Electrical gremlin - need some assistance

[BenBB]

That's great you found the problem, appreciate the update I'm going to have to check mine too haha!

@drok223 mine will refuse to remote start and just honk at you if there's any codes active lighting up check engine, or even the low tire pressure tire I think. And yes the door/lock actuators are fairly common failures, there's a ton of old threads here on them...

 

[Irregular F150]

That's great you found the problem, appreciate the update I'm going to have to check mine too haha!

@drok223 mine will refuse to remote start and just honk at you if there's any codes active lighting up check engine, or even the low tire pressure tire I think. And yes the door/lock actuators are fairly common failures, there's a ton of old threads here on them...

Hmm. I have no light on. Ill get out my reader when i get home and check. Its only done it one time also.

 

[WNCHSTR96]

If @FordTechOne earned a dollar for everyone he has helped on here, could he retire on a beach by now?

 

[BenBB]

If @FordTechOne earned a dollar for everyone he has helped on here, could he retire on a beach by now?

Maybe...

 

[Oldfart]

Nice that you found it before things got too crazy. And yes, FTO is a great guy and a big help to a lot of people in here since I've been a member.

 

[Meat2022]

Well, the prize goes to FordTechOne! I'm not too proud to admit the issue, hopefully it will help someone else in the future with a similar error. The "check your grounds in both footwells" comment made me think.

The only ground connection that's been touched recently (a month ago) was the one in the passenger side footwell as part of my installation of the GJ 3rd brake light. The kit requires a ground for the flood lights, and the closest one is located near the upfitter wiring just below the glovebox. I started taking apart the kick panel to have a look and noticed I couldn't move the passenger seat back, it was completely dead even though the driver seat still had power...hmmm. I twisted underneath the passenger dash armed with a flashlight and found the grounding point. The screw was tight, however I could press against the grounding cable and it moved slightly towards the body of the truck. When I looked up while pressing the wire I could see the lights go from dim to full power again!

Upon closer inspection, the grounding ring has a locator pin and that wasn't properly aligned to the hole when I tightened it down. It's a very tight space with a socket or wrench so I didn't realize at the time the locator pin wasn't aligned. As a result, the screw felt like it was snug, but the grounding ring hadn't fully seated against the frame. It must have have separated just enough over the past couple of days to start causing intermittent issues. I guess the problems went away when the truck was running because it was generating a better ground that "bridged" the weak point?

Doors are now locking, lights are coming on full strength and passenger seat has power - all appears to be fine again!! Despite my stupidity I'm very happy it was something relatively obvious at the end of the day. Now I won't have to second guess the reliability of the truck - just the idiot behind the wheel

So is this ground what grounds the BCM? Did you get a pic of this by chance? I only ask because im having a weird issue with remote start and it throwing a code for steering angle sensor. I want to check this ground if it is my BCM ground for sure.

 

[mprice1234]

Yeah, it's got to go in the hole for it to work the best! I had to beat @The Car Stereo Company to this one.

 

[mcbagpiper]

So is this ground what grounds the BCM? Did you get a pic of this by chance? I only ask because im having a weird issue with remote start and it throwing a code for steering angle sensor. I want to check this ground if it is my BCM ground for sure.

I don't have a picture, but if you start by removing the kick plate on the front passenger wheel well (i.e. where you can remove the trim to reveal the fuse panel) and then take a flashlight and go up frame, maybe 1/2 way up the glovebox if I remember correctly, you'll see an obvious point where a wire is grounded to the frame.

It's not easy to access, it's kind of hidden behind the side of the glovebox, which is why I failed to position it correctly when I removed the bolt to ground the 3rd brake light and re-attached. There's a locating pin on the eyelet that needs to be correctly inserted to make sure it seats correctly as you tighten.

Visually it appeared to be secure, but when I poked at the wires with a screwdriver I could see that the two eyelets for the wires weren't making solid contact with the frame and could be separated slightly...which caused the intermittent issue.

 

[Meat2022]

I don't have a picture, but if you start by removing the kick plate on the front passenger wheel well (i.e. where you can remove the trim to reveal the fuse panel) and then take a flashlight and go up frame, maybe 1/2 way up the glovebox if I remember correctly, you'll see an obvious point where a wire is grounded to the frame.

It's not easy to access, it's kind of hidden behind the side of the glovebox, which is why I failed to position it correctly when I removed the bolt to ground the 3rd brake light and re-attached. There's a locating pin on the eyelet that needs to be correctly inserted to make sure it seats correctly as you tighten.

Visually it appeared to be secure, but when I poked at the wires with a screwdriver I could see that the two eyelets for the wires weren't making solid contact with the frame and could be separated slightly...which caused the intermittent issue.

I'll check it this Saturday, I still think I'm having alternator issues, just because my volts are sitting at 13.0 to 13.7 when vehicle is running or idling

 

[mcbagpiper]

This is the best I can do to show the approx location of the grounding point