Hello all,

Let me start here.... It all started one day I went out bout to leave for work and battery was completely dead. No interior lights, not even the dash lights came on or odometer would light. I took the battery out my mustang and popped it in and started right up. That was just the beginning of a down hill problem it seems...

The next day after putting truck battery back in charged up I was setting in park waiting to warm up a little and turned the lights on and this god awful grinding noise came from what sounded like the starter when sittign in the cab but with hood popped it sounded like it was coming from the cab wtf?!?! Put it in reverse it stopped, put in neutral came back then into drive and stopped again.

Started driving and this buzzing type noise was coming from the engine and then the all kinds of clicking noises started. One was random and one was the 4x4 when it lighted on the dash clicked then went off, happened about once every minute. I am completely clueless as what the hell this could be. Never heard of such a thing. Let my truck sit for a week to drive the stang and went to start and started right up no struggle.

Checked the alternator and battery with it was running. Unhooked positive and kept running so checked battery which was 13.5 and alternator was 14 volts. When it rains the belt gets wet and squeals like hell so do you think water got somewhere and messed it all up?

Sorry for the long post, tried to break it down to make it a little easier to read. Any and all replies are extremely helpful!! Thank You.

 

You sir, seem to have a GEM module that is wet. Check your windshield for leaks, particularly on the drivers side. If you want a quick fix, pull the GEM out and place it in a bucket... and submerge it in rice for 24 to 48 hours. It will pull all of the moisture out of the GEM, and hopefully it will have no permanent damage.

A sure sign that you've got a leak is a wet spot/puddle on the drivers side floor after a rain storm.

Had the same issue on my Expy last year....

 

yep wet gem

 

98 F150- I was just about to post a similar problem. Where is the GEM located on a 98 and how do I get to it?
Jerry

 

located under the dash left side. actually the fuse box is attached to it. basically
looks like the back of the fuse box. 2 big harnesses bolted to it, 3 or 4 smaller
wire harnesses on the side.

 

If you look in the pic I posted above, you'll see the fuses are still in my GEM/Fuse box.

 

yes, I may be wrong about the attachment part. The super dutys were 2 piece

 

100% Gotta be it.. I installed my light bar and removed weather strip and now leaks on heavy rains. Now it starts in the run position and don't even have to turn it over to the start position. I tore apart the dash and replaced the ignition switch for nothing I suppose.. Will try this technique tomorrow and report back this weekend or so as to how it's acting. Will defiantly be fixing the leak to haha..

Thank You Very Much!!

 

Pray you don't have as much headache as I did with my gem troubles.

 

Yeah... yours was a long process Kingranch... I remember that thread.

Hopefully the rice works for you devenrocks... otherwise you may need to get a replacement that will also need to be reprogrammed by the dealer.