Weord door locks and dome light!

[VTLeaddog]

I have a 2003 Ford Taurus SES and about two months ago my door locks started locking and unlocking while driving, at the same time the dome light comes on and so does the door ajar light on the dash. This happens even when the car is parked, turned off and the doors are locked too!
I brought it to Ford and they spent three hours looking for the problem, when i called they were on the phone to Ford asking what else to do because the "codes" were coming back all screwy. Ford advised them to take a GEM module out of a new Taurus and try it and see if that worked. I asked how much longer and they said a couple of hours. i was pissed and told them to put it back together, it cost me $407.00 and I still have the problem. Any suggestions about this GEM module? Where is it? Can you get used or after market GEMS? Any hekp is greatly appreciated.

[way2old]

Sounds to me like you got a little impatient. It takes time to find electrical problems. If they had it, and Ford rep wanted them to try new GEM, why didn't you let them do it?? You can purchase a GEM module yourself and install it. If it is under any kind of warranty, then Ford would have fixed it for free. If it was close on mileage or just slightly over, the dealer might have did a good faith warranty for you. Now, i say you are gouing to have to pay a lot more to fix.

[way2old]

Sounds to me like you got a little impatient. It takes time to find electrical problems. If they had it, and Ford rep wanted them to try new GEM, why didn't you let them do it?? You might have had the vehicle fixed for the same money if you had given them a little more time. You can purchase a GEM module yourself and install it. If it is under any kind of warranty, then Ford would have fixed it for free. If it was close on mileage or just slightly over, the dealer might have did a good faith warranty for you. Now, i say you are going to have to pay a lot more to fix.

[shorod]

Originally Posted by VTLeaddog

I have a 2003 Ford Taurus SES and about two months ago my door locks started locking and unlocking while driving, at the same time the dome light comes on and so does the door ajar light on the dash. This happens even when the car is parked, turned off and the doors are locked too!
I brought it to Ford and they spent three hours looking for the problem, when i called they were on the phone to Ford asking what else to do because the "codes" were coming back all screwy. Ford advised them to take a GEM module out of a new Taurus and try it and see if that worked. I asked how much longer and they said a couple of hours. i was pissed and told them to put it back together, it cost me $407.00 and I still have the problem. Any suggestions about this GEM module? Where is it? Can you get used or after market GEMS? Any hekp is greatly appreciated.

From previous posts on this forum, there has been discussion of the transmission range selector switch (aka neutral safety switch) causing some pretty odd electrical problems. You might look into some of those problems to see if one matches what you're seeing (ie: search the archives).

Also, according to the 2002 Taurus service manual, "The GEM grounds the battery saver relay and interior lamp relay coils when any door ajar switch or the headlamp switch is closed. The interior lamp relay then supplies power to the interior lamp circuit. Vehicle speed must be less than 15 kph (9 mph) for the GEM to ground the interior lamp relay. The interior lamps will remain illuminated for a period of up to 25 seconds after all doors are closed or until the ignition is switched from the OFF position, or the GEM receives a vehicle speed signal. Actuating the interior lights from the headlamp switch will operate at any time."

That being pasted, if your car's vehicle speed sensor is screwy, along with the common bad door pin switch (integrated into the door latch) you might have some strange things happen with the door locks and interior lights. Both are inputs into the GEM module. The dealer's scan tool should display vehicle speed readings according to how fast the car's PCM thinks the car is going, as well as which door the GEM thinks is ajar. If the door ajar display is jumping from one door to another, then that might lead them to suspect a faulty GEM module.

The Generic Electronic Module is mounted behind the interior fuse panel. It is not simple to get to, and despite the name, has quite a bit of functionality. It is also configurable and therefore it's not just a simple matter of removing the original one and plugging a new one in, the dealer should be downloading the original settings, then downloading them to the new module. I'm not an advocate of having a dealer perform repairs, but 3 hours to try to accurately diagonse a strange electrical problem is not that long. However, charging you that amount if they were not able to fix the problem does seem a little high. Of course, they did not give up on the problem, they informed you of their next step and you demanded they stop troubleshooting and give you the car, therefore they were not allowed to complete their troubleshooting. Had you allowed them the chance to complete their troubleshooting, they hopefully would have either found your problem or at least not charged you so much if they were unable to find your problem.

I don't believe you will find an aftermarket supplier of the GEM. I'm also not aware that they have a high failure rate, which might be why there are not aftermarket suppliers, and why it wasn't a quick and easy diagnosis for the dealer. If you know a shop that has a high-end scan tool (like the OTC Genisys) they should be able to scan the GEM codes to see exactly what is "screwy" about the codes.

-Rod

[VTLeaddog]

Thanks for the replies. I know it sounded like I was quick to stop the dealer but the car has presented other problems. The last was a bad heater fan motor at -20 degrees. They told me that it wasn't in warranty (about 46000) and that it was probably water damage. Well, the other day that was the first thing out of their mouth "it's probably water damage". My question is why is water damage my problem and shouldn't we find that too? Just a funky dealer I guess. THANKS FOR THE HELP.