I need help. I have a 1997 4.6L F-150. My dome light, wipers, or dingers (seatbelt, headlight, ect..) aren’t working most of the time. Every now and then I will be driving down the road and for no apparent reason the dingers and wipers start going off. They work for a while then stop working. I am at a loss. I have tried everything. I tightened every ground I can find, checked every fuse. It is interesting that all these things are related. That was what me start checking grounds. I know the bulb and all motors are good, because it occasionally works. Any help or advice is welcomed? The truck has 150,000 miles and it is still a good truck. I just had an accumulator spring and piston changed in the transmission and the truck is still in great shape, but it would be nice to have constant use of the wipers. I have read about GEM problems, but would that cause intermittent problems? Does the 97 have a GEM?

 

I have a '99 ranger that had a problem during the first year where occasionally the wipers would turn on for one wipe for no reason at all. There was a TSB about needing to replace the wiper control stalk, and it fixed the problem. You may want to check.

 

I already replaced the stalk a few years ago. It had that problem. My Ford dealer replaced it for me...and it wasn't even covered...sometimes they do the right thing. This issue is different. All items (wipers, dome light, dingers) either do or don’t work at the same time. (mostly don’t work.) I am heading out now to pull the fuse panel and look for the GEM thingy.