About a month ago, I posted a request for help with the following symptoms on my 2002 F150 4x4 Supercab.

The windhshield wipers and washer motor did not work, the 4WD hubs would not lock in, the dome light did not function, the bed courtesy light did not function, the underhood light did not function, the belt minder, door ajar, and key in ignition audible alarms did not function, and the speed control did not function.

The Consensus was that the GEM had gone bad and a new one was needed.

What actually occurred was that the speed control deactivation switch on the snout of the master cylinder had burnt and either input to the Gem was lost or went either high or low. This Deactivation switch was replaced under recall, and all functionality returned.

 

I've been through the cruise circuitry every which way and have a pretty good understanding of what the de-activator switch does (and doesn't). The only thing on your list that it could affect would be your speed control. Nothing else is in the same circuit and the speed control's de-activator switch doesn't feed into, out of, or go anywhere near the GEM module.

I'd suggest instead either that your GEM module has corrosion in it from a water leak, that it's dry at the moment, and is working or that the dealer fixed something without telling you. The second option isn't very likely....

Perhaps the switch was arcing and causing electrical noise that interfered with the GEM modules microprocessor. That would be the only thing remotely plausible.

Other than that, it may be only a matter of time before symptoms return.

Hope it works out, but I can't help but be a wet blanket on this one. The good news is that your truck shouldn't burn down now.

 

Yep, You are very lucky it did not burn. Anyone out there that has not had the fix done should get it done NOW.

 

seems like you have several problems going on at once

 

Thanks for the feedback, as obviously I do not have the scats for the Gem and/or speed control at hand, and do think it is unlikely the dealer fixed something and didn't tell me....it did take 2 hours to do the work...as for the GEM being wet/corroded, that was the first thing I personally went for and found the floormatting/harness and Gem to be in pristine condition.

That being said I do have a notion to pick up a spare Gem, do they have to individually programmed to the vehicle before installation?

Thanks again!

 

The deact switch going bad, could have very easily burnt some of the harness wiring that it taps into, as I do see 6"-8" of new splicing.

 

Take a look at these two pixs. The first is what could happen if you don't resolve that Cruise Control Deactivate Switch. The second should be a pix of what mine looked like before I remove it from the circuit. It's pretty bad, and I'm glad that I got rid of it. I had designed a circuit that restores the Speed Control functionality, but doesn't require or need that cheap Ford Switch.
This is what you are trying to avoid:
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This is what mine looks like following the modification:
[IMG][/IMG]

My switch was full with brake fluid and could have possibly failed causing a underhood fire. Ford only wanted to replace the switch; which would not have re mediated the actual cause of the problem. Several problems could be caused by these contaminated switches. What would not be apparent would be several circuits (fused) attached to the battery circuit that would have overloaded by the low resistance path through the switch to ground. This effect was overlooked in the original diagnosis of the problem, but showed up later on after several trucks went up in flames.

 

That pic wasn't to bad.

My Expy caught fire going down the road going back to the dealership for more service work ( LOL ), called the fire dept put it out, but for some reason didn't cut the battery cables. By the time the tow truck got there it was on fire again. They were called back out. Was at the dealership picking out my F-150 when it came in on the back of the truck with flames, literately, coming out the back. The driver said it started back up a few blocks from the dealership and he wasn't going to stop out there! Burnt all the way down to the tires, only had a 1/8 tank of gas and didn't blow. The driver was lucky.

 

That driver wasn't so lucky. He and his wife are dead.

Have a nice day.

 

[QUOTE=98Expedition10;3814138]Take a look at these two pixs. The first is what could happen if you don't resolve that Cruise Control Deactivate Switch. The second should be a pix of what mine looked like before I remove it from the circuit. It's pretty bad, and I'm glad that I got rid of it. I had designed a circuit that restores the Speed Control functionality, but doesn't require or need that cheap Ford Switch.

I'm interested in the circuit used to replace the switch, and maintain cruise & deact functionality. Care to share? thanks!

 

actually i personally have worked on a truck that had multiple problems similar to the op problems

i spent prolbably half a day trying to find the problem and then realized it had the recall open so i went to unplug the switch to find out that the switch was full of fluid and was shorting out

so i replaced the switch with the new design WITCH DOES FIX THE PROBLEM, they were redesigned so that the fluid should not leak into the rest of the switch(what the original problem was) and placed the latest design of the jumper harness with the fuses(the original circuit never had any fuses on it)

so i can say that even though it does not show up anywhere that the switch has anything to do with all of the other problems it still might fix the problem

 

Ok, so is it possible that this recall issue is similar to the one my father-in-law just received for his '01 Windstar ? The recall number is 09S09. I'll go and verify if the master cylinder has a similar switch as seen in the photo above, but if someone can clarify this for me I'd sleep better for their sake.

 

Same thing. The Windstars were just added to the program.