No speedo, A/C, Ometer, ABS light on etc. etc.

Hi everyone! Excellent sight, keep up the great work ! !

'01 Windstar 3.8L
90,000mi
Decent shape, paid off two weeks ago.

Heres the deal,
Three days ago the speedometer, A/C, and odometer went out as well as the ABS, brake lights came on and the o/d indicator light
(overdrive) started to flash all at the same time. Also the #10 15A fuse is blown. The check engine light was also on for quite some time, but think that may be a different issue.

For the last 3 days I have been doing some research on my particular problem and have basic have come to the conclusion that it all has to do with this situation...http://www.fordwindstarrecall.info/#Problem2

What I had found: I have found that the Brake pressure switch under the M. Cylinder was defective and leaking brake fluid onto the plug and the TRS which sits on the Transmission directly below. Positively verified visually that the ABS Module was dry and no brake fluid had wicked its way to there possibly shorting that piece out.

What I have done: I have replaced the Brake pressure switch along with cleaning around the TRS and it's plug as best I could. Replaced the #10 fuse, filled the brake fluid to full. Still no speedo, Ometer, A/C, ABS light on, Brake light on, #10 fuse blown again. But the lights went away for the o/d flashing and the check engine light.

I was skeptical about jumpering the Brake pressure switch plug as suggested in the above link, but did it anyway to get my speedometer and A/C etc. working again. But that did not work.

I cannot afford a pro to fix this problem so any and all help is very much appreciated in advance.

Thank you and God Bless,

Craig

Did you click on problem 1 and check and clean with brake clean all of these electrical connections. I would turn over the fuse panel and check for a corroded connection. Use a flashlight and clean and inspect the electrical connections in this area.

Thanks for replying so quickly.

Yes, I have done as much as I could. Maybe I didn't get it clean enough. Used a shop vac to suck and dry the plug(s)

I have just went through the steps again. Pulled the two 40a fuses, jumped the pressure switch. Replaced the 10a fuse. I heard the fuse pop when I turned the key to power without actually turning the vehicle over. Still no improvements at all.

Maybe the ABS module MOBO is cracked from heat and cold expansion/contraction over time. That is something I'm sure I cannot visibly see from the exterior looking at it

Craig

Welcome to AFs! If you want to be able to find the short that's blowing the 10A fuse take a tail light bulb and solder two lengths of wire to the contacts. Then place the bulb inplace of the fuse. The bulb will alow power to flow so you can unplug what you need to until the bulb gets dimmer or goes out.

Regards

Dan

You can unplug the ABS computer to see if the short is coming from there.. I have the ABS light and Brake light problem every now and again.. Comes on on mainly above 90 degree days.. I read the site you had posted before.. I think in the end I am going to replace mine when time comes.. Did you check your Vss connection also.? I do know it hard to get to... The VSS is located near the exhaust area on the passengers side if I remember right..I think there is a heat shield around it.. I think the ABS computer is under the drivers side floor..

When it comes to electrical issues, I am all thumbs. I should probably change that someday.

It seems to me that if I removed the two 40a fuses #'s 101 and 102 that are linked to the ABS module, I have taken that piece out of the equation, no?

I jumped the brake pressure switch, although that piece is NEW now, to see if I could get my odometer and speedo, A/C to work, used a 20a fuse (probably not the brightest idea) this time I got a little smoke rising up before the 20a popped. This is making me think I have a short somewhere.

If this switch had been bad for quite some time and leaking fluid, which I did use allot of brake fluid to top off, this fluid must be pooled up in the wiring harness that holds all these wires together. I would have to guess this isn't a good thing.

I am really reserved on digging into the wiring harness at this time.

Your '01 wiring diagram is different than the one for my '96.
Rathern than a higher rated fuse....I would get a bunch of the 15A fuses.....
Then using the wiring diagram, unplug everything you can that is in that circuit......and turn the ignition RUN (without starting the vehicle) and see if the fuse holds.
Turn the ignition key to OFF
THEN start plugging things back in......ONE AT A TIME and cycle the ignition key to the Run and see if the fues holds each time you reconnect a plug/fuse.

Now I understand that this is easier said than done.....but if something is super hard to get to to disconnect....try finding a plug further up the line......
Also....something super hard to get out of the circuit.....you could leave in for the initial "test" and see if what you have unplugged has eliminated the problem....which would save you the trouble.

I am guessing that the fuse blows before you have the chance to start the vehicle.
If you are not sure.....well then the first step would be replace by installing the 15A fuse and just turning the key to the "RUN" position.

Your '01 wiring diagram is different than the one for my '96.
Rathern than a higher rated fuse....I would get a bunch of the 15A fuses.....
Then using the wiring diagram, unplug everything you can that is in that circuit......and turn the ignition RUN (without starting the vehicle) and see if the fuse holds.
Turn the ignition key to OFF
THEN start plugging things back in......ONE AT A TIME and cycle the ignition key to the Run and see if the fues holds each time you reconnect a plug/fuse.

Now I understand that this is easier said than done.....but if something is super hard to get to to disconnect....try finding a plug further up the line......
Also....something super hard to get out of the circuit.....you could leave in for the initial "test" and see if what you have unplugged has eliminated the problem....which would save you the trouble.

I am guessing that the fuse blows before you have the chance to start the vehicle.
If you are not sure.....well then the first step would be replace by installing the 15A fuse and just turning the key to the "RUN" position.

