My relay is talking to me. I believe it's the battery saver, #2 under the dash, and I could talk for an hour about how I came to this conclusion, but I will provide the jist of my problem and answer any questions. My dome light started blinking on and off a few months ago. On 5 seconds, off 5 minutes, on 5 seconds, off 5 minutes. I had to change my battery and replace my visibly blown relay #2 under the dash. This helped tremendously but only temporarily. Long story short, my problem now is that four relays later, my dome light is now flashing a code (that I now realize from your forums) and my battery is constantly drained. Every time I go from dead battery to jump it reads fully charged but doesn't last till morning. Any suggestions? I'm all ears. I have checked every fuse on the truck, and relays show no obvious signs . And FYI, only the first 2 relays actually burnt, now replacing it makes little difference. It is the power window/dome light relay because I have at one point had to drive without it.
my 97 is an xlt 4.6. thank you

Is anyone else having issues with the auto lamp? On the dashboard next to the panel/dome light switch? That's on the same relay.

 

Why do you believe it is a code?

 

I know it's not a code. LOL

Try checking to see if you don't have water in the GEM from a leaky windshield.

 

because it is very specific before it stops, and there are forums here that have talked about it. This is me bringing it up for help.

 

Thank you I will. Do you have anything you'd like to share why it's not? I'm only asking to be educated.

 

There are no codes communicated by the overhead courtesy lamps and in the almost 30 years I've been working on Fords and participating in various forums have never heard of such a thing. If you have a link to a forum discussion that claims this, please provide the link to said discussion as I'd find it interesting. I know of no timing interval of five minutes for any function in the 97 F150 (and I owned one for almost 10 years!).

The reason that the GEM was suggested is that it controls the battery saver and courtesy lamp relays (and much more) assuming there are no aftermarket alarm or entry systems installed (check and verify). Leaky windshields are a frequent problem with this generation of truck. The water drips into the GEM module and the fusebox and causes all sorts of mischief. In the absence of any aftermarket equipment, the GEM module would be the prime suspect for causing random weird issues.