GEM electrical issues

[WannabeZ28]

1998 Ranger 3.0 manual 4x4. I don’t really know how forums work yet but figured I would post here with my weird GEM issues. I bought the truck in June and the dome light would intermittently stay on when the door was closed and ignition don’t require a key, a few days later that turned into the wipers not working, then after that the Speedo stopped working, and then the 4x4. I have replaced the turn signal/wiper switch, GEM module, and checked all the fuses. After replacing GEM the wipers will stay on no matter what setting when fuse 25 is in, rather than not working at all. 4x4 high and low lights also blink when fuse is in. I checked here and it seemed the ground wire might be my issue. Everything I could find said the wire was on the back of the fuse box so I took it out and didn’t see any ground wire. I then took the gauge cluster and radio panel out and still couldn’t find it. I just found a ground wire behind the driver kick panel and cleaned it but that didn’t change anything.

 

[bobbywalter]

passenger kick panel too .... for grounds.

the gem connector itself needs close scrutiny.

clean and dielube the critter and make sure all contacts are seated.

on the wiper motor itself check all wiring.

 

[bobbywalter]

wiggle the connectors on the gem to see if the wiper stops.


but it may be an incompatible gem with the wiper and other issues....do you still have the old gem?

 

[bobbywalter]

another thing.


i have had this on several vehicles.

i have had to pull the dash right out tracing a function issue....and it was rodent damage.

which required pulling the dash to see. i forget to mention this...but it is rare.

 

[WannabeZ28]

passenger kick panel too .... for grounds.

the gem connector itself needs close scrutiny.

clean and dielube the critter and make sure all contacts are seated.

on the wiper motor itself check all wiring.

I checked the passenger kick panel for grounds to no avail and cleaned all connections to the GEM and it didn’t fix anything

 

[WannabeZ28]

wiggle the connectors on the gem to see if the wiper stops.


but it may be an incompatible gem with the wiper and other issues....do you still have the old gem?

I took all the connectors off and cleaned them and it didn’t do anything. I have the old GEM and they have the same part numbers and are both from the same year truck so I’m 99.99% sure they are compatible

 

[WannabeZ28]

another thing.


i have had this on several vehicles.

i have had to pull the dash right out tracing a function issue....and it was rodent damage.

which required pulling the dash to see. i forget to mention this...but it is rare.

I took the gauge cluster out and looked at the wiring harness and couldn’t see any damage