This is where the bulb would come into play.....instead of going through the fuses the bulb will compleat the circuit without burning anything.

Dan

Unfortunately, Ford have taken a whole bunch of unrelated circuits and fed them all from that one fuse, so the short-circuit could be pretty much anywhere. The wiring diagram for your 2001 shows fuse 10 (15A, Central Junction Box) as feeding the following items, which I'll group according to the connector on which they exit the fuse box:

Rear Window Defrost Relay (12V feed into relay coil [located within the same fuse box])

Connector C195 - red/black wire leading to splice point S112, then individual red/black wires leading to:
Anti-Lock Brake Control Module
Speed Control Servo
Brake Pressure Switch
A/C Clutch Cycling Pressure Switch
Single, unused connector

Connector C202 - red/black wire leading to splice point S219, then individual red/black wires leading to:
Instrument Cluster
Shift Lock Actuator
Blend Door Actuator
Climate Control Switch Assembly

Connector C219 - red/black wire leading to splice point S318, then individual red/black wires leading to:
Parking Aid Module
Left Power Sliding Door Module
Right Power Sliding Door Module
I'd disconnect the battery negative terminal and then gain access to the rear of the fuse panel. I'd unplug connectors C195 and C219, then temporarily but safely prop the fuse panel back into position so that it's reasonably secure, reconnect the battery negative terminal and then insert fuse or test lamp and check if the short-circuit still exists. If it doesn't, then determine whether the short is being fed via C195 or C219 by a process of elimination, plugging them back in, one at a time.

That process won't work for C202, because the feed into fuse 10 is carried on that connector, so if it's unplugged then obviously a short-circuit on one of its other conductors would not cause the fuse to blow. However, if you prove that neither C195 nor C219 are responsible, then that would indicate that the short must be on one of the items fed via C202, so you should be able to find it by a process of elimination. On paper that's a simple exercise, but of course in practice it will depend on how easy or difficult it is to gain access to the fuse panel connectors.

Details of the three connectors aren't shown, but you should be able to identify them from the wires which they contain, which, according to the power distribution diagram are:

C202 contains:

Pin 1: red/black
Pin 2: white/yellow
Pin 3: white/light blue
Pin 4: red/yellow
Pin 5: light green/violet
Pin 6: light green
Pin 7: yellow (this is the 12V feed into fuse 10)
Pin 8: white/yellow
Pin 10 light blue/white

C219 contains:

Pin 4: light green/red
Pin 6: red/black
Pin 8: red/yellow
Pin 9: red/white

C195 contains:

Pin 1: brown/orange
Pin 2: black/light green
Pin 3: violet
Pin 5: tan/black
Pin 6: dark blue
Pin 7: red/black

Where I haven't listed pin numbers, that's because they aren't shown on the diagram so I assume them to be unused, but that should hopefully be enough information to enable you to identify the three connectors. If you aren't used to dealing with electrical faults then that probably looks a daunting task but it's all reasonably straightforward if you approach it methodically, and given that the short-circuit could be in such a wide variety of locations it would seem to me to be the obvious approach. Of course that's only step one, because having identified the connector which is feeding the short-circuit, you would then need to determine which particular item fed by that connector actually contained the short.

There are other approaches - you already know that you had the brake fluid leak above the wiring harness, so you could investigate the harness further, or, where you have easy access, you could unplug a bunch of items from the list of items fed via fuse 10 and hope you get lucky and find it that way, but I'd drop the fuse panel and take that route. Let me know if you don't follow any of that, and I've sent you a PM with the power distribution diagrams.

Ok, here is what I have found so far.

After fiddling with all of this I was retracing my steps and suggestions from everyone, I realized I was either having the brake pressure switch plugged in or it was jumped on the plug leads. I never took it out of the equation since I had replaced it with a Ford factory part and was so focused on the ABS module or TRS.

When the wife got home, I went out and pulled the paper clip out of the brake pressure switch lead, put a new fuse in the #10 spot and BINGO, NO blown fuse. My A/C, speedo, Odometer works.

Since this was done fairly late at night, I didn't replace the two 40a fused for the ABS module. I'm hoping I get the same results when I do. That will be a true sign that the short is linked to the brake pressure switch wires. With all that brake fluid that has leaked over time and followed the wires into the harness, i'm sure it's mucked up somewhere in there. The harness seems to have an pretty good UPHILL climb when nearing the firewall so this has probably stopped the brake fluid from getting to the ABS module.

Anyway, wish me luck. Special thanks to Selectron !:smile: and to all who have put in the time to respond and help me with this issue.

**Put in the two ABS fuses and everything is running fine. ABS and brake light is gone, the issue with blowing the fuse when I plug in the Brake pressure differential switch is still there. At least I have found the culprit.

This is probably fairly obvious but I'll mention it anyway, just in case the harness branches off in two directions, so you'll know which branch to follow.

12V is fed to the switch on the red/black wire, and that wire will not be short-circuited, because if it was then the fuse would blow even with the switch and jumper out-of-circuit. It's only when you complete the circuit with switch or jumper, and 12V is applied to the other wire, that the fuse blows. So that's the wire where you're likely to find the short - on the one which is not red/black. If the wire proves to be healthy then turn your attention to whatever that wire plugs into - I don't know what that will be though, because it isn't shown on the wiring diagrams.