Versus

Hi Friends,

Sorry if this post is fairly long. I made a post a while back but hit another dead end. I figured I would give you my story and my current problem. I am fairly mechanically inclined so I am able to inspect and do the majority of work on my own (short of having a lift) . However I am wondering if I should just call it quits. This might be the first time a car/truck has completely claimed its victory over my patience.

So here is the story in order, I figured this would be better than giving every detail. Keep in mind when you see "purchased x and it did not work" there was more than just me accepting the fact of the situation. However for your sake I will spare you the arguments with mechanics. As you know in a fair amount of cases unless the problem is currently happening at that "moment" the places are unable to fix the problem. "HEEEEEH"... So here is the situation broken up into segments; (not sure why this matters but I no longer have a working FOB , lost one and the other enjoys unlocking and locking the truck randomly)

Keep in mind the only water getting into the cabin right now is through the rear windshield (single piece) or third brake light.

Truck was let down slightly rough (didn't slam and my be coincidence but I am adding it, was replacing the bearings / front brake pads)

Theft light was blinking and truck would not start after 2 tries it started and I thought nothing of it. A fair amount of time went by.

Truck would have this issue again after a rain, if the truck did start it would also have the OD light on and not shift past 2nd without it breaking up horribly.

Problem presisted, speedo enjoyed dancing back and forth randomly not associated to actual rpm.

Problem would clear up until it rained again.

Another problem came about, the truck key would not turn inside the door handle.

I would stuff towels inside the engine bay at work if it was about to rain hopefully soaking up what was getting wet. This sometimes seemed to help.

Problem grew worse, every rain would cause it and at times I would be looking at blinking theft after 50 or so tries of flipping the ignition to "on" but not turning it over as I learned a blinking theft mean it would not start regardless. Plus at this point I knew if I did not hear the fuel pump whirl nothing would happen aside from the truck trying to turn over.

Started posting and asking, replaced my keys. This did not fix the problem.

Diagnostic fee's (75 bucks to plug in a scanner, neat) where they did not see a problem.

Checked for cabin leaks and nothing, replaced windshield wiper cover and used enough rtv to create my own island. Nothing.

Decided to try ford dealers only. (heh, well surely these guys will know.)

New battery to fix problem, nope.

Oh it is not just the battery but the ECU! Well 1000 dollars but at least it will be fixed. (Did not fix the problem, I did notice at this point the breaking up / speedo wiggling / OD light being on no longer occured).

Checked forums, replaced a windshield where the guys told me "we make our money by the amount of these we do in a day, your windshield is not leaking" I had them replace it anyway.

Problem persisted and dealership told me it could be another issue, they would need to check for another diagnostic fee. Went back to the forums instead as no one there even mentioned the leaking windshield could be a possible problem.

Engine light stays on (EGR error).

This problem continued to worsen, it now does it whenever it feels like it and progressively happens more and more. Eventually leaving me a couple hours from home where it "stopped" , hundreds of tries turning the key and nothing. The pats did not want the fuel pump turning on. I had it towed to the same dealer where upon the truck being let off the flat bed it started up and I drove it home.

Checked the forum and a helpful user told me to check the front driver side passages. I removed the driver side body panel and everything checked out okay.

This problem has been going on for a few years now. I decided to say screw it and replace the inner fuse assembly plus the GEM module (which in all honesty I should have done a while back when I first heard it could be the problem, hence fixing the leaks even if they were not visable) , 0 corrosion but I did it anyway. I tried to start her up today after replacing the gem and the same problem happened. This time its kind of funny, sometimes the fuel pump likes to kick on right after pats already tells the computer not to allow the truck to get fuel.


Unfortunately this is also where after years of looking around I have taken the final step in what normally solves the issue. Only thing that comes to my mind is the following.

Something in the engine bay? A bad ground? Entire PATS system replacement? Entire harness inspection (1200 if lucky) ? Some sort of corrosion inside the driver side door (ground / wiring issue)? I have never had any kind of radio or other issues. It has always been the problems listed above.

Any ideas are appreciated. I really have enjoyed this truck but I am pulling out the little hair I have left.


Edit: (Well more of an addition) Just because I am curious inside the engine bay behind the power/fuse box there, there are 3 "box" like modules that the harness plugs into (they are semi recessed into the firewall) what are these? If water were to hit the harness and leak towards the bottom one, what would this mean?