odd electrical issue

Dad

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First some background info. Since Christmas my garage is full of crap that the kids got and the wife got so I have to park outside. We had some freezing rain and my doors were frozen shut. I managed to get in, but the window stayed in the slightly down position for a while and the dash light was on indicating the door wasn't shut, but it was. I figured something was just iced and needed to thaw. Which it did a few minutes later and the window went up, light off, etc.

However, since then if I get in or out of the car and don't shut the door within a few seconds, the window goes back up, down, up down and then stays up until I try and shut the door. Then it goes down and I can fully shut the door. I tried the hold the down button for 10 seconds and then up for 10, but that hasn't fixed it.

Now I am noticing that when I start off, the doors don't auto lock. About 5 minutes into my drive the car beeps like the door is open or something and then about 10 seconds later the doors lock. No dash lights come on at all, just a beep and then the doors lock.

I cannot cope with electrical gremlins.
 

pass1over

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maybe the door closed sensor on the drivers side got messed up when it iced over?

I'm not sure exactly what type of device they use to detect door closed/open, never really looked.
 

bujeezus

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I had a electrical gremlin pop up on me last weekend. Rear blinker stopped working. Figured it was a bulb. Before I got a chance to get to the parts place, it's started to work again. What the hell could cause that?
 

ponys197

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Could be an issue with your SJB ( Smart Junction Box) getting wet. Mine would lock and unlock the doors while driving then I had all the idiot lights come on but no codes where thrown on the car. Problems went away but when I took it into a Ford dealer when it was doing it , they said the SJB was bad. This was when the SJB's were out of stock so I just dealt with it , didn't drive in more than light rain / misting till I got a new SJB and now i am replacing it this Friday. SJB is $300 for the box and about $100 to have it flashed if that is the issue.
 

Dad

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Could be an issue with your SJB ( Smart Junction Box) getting wet. Mine would lock and unlock the doors while driving then I had all the idiot lights come on but no codes where thrown on the car. Problems went away but when I took it into a Ford dealer when it was doing it , they said the SJB was bad. This was when the SJB's were out of stock so I just dealt with it , didn't drive in more than light rain / misting till I got a new SJB and now i am replacing it this Friday. SJB is $300 for the box and about $100 to have it flashed if that is the issue.

I thought about this, but from what I have read there is typically a wet passenger side floor to go with that and I don't have that issue. So given the price tag associated with the SJB, I am hoping it isn't that.
 

ponys197

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It typically is but water can go down the wires as well and get into the SJB box. Mine floor area wasn't wet either but my SJB still went bad. You can pull your SBJ out easily enough and pop it open and look to see if you can find any corrosion on the circuity. if you see corrosion then you know it got wet in there.
 

01yellerCobra

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It's worth pulling the SJB yourself and cleaning and drying it. I ended up pulling the SJB, hitting it with contact cleaner, cleaned all the connectors with an acid brush and alcohol, then let it dry for a day. The top of the carpet wasn't wet, but when I peeled back a corner the insulation was damp.
 

Dad

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It's worth pulling the SJB yourself and cleaning and drying it. I ended up pulling the SJB, hitting it with contact cleaner, cleaned all the connectors with an acid brush and alcohol, then let it dry for a day. The top of the carpet wasn't wet, but when I peeled back a corner the insulation was damp.

Sounds like a solid plan. Might have to do it over the weekend. Supposed to be 67 and sunny.
 

01yellerCobra

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I should add that I opened up the case to the SJB to clean it and dry it off. It just pops together so it's easy to get apart.
 

redfirepearlgt

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When troubleshooting multiple failures like this one has to first determine what they all have in common. In this case every symptom you have is passing through the SJB. It does not have to get wet to fail. It could be something as simple as reseating the electrical connections feed to and going from the SJB which is the first thing you should try.

Looking at the SJB wiring diagram I am inclined to believe that unless reseating the connections on the unit fixes the problem you are either facing a reflash of the SJB by a facility with full Ford access, OR you are looking at an SJB failure which will require a reflash as well. My conclusion on this is based on the fact that none of your symptoms are from any one common group within the SJB. If the symptoms were all consistent within one group you could check main power feeding that groups as Ford was wise to provide power in to various groups through several feeds vice one common back plane feed of 12 vdc which would render the whole car dead if there was an internal failure in such a back plane design. There is one last possiblity that can be checked and that would be the only two grounds common to the SJB itself since no in depth schematic of hte circuitry in the SJB is available aside from the overview prints and basic internal distribution of 12vdc in the Ford tech manuals.

