Hello All,
I apparently have a similar problem to the ones mentioned in this section regarding the power window issues, only I am having a few more technical issues than just the power windows. I own a 2001 Ford F150 XLT Longbed with just over 50,000 miles on it and right now, I have blown 2 of the same fuses in the last 3 days, number 15 under the steering column. It is a 5 Amp fuse and I have now had to buy two replacements. Just before this problem occured for the first time, I noticed the speed of my windows rolling up has slowed; no big deal, I just thought it was getting some wear and tear. I first noticed the fuse problem when I got into my truck to roll my windows up before a storm [lucky me] and neither window would roll up while the key was turned on. It was still daylight out at the time, so I did not notice that my interior light was also not working, nor did I notice that the lower door light was not working and the open-door bell was not ringing. Ok, so I worked with a friend and found that one of the fuses was blown, as I suspected (no thanks to that damn owner's manual failing to mention the fuse that operates the power windows, interior lights or anything else! POS!!! Lot of good that damn book does!) The only reason we found the blown fuse is because we removed every single fuse to do it! JOY!

Ok, so we replace that fuse and I think everything is peachy. 3 days later, I go to get into my truck and I cannot roll my windows down. I looked at the interior light and again, it was out. So I checked the fuse once more and sure enough, it was blown again. OK, no big deal. I just slid my sliding rear window open and [tried] to be on my way. This is when I noticed that my truck would not shift into gear! I did not have any more 5 Amp fuses, so I get the bright idea to use a 7.5 amp fuse to momentarily replace the blown fuse, just to see if that failure was controlling my ability to get into gear. I did manage to get the vehicle into gear with that oversized fuse and then yanked it back out as soon as I did, so I would not turn my truck into a rolling fireball later on down the road. Now, I get the same friend to help me with his machine that reads the voltage in each fuse housing unit and there is nothing in my truck that apparently makes anything go anywhere near the 5 amps of the fuse that keeps blowing, even when I run everything all at once. The biggest pull was when I started the truck and that was only 150 milliamps! Go figure! The problem apparently occurs after I have shut off my engine because it works fine when its running. I have only found the problem after I have parked and turned off the vehicle and come back to it to find that same fuse blown. Like I said before, this has happened twice in 3 days as of right now.

I have read in this forum that people are hearing relay switch clicking when they talk about their power window issues. I have two relays that make that clicking sound and those are relay numbers 1 and number 2 under the steering column. So I figured one of those switches might be bad and yanked the first one. That switch only operates the auto-down feature of the power windows [according to the $*#@)ing owner's manual!], so no big deal to me. I have that second replacement fuse in my truck now and am hoping to determine from the removal of the switch that the fuse will or will not blow. If I manage to determine that the switch is bad from this experiment, I will respond to everyone in this post letting you know what I have found. If this experiment does not work, I will have to take my truck (for the 4th time; different issues each time) back to the dealorship because I do not want my truck catching fire from an electrical problem I cannot resolve.

Now that I have mentioned all the problems involved with my "window" and "fuse" deal, is anyone else experiencing all these issues at one time? I am thinking my truck is power-surging but it is surging when the engine is turned off. I want to know if these problems have been experienced a lot by anyone else and what their possible takes on the issues are? Thanks!!!

 

Yep, it's me again. Well, apparently, it was not the relay acting up. The auto-down window relay did not help with anything except the amount of time the replacement fuse took to blow this time. The fuse still blew, only it took 6 days to blow this time. The fuse also had a hairline fracture in it, unlike the previous two times when the fuse was missing a good hunk. The truck is never running when the fuse blows, so I am very concerned at this point. I have an appointment with the dealership this afternoon, so I will post again once I find anything else out. Still would appreciate ideas/comments to my issues. Thanks! Stangpride

 

I started having the same problem this past weekend... did you get the problem figured out?

 

Hi there, Yes, I just got my truck back from the dealer yesterday, as a matter of fact (they had it a full week, so perfect timing! ) Apparently, there was a short in the fuse box beneath the steering wheel, but they could not determine which part of the box was posing the problem. Therefore, they replaced the GEM module under the hood and supposedly "repaired" the fuse box, taking out the steering column to do so (even though they could not determine the cause of the shortages; I know, right?) I was informed that this repair would normally run about $800 and that it would be covered under my extended warranty as long as the problem was not due to a windshield leak dripping on the GEM module, causing some corrosion and therefore the shortages. Since they tested the windshield and found it to be in tact, they fixed my problem under the warranty [word of advice, tell dealer's you will have things that are 'not covered under warrranty' repaired somewhere else, because then they will not have a reason to find anything wrong with supposed parts.] They also said that there was a leak in the master cylinder of the brakes, which would cause the speed deactivation control of the cruise control to malfunction. This leak could very well cause the shorting problem also, but they determined that was not the case in my truck issues and also replaced that control for me, all for a grand total of $50 under my warranty deductible. Sweet! I asked the shop guy how sure he was that the problem was completely fixed and he said he was almost 99% sure, but since they could not determine which part was causing the shortage, they replaced the hardest ones, hoping that would solve the problem. If the problem happens again, they informed me that it could be a wiring harness problem, but that would be the least difficult to repair. So I will have to wait and see how the repair holds up with the shortages. I hope this information helps you out!

 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record I mention this again if only to save someone the grief I went though and the excessive cost of having a dealer waste his time and your money. Very easy to check the wiring harness behind the speaker in the door on the drivers side especially. Thick bundle of wires that will chaffe against the inside door panel and cause all kinds of grief. The symptoms can be deceiving as some circuits are interrelated and involve that harness. I went through months of speculation about the relays which did burn, bulbs, the MFS, connector at column, brake light position switch, and the recalled cruise switch only to find out it was a wire for an optional mirror directional that I don't even have that was shorting in the door, and another wire in the same place that fried my window switches.

Hope this helps someone.

ricochet

 

Ricochet,

I have read several of your posts in these electronics forums, yet I did not find any that really matched the extent of problems I was facing, so I ended up posting my own specific problems. If I remember correctly, your problem had to do just with the power windows, correct? I was facing so many more issues than just the windows not working and even though I first tried doing the repair on my own, I found that between the two people I worked with (my father and an electronic technician) were not in the know about what was causing the shortages. I just read my receipt and although a mechanic at Ford told me they "didn't find the problem directly and changed parts 'hoping' to have solved all of the issues", they wrote on the ticket that "pin 4 was burned in the GEM module". They also mentioned that they inspected the harness for chaffing after removing the door panel and found it to be ok. I sincerely hope this solves all the problems I was facing, but I am holding my breath, only because no fixes are ever that cheap! Bottom line is Ford replaced the interior fuse box and GEM module after tracing circuits for fuse 15 short to ground and isolated the short to the inside fuse box. So either the mechanic was pulling my leg when he told me that they "could not find the exact problem" or else the person who typed up my repair ticket was lying? Lets just hope that all the issues are solved. I will keep your words in mind if the problem persists. Thanks for your words! I appreciate any and all feedback! V/r, Stangpride

 

Hello,

I just wanted to type an update to this post. I never did have another problem with blown fuses after the dealer fixed the GEM module and the fuse box. So the wiring harness was not the issue I was having at the time. I did not realize it has been over 2 years since this happened until I did a search on my screen name and found this forum near the top of the list. I had forgotten all about this issue. Anywho, the problem was resolved the first time around and I actually got out of a steep fix pretty cheap. One point for me, zero points for Ford!