Hello all,...

Wonder if any of you veteran sleuthers can help me diagnose this mystery. My 97 F150 V6 4.2Liter that has 305K on the Odometer has been sitting in my driveway waiting to be cleaned up and sold this month to a guy that wants it to mess around with.
We have had some cold snaps on and off through the winter (Western Tennessee) and I have repeatedly started the truck up and driven it around the block to keep the battery charged. ( In hindsight I should have just taken the battery out and put in my heated garage...yeah...it was a BIG brain fart )
Last month the truck did not start up...totally dead....no lights....nothing. I took the battery out and threw it in the garage and waited until this month to address the issue again.

OK,.....so now my son comes home on school break and after realizing that the truck battery is flat out dead...he proceeds to charge it up and we clean everything up and pop the battery back in.

When he puts the key in the ignition and turns the key to start it (NO START..NOTHING.... DOESN'T EVEN ATTEMPT TO START)....BUT...the wipers go crazy and the fluid continues to shoot out for the wipers...the radio does not work,..the interior lights go on but will not turn off...and the wipers will NOT stop until he turns the truck off again. The hazards will not flash but the lights do light up. Turn signals do not work although they just light up steady but no flashing.... Does anyone know what in the world is going is going on?????

I honestly do not want to throw a ton of money at this because I just want it gone. I have my F250 and nobody drives this truck anymore. I also do not want to sell this to this guy and pass the problem on to him.

What would cause all of these weird behaviors??? The truck barely moves and hasn't for a solid month. I'm baffled.

 

My guess is the GEM module has got wet / damp, probably from a leaking windscreen

Apparently it can cause all sorts of things to happen, luckily it can be removed and put into rice to dry it out which would hopefully cure the weird behaviour

There are plenty of threads on here with weird problems that usually end up being the GEM unit

 

The rice bit works, as long as you give it time to do its job. Quite a few people try this and say that it does not work, but when you ask them how long they had it in with the rice, they say a couple of hours. It does not work that way. You must leave it in the rice, in a sealed container, for at least twenty four hours. Even longer if you suspect a lot of moisture.

 

Yup, the Uncle Bens procedure.

 

ok,...getting someplace now...I think. I took the battery to the Zone after my own testing it with a voltmeter returned a strange result of a negative reading as if in "reverse". Auto Z confirmed that the battery had indeed reversed polarity. So I replaced the da*#n thing and popped it back into the truck. Now EVERYTHING works great as it should EXCEPT it will not start. I'm sooooo close.

There is a battery fuse located behind a panel (under the hood) next to the battery and a couple people have suggested that it is likely that that big fuse may have blown to protect the electrical system. Does this make sense? If so,....is it a nightmare to replace?

td

 

That's a MEGA fuse, there two, easy to replace.175 amp.

 

The rice does not need to be sealed. FYI.

 

You're right, it does not need to be sealed, but it works faster and better when it is not pulling moisture from the air as well.

 

Makes sense...seems like it might need a little oxygen to help the transfer....guessing really.

 

Sufficient O2 in the package when sealed, no need to vacuum seal. You're just limiting the sources for moisture. The rice draws the moisture out,. the only need for O2 is for evaporation.