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2013 E450 cutaway- electrical gremlins

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Old 09-27-2019, 09:03 PM
speede55's Avatar
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Default 2013 E450 cutaway- electrical gremlins

New to the forum. I have the above mentioned chassis for my class C RV. 9k miles w V10 gas. Recently it developed seemingly overnight a security/no start issue. Took it to my regular mechanic, and he traced it back to fuse box in the engine compartment, but couldn’t identify what was causing the problem other than a potentially intermittent loose wire, but sometimes the damn thing won’t crank at all with the security light flashing, other times it’ll fire right off.
whatever the problem is is also tied to my slide outs and backup camera. Because they all work/don’t work at the same time. Juggling the wires going into the box sometimes works, but most of the time, nada. I had heard that these fuse boxes have inherent issues and often need replacing. Anyone else have these issues? It’s not like I’m beating this thing to death with 9k mikes in 6 years. Pic for attention. Thx
 
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Old 09-28-2019, 01:27 PM
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Nice toy !!

Sometimes gremlins can be removed by doing what we call a forced reset.
All that is , is disconnecting the battery cables from the battery(s) holding the cable terminal ends so they connect with one another for a few minutes and allow stored info to go away. This might help one problem, but brings on another and that is just about all memory that is programmed into the vehicle computer is also erased. Features like radio stations, memory seat, mirrors etc will now need to be reset.as will idle speed etc.Also,,,, not knowing what if any "add on's" may be present on the vehicle could also be involved. Some of them can work fine for a period of time , but then for unknown reasons cause problems at a later date..There is as you mentioned a possible problem with the power distribution panel in the engine compartment. Without actually having the vehicle to physically do some detailed checking/testing is like shooting in the dark.
Wish I could offer some positive answers, , but have you considered having the vehicle checked out by a Ford service dept?
 
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Old 09-28-2019, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by hanky
Nice toy !!

Sometimes gremlins can be removed by doing what we call a forced reset.
All that is , is disconnecting the battery cables from the battery(s) holding the cable terminal ends so they connect with one another for a few minutes and allow stored info to go away. This might help one problem, but brings on another and that is just about all memory that is programmed into the vehicle computer is also erased. Features like radio stations, memory seat, mirrors etc will now need to be reset.as will idle speed etc.Also,,,, not knowing what if any "add on's" may be present on the vehicle could also be involved. Some of them can work fine for a period of time , but then for unknown reasons cause problems at a later date..There is as you mentioned a possible problem with the power distribution panel in the engine compartment. Without actually having the vehicle to physically do some detailed checking/testing is like shooting in the dark.
Wish I could offer some positive answers, , but have you considered having the vehicle checked out by a Ford service dept?
Thanks for the reply and suggestions. I did get it started, through no doing of my own, it just decided to start . It’s definitely related to the passive security system, and I did have the idea to disconnect the battery to reset the BCM. I hadn’t heard of touching the battery cable ends together to erase any cached memory, but I will try that. Even though it’s an XLT trim chassis, it’s not heavily loaded with features, so I’m not worried about having to restore any OEM equipment presets. I put my OBD scanner on it, and its not throwing or storing any codes, so that’s out. I ran through everything I could possibly think of with a 12V test light, and everything looked good. Taking it to my local Ford dealer isn’t exactly going to be a cheap endeavor, but it may be the last resort if disconnecting the battery terminals don’t do the trick. Once again, I appreciate the feedback. 👍
 
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Old 09-28-2019, 05:16 PM
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Thank you for the update.
Something you might consider,
There is a limited amount of things you can safely" check on vehicles loaded with computers and modules with a test lite, so you need to be careful where you "poke" it.
You have a beautiful piece of equipment with that vehicle and a decent voltmeter will come in handy when doing voltage drop tests. That may be what you might consider investing in and learn ,if you don't already know ,how to check connections and functions. There are some good videos on U Tube by experienced techs and you may get lucky and find the intermittent problem without supporting the Ford Dealer.
 
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Old 08-25-2023, 07:22 AM
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good advice!
 
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