I need help with a Expedition

[Erics350x]

I got a 98 Expedition that the box on the back of the fuse block burnt. Whats that thing called and why would it short out?

[wheelie king]

Not for sure but I know thos had probs with fire and cruise control shorting out. Can you see what area or what box it was that burnt on the fuse block?

[Mosh]

That is called a GEM module....
Generic energy Module...
It controls all the body functions of the vehicle.Lights, horns heater motor ETC...

They burn out all the time on those and f 150's becuase you have a water leak runing down the A pillar by the front door.
Just did one 2 weeks ago on a 99 Expedition.


They are pricey...About 300 bucks,and have to be programmed with a scan tool.
Fix the water leak so the new one dont short out..

[wheelie king]

Nailed it, mosh. Any real fires stemming from that? I am curious....

[Mosh]

I aint seen no fires from it..LOL

But it is a Ford..................

As I duck from thrown objects...LOL

[wheelie king]

Oh, I know on the whole ford thing. :lol:

Reason I ask is, I have been part of 2 cases where the cruise control on an expedition actually caused a fire. One case (I believe that the SUV was a 2002) a team of electrical engineers actually arc-fault mapped the thing, and tracked it to the Cruise control components.

Burned the SUV to totalled status.

Anyway, good info man.

[Yamada]

Wow moshman, that's the way to troubleshoot. This is why I like message board.

[Erics350x]

Thanks alot for the fast and good info! Can i pick up one from a salvage yard and program it with the scanner that autozone sells?

[300rman]

That is called a GEM module....
Generic energy Module....


Lmao, our shop manuals label them as General Electric Modules or General Electronic Modules

never heard of a general energy module before


i'm not sure on the Expedition, but on explorers/rangers, the GEM is in the dash, and you can see it when you pull the radio out.

and yes, it is expensive. getting one from a salvage yard may not ned programming at all, provided you get one from the same year and with the same options.

NO it cannot be programmed with an autozone scanner....dealership only....unless you have access to a 6,000 dollar scanner.......


get a pic of exactly what burned.

[brapp]

to fix your problem yse a piec eof solid copper wire into the fuse holes and conect the biggest battery charger or the big 24 volt diesel truck baterys u can find lol

[Erics350x]

Heres a couple pics one is of it still mounted to the back of the fuse block and one just of it. I opened it up and found the burnt spot but didn't see any signs of water? Its strange a few months ago it just wouldn't start and see kept trying untill the battery went dead. I tried it later and couldn't hear the fuel pump so i figured it must be a bad pump. So yesterday i put a new pump in and a new battery and when i got in it, i could smell something burning. Now it wont even turn over. Maybe this was the problem all along? I'm afraid of putting in a new GEM and there being something else that caused it to burn out.

[Mosh]

Eric.
I doubt you will have any luck with the boneyard unit.
Those are programmed for the factory theft system.Most of the time, they are a 1 time only program.
They do that to cut down on thefts.

You dont need a 6k scan tool to program them.
Just a labtop with internet access,and a programming module.
Most Carquest stores are set-up for mobile programming and run about 100 bucks for the service.They come to your place and do it.

Now as far as the primary failure....
Was your fuel pump junk? For sure?

I am guessing,that you had a theft system problem,and the constant cranking overloaded the circuits on the motherboard of the GEM module..
Either that or the water intrusion caused the failure.
Hard for me to say. I am not there, and diagnosing cars over the phone or net is nearly impossible.
For safety sake, I would use di-electric grease on the terminals of the new unit,and make a piece of rubber shield to deflect water from running into the new module and fuseblocks.Just zip tie the deflector to the dash or harnesses.

Oh, one more thing..
They need thew old module installed, to retrieve the old calibrations, then you install the new module,and then they spit the uploads from the old one to the new one.

They can program them from scratch, but it takes much longer and the guy programming needs to know how to do that...In all honesty, this may be a job for you to just have towed to the dealer.Or if you buy the part from them, they may cut you a deal on the programming,but you will have the tow bill to contend with..Unless you have Triple A...:)

300r man....
Generic, general,.... whatever....
If it is on a Ford.....I assure you it is GENERIC....:lol:

I honestly cant keep all the stuff memorized these days...
All I know Is I diagnose them, and get the right part the first time!

[300rman]

the Theft system thing totally passed my mind, but i guess that vehicle is new enough to have the PATS system on it.

Mosh is correct, you probably fried it when you were trying to turn it over till the battery was dead.

in that case, yes it needs programmed....get a boneyard unit, and have it re-programmed. it would be easier to have someone program it for you than trying to do it yourself...

[Mosh]

Eric.
I doubt you will have any luck with the boneyard unit.
Those are programmed for the factory theft system.Most of the time, they are a 1 time only program.
They do that to cut down on thefts.


Just for the record, I never said to use a boneyard unit..

[Erics350x]

I called the local dealer and they said it would be $210 for the GEM and $79 to program it if i install it. I think i'll go that route. Thanks for all your help. It looks like i may have put a new pump in for nothin, but that happens when you go in thinking you already know whats wrong. I guess i shouldn't have to worry about the pump for awhile anyway.

[firehart]

There is a recall for the cruise control on my F-150. Maybe I'd better take it in.

[Dirtcrasher]

Wow.......

What ever happened to the good old days with a carburetor, a fuse block and a window crank!!

It's to the point you HAVE to bring to someone for one aspect or another - just the way they want it!

Good luck!!

[J.D.]

There is a recall for the cruise control on my F-150. Maybe I'd better take it in.

I would. There's been more than one F150/Explorer go up in flames because of it. It should only take them a couple of minutes to do it...all it is, is just a jumper harness....takes about 2 minutes to put in.