , and others communication to it, plus other odd wiring problems. I’m hoping not the latter.


Oz
 

kramerpage

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I had that going on and found the rear wiper motor was on all the time. Took me months to figure it out. Open tailgate and place your hand on the plastic trim behind wiper. You can feel the heat of the motor if that's the issue. Good luck.

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Ozzy

Ozzy

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I had that going on and found the rear wiper motor was on all the time. Took me months to figure it out. Open tailgate and place your hand on the plastic trim behind wiper. You can feel the heat of the motor if that's the issue. Good luck.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk


Ah yes, this is one of the others issues I saw as well. I’ve also encountered that one, so it was actually my first place to go. I replaced it last year but had no faith it couldn’t happen again. It would have been such an easy fix, but alas, but this time. Thanks for trying though. It might help someone else that sees this.
 

Hamfisted

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How old is the battery ? If it's over 4 years old replace it. ( Finding a lot of corrosion on the terminals would tell me it's old...). Do you have a digital meter ? You can do an amp draw test on the system. The usual suspects are the rear wiper and the glove box light. You don't see any dome lights or courtesy lights staying on for extended periods do you ?
 
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Ozzy

Ozzy

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How old is the battery ? If it's over 4 years old replace it. ( Finding a lot of corrosion on the terminals would tell me it's old...). Do you have a digital meter ? You can do an amp draw test on the system. The usual suspects are the rear wiper and the glove box light. You don't see any dome lights or courtesy lights staying on for extended periods do you ?


The battery is unknown age, but still test good, both at home and at parts store. I was prepared to buy one, but they insist it’s good. Guess it’s better than having them hammer me to buy one.

The other symptoms I’m having- no dome lights upon door opening, no radio and window delay auto off when door opening (they remain on for the 10 or so minutes period), no auto headlights, plus dash display of Door Sensor Data Error, Tire Pressure Monitor Error, etc, all lead to the VSM module from what I’ve gathered. Problem is, I was hoping to find some others here with real world experience with that specific issue, and how they came to that 100% before I wanna blow +/- $200 on a new VSM.

I’m also trying to connect the dots to why the battery s mysteriously discharging. Once I cleaned everything up properly, it’s been fine until this issue. Now it’***** or miss if it’s gonna die overnight. Other than the other mentioned issues, the truck started right up this morning, with 12.7 volts at the battery before I cranked it.

I am out of town again working, and stopped mid afternoon to take a meter reading at the battery again- 12.8 volts. Been doing errands and now having a bite to eat, it’s dark so lights have been on, and still holding at 12.7 volts. Damn weird.
 
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Ozzy

Ozzy

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Update: I’m out of town working and had zero issues on the battery part since I got here on Monday. Today I had the dead battery issue twice. One of my job sites was a auto repair shop. The guy checked my battery with a proper tester. Battery is definitely bad.

So, I’ve had a friend with a Lincoln that experienced my original stated issues. His problem was caused by a dead battery. I’m going to try to replace the battery today and then I’ll update again for anyone that is watching this.
 

kramerpage

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Good luck. Hope that solves this mess. Keep us informed.

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Ozzy

Ozzy

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Update #2 today. New 850cca battery installed (needed a jump 3 times today, so weird that I had zero issues for over 3 days, even this morning after sitting all night).

My other issues still remain, so I wasn’t lucky enough for the battery to be the root problem. Going to keep digging.
 
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Ozzy

Ozzy

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Do you have ForScan ? It has PIDs in it for checking the door switches and might point you in a direction to look. It's free to download and use. You'll need a compatible bluetooth OBDII adapter.

https://forscan.org/home.html

I do not yet, but I’m going to try to get set up for that this weekend. One of down sides of working out of state: never enough time to do everything you want and NEED to do in two days.

At least now with the new battery, I’ve not had that part of my problems come back. That was now without a doubt just a coincidental issue. I’m also glad to not have the other side of the problems I’ve seen others report with door ajar always on, or worse, no start due to the vehicle not recognizing the key.
 

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