HA HA HA. Guess I'm part of the group now too. Have a 97 F150 4.6 L. A few days ago I was driving and noticed that the windshied wipers(In 10 degree weather with half the window covered in snow and ice), power windows, and dome light did not work. So I did some snooping around in my chilton's manual in the electrical diagrams so I concluded it was either the battery saver relay or the accessory delay relay. So I flipped a coin and changed out the battery relay first, and VOILA! problem solved, or so I thought. So went to work for about 8 hours the next day. After work, went to start up my truck and nothing. Completly drained, no lights no nada. Got it jumped and everything worked fine. When I got back home I turned off the truck, pulled out the key, and the damn heater was still blowing!!! Then I heard a relay goin crazy underneath the dash, but not in the fuse block. I have pinpointed the location yet but I've been doin some readin on here and all of these kind of symptoms seem to link to the GEM in one way or another. Just wonderin if anybody else had come to the same conclusion

 

Don't overlook freezing causing problems. Did you check your windshield for leaking on driverside.

 

i'm lookin into that now. I've noticed there is some water on the floor mat lately but I can't tell if it's just from before from where I had snow on my boots and it melted. So I put down some cardboard over the floor mat and poured some water on the driver side of the window and also packed some snow on there so when the sun hits it it will melt. I also took off the underneath dash cover by the steering column to try and pinpoint where that relay clicking was coming from but now it's being shy . So now I will just have to play the waiting game

 

Usually ( not always ) the relay that is going nuts should be the accessory delay ( battery saver ) relay. The ground on the coil of this relay is controlled by an output from the GEM. So the ground is basically switched via the GEM ( thus when the time runs out, the accy are shut off by turning off the ground or ref pin on the coil of the relay, Normally Open Contacts return to the Normal position, and those items on it shut off.

Take a read of your OM, and mark the top of the Accy delay relay with a silver sharpie. Next time you hear the clicking, you can pop the cover to the Central Junction Box and yank the relay quick, to see if it is that one.

For the wet mat, check up higher on the fire wall, to see if it is wet up high. This is the usual location for the water to show up, but you can;t rule out soak from snow.

 

Alright, I finally found the stupid relay. I heard it when I got home from work. It happened to be to the right of the steering column behind the diagnostic link. There were two relays there and they are so close together I could not figure out which one was chattering. So I pulled both relays and took them up to ford so I would just replace them both. Guy said that one was the flasher relay and the other was the blower relay. He didn't have the flasher relay in stock so I decided to go ahead and pick up the blower relay to fix the problem with the blower stayin on(Only 8.99!). So went home replaced it, and the blower works fine now. But I plugged in the flasher relay, and it was making the sound as before!!! So looks like I will have to replace the flasher relay as well, for 23.95. So but really, what is the chances of 3 relays goin out at the same time?

 

Sorry to say but I think your barking up the wrong tree. The relays are clicking becuase the GEM is sending them juice.
I've been there and done that. My guess is the blower will continue to act up.
I'm far from an expert but I've been down the exact same road. I finally isolated the source of the problem to the windshield leak causing the GEM to short.
I was able to remove the GEM and just clean up the contacts, circuit board applied dielectric grease to them and reinstalled. Also R&R the windshield.
Its been good for around six weeks now.

 

thats kind of what I've been thinkin from readin some of the other forums on here. It just seemed kinda fishy three relays would be acting up, all in the middle of winter. Where exactly is that troublesome GEM module

 

Ok, that is something else, not the GEM acting up.

In the 1997 EVTM, the blower relay gets power to the Normally Open Contacts via Power Distribution panel fuse # 23, 40 A. The other side of the N.O. Contact is to the blower motor, then to the blower motor resistor, via the blower speed selector switch.

The Coil on the Blower relay is powered via the mode selector switch ( floor, panel, etc ) via Junction Box fuse #24, 10A.
The ground side of the coil is the same ground as the panel illumination.

The same splice to ground feeds both the flasher and the blower motor relay coil ground ( prior to the splice for the instrument panel illumination ground ).

There are 2 power feeds to the flasher.

1. Junction Box Fuse # 23, 10 A ( hot in run position ) pin #2
2. Junction Box Fuse #1, 15 A ( hot all the time ) pin #3
pin #5 is ground
pin # 1 & 4 feed the left and right turn signals.

If you are having a problem with it again, and can take the time to problem diagnose, pull Junction Box Fuse # 23, 10 A and either with a fast digital meter, or a analog meter, probe for power on the pins. If you are having GEM problems, the power would be cycling on this fuse, maybe causing the problem ??

If not, it could be a bad ground ( have you had problems with the instrument panel illumination being dim or blinking ? ) at Splice S202, which is before the panel illumination ( asked before, could be the ground lug ).

Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head at the moment.

Good luck, let us know what you come up with.

 

I'm not going to dispute your logic. I don't have a print in front of me. All I can say is when my GEM was acting up I had the blower stay on, the light on the airbag deactivation switch was lite and the blinkers would work, when the key was removed. Radio stayed on also. I also heard the flasher relay clicking.
Just adding my 2 cents.
Just for the record bjkallmeyer, the GEM is located directly behind the fuse panel under the dash. Its attached to the back of it.
If it were to come up that you want to check it out do a search and you'll find a lot of info on it. I've posted detailed step by steps to remove.
Just for the heck of it see if you can feel any water on the large plugs (2) on the rear of the fuse box.

 

bullseye670,

The blower & the flasher.. OK, I stand corrected.
I don't recall if you put that info your other thread, but I understood ( or misunderstood ) that the clicking with the GEM issue was the Battery saver / accy delay relay.

bjkallmeyer, Better take the route bullseye670 took as it sound like the same symptoms, and bullseye670 has had a GEM issue, while I have not.

I think it is time to start puling together all the confirmed GEM symptoms ( confirmed as in cured with a GEM clear up / replacement ) and put them together for a sticky thread submission.

Thanks for the clarification bullseye670 !

 

No sweat, SSCULLY. I just hope we can help bjkallmeyer got to the source of the problem.

 

So I am seeing the same symptoms as stated above on an 00 Expy. The relay noise is coming from the lower right side of the dash. If I remember correctly the fuse panel is on the left side. Anybody got pics or a step by step to R and R the GEM?