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Electrical?! HELP!

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Old Feb 25, 2018 | 08:46 PM
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Default Electrical?! HELP!

01 f150 xlt 5.4l 4x4
Alright folks.... Been doin some research and can't seem to find the info I'm looking for.

Recently heard a click noise behind dash (fairly certain it was a relay) while I was driving. Very sporadic. Only lasted a few min.

Radio, hvac blower, door chime stay on after key has been removed from ignition AND door opened. I have to take faceplate off radio and make sure to turn my hvac off or it kills battery.

Aftermarket alarm randomly went off for about a day. First time it went off I went out to the truck to check it to find my radio and hvac blaring after what I thought was a clean shutoff (this problem seems to be intermittent. Some times all seems normal somtimes I have to manually turn everything off)

The trucks runnin fine when it runs. I'm tired of having to jump it or disconnect the battery so it won't be drained.

So my research has pointed to a few different possibilities. Most of it points to the dreaded windshield leak with water damage to the GEM but I've also read some people talking about a couple purple wires that run under the drivers side door trim that tend to get nasty?

Has anyone had similar issues so far and what seems to be the culprit to yalls much more mechanically inclined minds?!

ANY HELP IS MUCH APPRECIATED!

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Old Feb 25, 2018 | 09:10 PM
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Do your 4X4 lights on the dash flash on an off randomly? Power windows ever stop working? Truck ever try and start itself?
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Old Feb 25, 2018 | 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by white89gt
Do your 4X4 lights on the dash flash on an off randomly? Power windows ever stop working? Truck ever try and start itself?
4x4 lights blinked a couple times while driving. I don't think power windows ever stopped or the trucks ever tried to start itsself.
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Old Feb 25, 2018 | 11:22 PM
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Classic GEM module then. It's wet.

You can pull the GEM and submerge it in a bucket of rice. It will draw all of the moisture out in 24 to 48 hours. It works really well..... then of course, you'll need to seal your leak.
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Old Feb 26, 2018 | 12:14 AM
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Originally Posted by white89gt
Classic GEM module then. It's wet.

You can pull the GEM and submerge it in a bucket of rice. It will draw all of the moisture out in 24 to 48 hours. It works really well..... then of course, you'll need to seal your leak.
Roger that! So is it worth trying to salvage the old one that could potentially be corrupt or buy a new one? And I think I read something about having to have them reprogrammed or am I way off?
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Old Feb 26, 2018 | 02:55 AM
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Default Update. I'm F*****!

So I got home and got it cranked (the mentioned issues drained my battery) and took it for a little drive to charge the battery. Was gonna disconnect the battery when I got home so I could start it in the mornun. Half way home I pulled into a parking lot to look through my owners manual and the truck goes ape****. Lights started turning on and off, 4x4 light was blinking like a mad man but worst of all the starter was engaging sporadically. Left the truck runnin another 30 seconds to take a video then **** it off. The lights and starter continued to ape**** even with the key out of the ignition.... Ran to get my tools and disconnected the battery. Let it sit for 10 min and touched the battery lead to the post and it continued still. Thought maybe I could get it home (only a mile) but the truck won't crank... had to leave it stranded in the parking lot and walk home.... oh, in my frustration I locked my damn keys in the truck. FML. Sooooo what should my next step be? Can't leave it in parkin lot, but can't crank it.
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Old Feb 26, 2018 | 06:30 AM
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That battery needs to be unhooked. It will try and start itself. Mine wore the battery down pretty far. The night mine happened, my Wife was in the hospital, so it was my neighbor that heard it. Luckily, my Wife had left the doors open that night, and he was able to get in it and unhook the battery. But he told me he thought the thing was possessed, lol. 48 hours in a bucket o' rice fixed her up good as new. Then I got the guy that installed the windshield to come (much to his displeasure) find the leak and seal it. The windshield had only been in for a couple months though, so it was his shoddy work that caused it.

It sounds goofy, but it works.... and it's a DIRT CHEAP fix...



This is what the bulkhead receptacle is most likely going to look like on your GEM..

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Old Feb 27, 2018 | 10:49 PM
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100% to what White said. Such a common problem for these trucks. The bodies have moved so much over the years, that windshields and rear windows leak with the stress. I like the rice idea also.
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Old Oct 14, 2021 | 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by white89gt
Classic GEM module then. It's wet.

You can pull the GEM and submerge it in a bucket of rice. It will draw all of the moisture out in 24 to 48 hours. It works really well..... then of course, you'll need to seal your leak.
Where is the GEM located,Please?
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Old Oct 15, 2021 | 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by white89gt
That battery needs to be unhooked. It will try and start itself. Mine wore the battery down pretty far. The night mine happened, my Wife was in the hospital, so it was my neighbor that heard it. Luckily, my Wife had left the doors open that night, and he was able to get in it and unhook the battery. But he told me he thought the thing was possessed, lol. 48 hours in a bucket o' rice fixed her up good as new. Then I got the guy that installed the windshield to come (much to his displeasure) find the leak and seal it. The windshield had only been in for a couple months though, so it was his shoddy work that caused it.

It sounds goofy, but it works.... and it's a DIRT CHEAP fix...



This is what the bulkhead receptacle is most likely going to look like on your GEM..

I made a post a while back about my dome light randomly clicking on and off and when I remove and insert the fuse it will click on then 10 seconds later it will click off and never come back on. Could putting it in rice help that or could that even be a wet gem module since nothing else is going on?
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