strange happenings

[rdalesan]

Got a good one to share. on the way home from work the dash lit up with the 2wd, 4wd, 4X4 and low washer indicators flashing for a second or two. the rear wiper did not work. the car was in gear when this occurred. when i got home i put the truck in park and the rear wiper worked. put it in gear the lights flashed again and the rear wiper didn't work. seems like a short but was wondering if anyone had this similar issue.

thanks.

 

[syntaxerror]

Have you either had heavy rain very recently or washed your truck? That sounds an awful lot like water got onto the GEM module/interior fuse box and is causing mixed signals to the various components. I would venture to bet you have the leaking windshield seam allowing water inside and that it will return to "normal" once everything dries out.

 

[rdalesan]

Spot on

Hey thanks for the reply. you were right in that it worked the next day after it dried out. Now, today it rained some more but i wouldn't say it was hard and the trouble started again only this time the transmission was shifting at 2500 rpms and the speedometer and odometer stopped working. these related to the rain too? if so, how does one go about to fix it?

 

[syntaxerror]

The wet GM/fusebox can cause pretty much any/all problems. My truck said it was in 4low, the awd wouldnt work, radio wouldnt work, wipers wouldnt work, all sorts of crazy lights and happenings. As such, I wouldn't put it past it being the cause.

The fix, from what I've seen (havent done it myself yet) is to get your windshield pulled and re-sealed. The issue is that the seal will start to separate and slowly allows water to drain inside and accumulate above the electronics. Once enough moisture builds up in the GEM (basically a sealed bucket), the problems start happening. If not resolved soon enough, you can end up with permanent damage to the electronics themselves and end up replacing the GEM/fusebox as the water will cause things to corrode and cause permanent shorts.

 

[syntaxerror]

Also, this is a pretty common issue. here's a sticky with some more detail:

http://www.expeditionforum.com/f42/first-gen-windshield-leak;-thermo-16058/

 

[rdalesan]

Well wish me luck. i had the windshield replaced and we wait for the next rain or i may put a hose on it to see if its fixed.

If for some chance it doesn't fix it, where would the moisture come from other than the windshield? i don't have a sunroof.

 

[FordandPolaris]

It should be fine. Was the windshield factory original to your knowledge? It seems that the Ford seals were bad, but once replaced, they hold up fine. Mine used to do some odd stuff and quit immediately after replacing the shield about 2 years ago.

 

[rdalesan]

Actually the guy said that the windshield was not the original and was done wrong. supposed to get some heavy t-storms today so I'll let you know how it works.

 

[rdalesan]

heavy rain today and the truck worked perfect