lone_star_dsl
Full Access Member
I figured I would throw my knowledge in on this one because I have been dealing with the same problems for five years without a solution.
I never had a problem with interior lights or dash functions but my radio and windows would cut out whenever they felt like it. They might be out for a few minutes or they might be out for the rest of the day.
My problem is both temperature and vibration sensitive. If the interior of the truck is too warm, the windows and radio won't work. If I hit a pothole, they will cut out.
My problem got progressively worse since the day it started (I have no idea why it started in the first place) until the point that my radio and windows were off for days at a time.
One thing that I found was the power wire coming from the drivers side battery to the fuse panel has a post holding it down on the drivers fender well. When I examined this post, it was severely corroded and one of the ring connectors was broken. I fixed the connector and connected the wires back together. This fixed the problem for about two days.
Next, I moved on to the fuse panel itself. Swearing that there had to be some kind of bad connection at the accessory delay relay, I pulled the entire fuse panel apart and had a computer shop check the board for any bad solders or loose connections. The board came back with a clean bill of health.
Although I pride myself on doing clean electrical connections when adding electronics to my truck, I stripped everything out that I had ever installed and paid a car stereo installer to redo everything. Again, I still had the problem.
This brings us up to present day and I had them install a new radio in the truck and run a power wire straight to the ignition. This means that I now have to leave the key in the ON position while stationary but at least I can listen to music while driving.
The interesting part is that now my windows seem to be working about 90% of the time and the power problem seems to be getting better by the day. I'm no longer afraid to roll the window down at Sonic anymore.
One thing that I noticed would always cut power were the lights in the visors and the light in the glove box.
That's as far as I have got with this issue. I wish I could give you some concrete answers on how to get it fixed permanently.
Also, the 02 truck have a VCM (vehicle control module) and not a GEM. The VCM is located in the center of the dash against the firewall. If you pull the radio out, you can see it but you have to pull the entire dash to remove the VCM. This is the only step that I have not taken.
I never had a problem with interior lights or dash functions but my radio and windows would cut out whenever they felt like it. They might be out for a few minutes or they might be out for the rest of the day.
My problem is both temperature and vibration sensitive. If the interior of the truck is too warm, the windows and radio won't work. If I hit a pothole, they will cut out.
My problem got progressively worse since the day it started (I have no idea why it started in the first place) until the point that my radio and windows were off for days at a time.
One thing that I found was the power wire coming from the drivers side battery to the fuse panel has a post holding it down on the drivers fender well. When I examined this post, it was severely corroded and one of the ring connectors was broken. I fixed the connector and connected the wires back together. This fixed the problem for about two days.
Next, I moved on to the fuse panel itself. Swearing that there had to be some kind of bad connection at the accessory delay relay, I pulled the entire fuse panel apart and had a computer shop check the board for any bad solders or loose connections. The board came back with a clean bill of health.
Although I pride myself on doing clean electrical connections when adding electronics to my truck, I stripped everything out that I had ever installed and paid a car stereo installer to redo everything. Again, I still had the problem.
This brings us up to present day and I had them install a new radio in the truck and run a power wire straight to the ignition. This means that I now have to leave the key in the ON position while stationary but at least I can listen to music while driving.
The interesting part is that now my windows seem to be working about 90% of the time and the power problem seems to be getting better by the day. I'm no longer afraid to roll the window down at Sonic anymore.
One thing that I noticed would always cut power were the lights in the visors and the light in the glove box.
That's as far as I have got with this issue. I wish I could give you some concrete answers on how to get it fixed permanently.
Also, the 02 truck have a VCM (vehicle control module) and not a GEM. The VCM is located in the center of the dash against the firewall. If you pull the radio out, you can see it but you have to pull the entire dash to remove the VCM. This is the only step that I have not taken.
