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I know this is probably a long shot but I figured I may as well try. I need some help with my truck. It’s a 2001 F250 Lariat Crew cab with the 7.3 motor with 4x4 and ESOF.
When I first bought the truck everything worked fine, on the test drive I tested the 4x4 in a gravel lot and it all worked great. Then literally the next day it wouldn’t start. I eventually found a blown fuse under the hood and got it running. Then after that all kinds of things started to go wrong with it, the speedometer and odometer died, so did the turn signals and the electric windows. Pretty much every day something new would go wrong. So eventually I took it back to the dealer I bought it from for them to sort it out. They told me the GEM module had gone bad so they replaced it. When I picked the truck up everything that wasn’t working before was working again so I thought all was well.
A few months later I was at my buddy’s camp parking in a muddy field and tried to engage the 4x4 and nothing happened. By then I had also noticed that the key fob didn’t unlock the doors anymore and the window washer no longer squirted fluid on the windshield. So after some extensive trouble shooting we figured out that the GEM module must be the problem. So I ended up taking it to a Ford dealer where they could hook it up to their computer and figure out what was wrong.
Of course it did turn out to be the GEM. It looks like the guys who replaced the GEM used a junk yard part and while the part or engineering number is correct I was told that each GEM is programmed to each VIN. So the GEM they put in my truck was likely from a 2WD Excursion because when they try the window washer the computer tells them that it is looking for a rear wiper which obviously the truck doesn’t have. Also when they try to run a 4WD test on it they say the truck doesn’t see that is has 4WD at all.
So they recommended that I buy a new GEM from them and then it should be fine. So I paid the $400 (including $50 core) they wanted and ordered the GEM. They said it should take about 5 working days. Two weeks later I still hadn’t heard anything so I called them and I was told that Ford doesn’t have any cores to send to the vendor to be remanufactured. That meant the GEM I ordered was on back order until a to be determined date and they have no idea when I could possibly get one. So the only options they gave me was to get a refund from them and try find one at a junkyard. This is obviously a problem as I would need to find a truck exactly the same as mine with all the same options as mine for it to have a chance of working. I have called a bunch of junkyards with no luck.
So as you can tell by now I’m pretty much screwed with 2WD truck that won’t go anywhere in the snow in PA in January. So that’s why I thought I’d share this sob story with you in the hope that you may have some contacts or ideas that could help me out with this issue.
I appreciate any help I can get!
When I first bought the truck everything worked fine, on the test drive I tested the 4x4 in a gravel lot and it all worked great. Then literally the next day it wouldn’t start. I eventually found a blown fuse under the hood and got it running. Then after that all kinds of things started to go wrong with it, the speedometer and odometer died, so did the turn signals and the electric windows. Pretty much every day something new would go wrong. So eventually I took it back to the dealer I bought it from for them to sort it out. They told me the GEM module had gone bad so they replaced it. When I picked the truck up everything that wasn’t working before was working again so I thought all was well.
A few months later I was at my buddy’s camp parking in a muddy field and tried to engage the 4x4 and nothing happened. By then I had also noticed that the key fob didn’t unlock the doors anymore and the window washer no longer squirted fluid on the windshield. So after some extensive trouble shooting we figured out that the GEM module must be the problem. So I ended up taking it to a Ford dealer where they could hook it up to their computer and figure out what was wrong.
Of course it did turn out to be the GEM. It looks like the guys who replaced the GEM used a junk yard part and while the part or engineering number is correct I was told that each GEM is programmed to each VIN. So the GEM they put in my truck was likely from a 2WD Excursion because when they try the window washer the computer tells them that it is looking for a rear wiper which obviously the truck doesn’t have. Also when they try to run a 4WD test on it they say the truck doesn’t see that is has 4WD at all.
So they recommended that I buy a new GEM from them and then it should be fine. So I paid the $400 (including $50 core) they wanted and ordered the GEM. They said it should take about 5 working days. Two weeks later I still hadn’t heard anything so I called them and I was told that Ford doesn’t have any cores to send to the vendor to be remanufactured. That meant the GEM I ordered was on back order until a to be determined date and they have no idea when I could possibly get one. So the only options they gave me was to get a refund from them and try find one at a junkyard. This is obviously a problem as I would need to find a truck exactly the same as mine with all the same options as mine for it to have a chance of working. I have called a bunch of junkyards with no luck.
So as you can tell by now I’m pretty much screwed with 2WD truck that won’t go anywhere in the snow in PA in January. So that’s why I thought I’d share this sob story with you in the hope that you may have some contacts or ideas that could help me out with this issue.
I appreciate any help I can get!