So to review:

IMPORTANT - ASSUMING IT ISN'T WET OR DAMP AND NEVER HAS BEEN AS YOU STATE PERFORM THE STEPS BELOW. IF YOU FIND IT HAS BEEN WET FOLLOW WHAT 01YELLERCOBRA HAS STATED. Then continue the steps below as they apply.

1). Inspecting all connections on the SJB unit for corrosion and clean as it applies if any. Be cautious of using contact cleaners unless they specify that they will not damage plastic or rubber materials that make up connectors.

2). Reseat all connections on the SJB after disconnecting and visually inspecting.

3.) Check C2280A pin 1 (black wire) and C2280H pins 8 and 22 (black wires) for continuity from the pin to chassis ground. If open isolate and fix the open connection.

4.) Have a Ford authorized repair facility(doesn't have to be a dealership as there are some repair shops with this level of ability) to consider reflashing the SJB. Yes it has programming specific to it that is separate from the PCM just as eh body module and ABS units do as I understand.

5.) Replace the likely defective SJB and again it will have to be reprogrammed int eh same manner as described in step 4. NOTE - You can't do this with a handheld PCM programmer. This is at a different level as I understand it.

Good luck
 
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Dad

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Update: This morning, shortly after the normal beep I have been getting, the dash light for "hey dummy, your door is open" flashed on for like half a second. Then the doors locked and it was business as usual.
 

redfirepearlgt

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Update: This morning, shortly after the normal beep I have been getting, the dash light for "hey dummy, your door is open" flashed on for like half a second. Then the doors locked and it was business as usual.

Have you done anything toward what people have suggested thus far? Some feedback from that would be nice to hear. The symptoms above also routed through the SJB.

I would lend you my Ruby Red Slippers so you could click the heels together and wish the problem away but they are currently being used by Coach Tom Crean at IU to hopefully wish his way to a 500 conference season finish, because he truly has no coaching skills in spite of beating UK at the last two meetings. LOL!
 
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Dad

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No, I am saving the fun for tomorrow when I have more time during daylight. It does seem to only be the driver side door with the issue though. I will give a full report after I tackle this though.
 

redfirepearlgt

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That's good. If you were waiting to borrow the Ruby Reds, I'm afraid by regular season end they will need to be sent out for retrofit and a recalibration after Crean gets done using them while trying to play "coach" at IU another year.
 

Dad

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SJB looked clean to me, no loose connections, no corrosion.
Where is the switch that tells the window to go down a bit when the door is opened? I am thinking when the doors were frozen perhaps this got damaged?
 

redfirepearlgt

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That is the door ajar switch. The switch sinks the circuit to ground to complete the path when the door is opened to directly run the window down slightly as well as notify the SJB that the door is ajar which would logically also activate the door ajar lamp on the instrument cluster. The same switch signal also likely activates the interior lighting and key in ignition warning which all pass through and are controlled by the SJB. Location of the Door ajar switch should be somewhere in the door jam. I am assuming since I am sitting at work and can't remember off the top of my head it is a plunger style switch made by the door when it closes like many door ajar switches. The passenger side and drivers side are on separate circuits. It is likely that if the door ajar switch is bad you will also have no noticeable warnings such as key in ignition and door ajar lamp on the instrument cluster. AS well there will likely be no interior illumination with the door open, though illumination would be possible with the interior lamp override.

The schematics get a little fuzzy as to how the window drives that short distance. The description of operation for that function merely states that when door ajar for the door is seen, the short drop is activated driving the window motor down slightly to clear the seal. It may be an internal function to the window motor itself which I would find surprising to be honest. I would expect a simple logic controlled time circuit within the SJB to perform this short stroke of the window for this task vice something internal to the window motor itself. But there isn't really enough information for me to conclude one way or the other with the information I have. Hope this helps.
 

46addict

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I don't recall seeing any plunger type switches in the door jam. I would think it is hidden out of plain sight and a magnetic switch is buried somewhere in the chassis near the doors.
 

redfirepearlgt

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I don't recall seeing any plunger type switches in the door jam. I would think it is hidden out of plain sight and a magnetic switch is buried somewhere in the chassis near the doors.

It's mounted on the door latch. The latch has to be removed in order to get to it. I just googled it. All I could go on was that the prints were showing a mechanical style activated switch not a proximity or reed style sensing switch. See below.

Aqbf2AJ.jpg
 

Dad

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After you posted that info I went and sprayed the crap out of the latch area with lube. Literally until it ran out the bottom of the door. Problem has not happened again. Maybe just the switch sticking. I hope.
 

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