HEC or VSM??

blaze42069

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The wife's 02 excursion started to act up last week with a plethora of issues all at once. I've been diagnosing for a week now and before I go to ford and spend 1000$ for a new VSM I thought I would look for opinions here. I was driving last week and all the gauges did a full sweep and returned to normal, weird I thought. The next day the wife gets out and door ajar light is on, radio stays on with door open, no interior lights on with all doors and hatch open. Interior lights work with manual switch. So I thought jamb switch right, well no. I ohmed all jamb switches and they passed. I did the door sensor test on the gauge cluster and no doors were open but still has the door ajar light on. Even after opening a door the cluster did not register that. I did the same gauge test on my 02 lariat and each door has a specific # when open. I pulled relay 306 acc delay relay and the stereo shut off. Replaced relay with known good one and stereo turns back on. I check all associated fuses to the VSM none were blown and no corrosion seen. I unhooked the batteries over night but that did nothing. The auto door locks do not work but the key fob and door lock switches all work fine. Also the key in ignition and lights left on buzzer doesn't work anymore and auto headlights do not work but headlights work with manual switch. I hooked up my AE and got HEC module codes and I wish I would have wrote those down but didn't. I also got a U1950 code. After I cleared all codes the U1950 remained. From what I can find on that dtc it is a UBP Communication Bus Fault for the HEC and VSM. I have a hydra chip and an alarm system installed for over 2 years now and just got a stereo installed 6 months ago too. Just to be clear on electrical mods. The hydra does keep the theft light flashing for the PATS but Powerhungry performance said they bypassed that system resulting in theft light flashing but everything should be fine. And has been for 2 years. Any ideas? Anything else I can check? Thanks in advance.
 
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sootie

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pull the chip and remote starter to rule them out.
 

blaze42069

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Ok just pulled chip and unhooked alarm. Still no work. Gonna run the AE again tmo. For now I'm off to work. I'm thinking I might bite the bullet and send the cluster off. That's the cheapest and they always seem to fail. And if that don't work then I eat the VSM bill.:wtf:
 

co04cobra

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Don't spend that kind of money at the dealer for a new VSM. That would be as crazy as paying 1k for a idm from them IMO.
 

blaze42069

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I agree but what can I do? I don't wanna live with it like this. It's 150$ to diagnose. 150$ to re and re the VSM. 150$ to program the VSM. Then 300$ to buy the VSM. And hopefully the mechanic is competent so it gets fixed right the first time. Living in Canada I got taxes on top of that. 12.5%, so let's say 900$ if there is nothing extra. And our dollar is worth less than a peso. So I better pack some lube when I go. I was hoping someone had experience to point me in the right direction. But when the DTC U1950 has more than one meaning it's kinda hard to nail down what my issue is. That's why I'll get the cluster done first as it is cheaper and hope I get lucky.
 
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co04cobra

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I would get the cluster fixed first. If that doesn't do it I would get a used VSM. They do not have to be programmed coming from another vehicle.

I'll try and check the interchange for you to see if a truck VSM could possibly work.
 

blaze42069

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Ok finally had some time between work and Christmas. The interior light officially quit today and will not work with the switch anymore. Got the AE back on and spent more than a minute looking. The u1950 is consistently under the HEC accompanied by a u1262 also a HEC code so I'm gonna pull the cluster and ship it off. I will report back if this fixes it or not. Cause if not, you can watch me blow almost 1000$ on a VSM. It's Canadian money, so about 50$ USD lol. I don't feel comfortable putting a used VSM as I fear it would be built with the same faulty parts. I hope Ford would upgrade the crappy parts. If not then I got newer crappy parts that might last me another 13yrs.
 

blaze42069

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UPDATE:

Ok got back my cluster, it was tested and passed before they sent it back of course. Didn't work tho. Still have all my issues. I had doubts it was the cluster but was my cheapest option for troubleshooting. When the cluster failed in my 02 lariat the windows and radio wouldn't work at all. So I sent power to the acc relay from the trailer brake relay and bypassed that issue. Completely different symptoms but I hoped. So next pay day it's goin to the stealership. I'll update again when I get it addressed. Any luck on info of VSM interchanges cobra?
 

blaze42069

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Next update

Ok guys took to ford today. Got a new VSM. It was 150 more than one from the wrecker and carries a 3 yr nation wide warranty install and programming included. If I got a used one, no warranty and I would have to do this all over again if it fails. They put in a new VSM in and fixed some things. Now I got codes for both the front door switches. According to ford these switches have been known to corrode and short out ruining the VSM. Also they found a rock that had got into the harness running in the floor on the driver's side that chewed through the insulation causing corrosion in a couple wires. So I ordered switches and will be here Monday for me to install. After I replace the switches everything should be back to normal. I will let you know.
 

co04cobra

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Hey sorry I'm just now getting back. I couldn't cross reference a number for a definite answer that a truck VSM would interchange.

I would have mailed you up one just to try though.

I have replaced a lot of those door switches, but can't say I ever pinpointed a failure of the VSM due to that though. Let us know how it goes.

If you've never updated your door lock actuators it's the perfect time while replacing the switches.
 

blaze42069

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Ok new door switches and still have problems. Old switches ohmed out fine and the ds front door was previously replaced before I owned it. So back to ford it went and they spent all day and had their "best" guys on it. So it's fixed. Turns out the new VSM ford supplied needs to have the switches replaced to one's that read opposite of the old ones. Meaning the old switches show doors open when closed and new switches would be reversed. Sounds fishy to me. Anyway the clowns put my old VSM in and it works. Turns out it was just a short in the harness after all. So lesson learned as I now own a new VSM that I can't return cause its electrical, also I apparently need new door switches to go with it. Thanks for the help troubleshooting. I guess I'll stick to mechanical problems and leave electrical alone.
 

co04cobra

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It was stupid how Ford had different switches to show when the doors were open.

They usually went off of color. Purple, green, orange, brown. Some of them showed open with button up and some showed open with button down. Seemed to change on which did what around 01. Hate you had to waste the money on the VSM.


I learned most of the switch stuff on a excursion. Spent hours upon hours trying to figure out a dome light problem. I had plenty of switches to change but some of them would cause the light to come on when the door closed. Literally banged my head off the wall for quite awhile until I figured it out. Lol

I was unaware Ford could flash the VSM to use either.
 

psduser1

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You guys know that you can pull the switch out of the actuators and swap them around, right?
As in, change the actuators, and reuse the original switch?
 

co04cobra

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The switch goes into the latch. I've replaced a lot of both switches and actuators but ford used several different door ajar switches 99-04. Some grounded out with button depressed others vice versa.

Made it a pita when you had a shorted or stuck door ajar switch. I always had used switched around but took some time to figure out when or why they changed them.
 

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