Problems with 2000 Ford Expedition ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Special message #15773 these problems have existed for years. and although i have taken my vehicle in to have correct these problems, at no time did any service personnel reference the above message, or fix my vehicle in accordance with prescribed guidelines. the following is a summary of the services performed on my vehicle that are a direct result of this problem. i will be more than happy to provide copies of these documented services upon request.*dec 2000: my husband and i purchased our vehicle in washington with 13,000 miles on it while on christmas leave from germany, and our truck sat in storage until our return in sep 2001. we then drove our vehicle from california to our new duty station at fort belvoir, virginia.*jan 2002: we had issues with the electrical and transmission modular. we took the vehicle to the world of ford dealership in arlington, virginia. they replaced the power train control modular, airbag light, and the check engine light, and reprogrammed the gem modular. the odometer reading at this time was 26,795 miles. fortunately, the vehicle was still under warranty.*jul 2002: i took the truck back to world of ford in arlington, virginia for the following problems: transmission slipping, check engine light, airbag lights, and abs lights. ford said they could not duplicate problems. the vehicle was still covered under warranty with an odometer reading of 30,481 miles. again, although the ford special message had been released in april of 2002, at no time was it mentioned to me as a possible source for these problems.*sep 2004: i went back to world of ford with the same problems mentioned above, plus the trip meter/odometer was blinking in and out. they replaced the led and electrical connections under the driver seat, and fixed the lights on the dash. *jb

While driving windshield wipers and radio stopped working. when shutting off engine, heater blower blewout cold air full blast, and starter kept clicking. vehicle taken to dealer twice, could not remedy problem. please add further details.*ak

Reported engine losing power to dealership while vehicle was under warranty on 2 prior occasions before vehicle shut down totally while in driving mode. dealer's service department could not find a problem on those prior visits. with the complete power failure, the dealer's service department found that a fire had occurred in the electrical junction box, burning several wires that had to be replaced. dealer insisted that this total shutdown had nothing to do with previous lost of power that i reported to them. i was fortunate not to be in a lot of traffic when my failure occurred, but the next person may not be so lucky.*ak

My 2000 ford expedition xlt out of the blue started acting bizarre. come to find out the windshield seal had a leak which in turn destroyed my gem module and fuse box. according to others this is a problem that is out of hand. ford needs to fix this and reseal all windshields, i don't have $1000+ to repair and have a vehicle i paid too much money for that is now sitting in my garage. *tr

Vehicle is not shifting into gears correctly. when shifting into park, radio and interior lights come on without operating them. also, while driving radio and interior lights cut off without operating them. consumer has contacted dealer. dealer unable to determine cause of problem. *ak *slc

There is a defect with the installation of the windshield that causes water in enter the cab. upon entry, the water goes into the gem mod and fuse panel of the suv. this shorts the system - at one point you may encounter the heater turning on without the key in the ignition. here is a special notice sent by ford in 2002 regarding this problem: *ford special message #15773 variouselectricalconditions resulting from water intrusion into the gem/cjb some 1997-2002 expedition and 1998-2002 navigator vehicles may exhibit various unusual electrical conditions, including but not limited to: xxxxx xxxxx rear blower or eatc staying on with key out of the ignition, radio staying on after doors opened and key out of ignition, wiper circuit failure codes, and multiple system warning lights with 'short to power' or 'low battery voltage' dtcs. these symptoms most often occur after a rain or snow. this may be due to gem/cjb water intrusion resulting from a windshield water leak. to service, remove the gem and cjb from thevehicle, separate them and inspect for water contamination or corrosion. if found in either component, replace both components and completely reseal the windshield. effective date: 04/05/2002 ford motor company *tr

If the ignition switch is turned to ignition position #3 as defined in the owners manual, (p61), the gearshift lever may be moved out of park, without depressing the brake. position #3 is supposed to shut off engine and all accessories without locking the steering wheel. the problem is that it also unlocks the brake shift interlock safty mechanism that is supposed to prevent the gearshift lever from being moved from p (park). our 2 year old son was able to knock the gearshift lever down 1 position out of park(reverse) and the car rolled forward, down a hill and into a pond, wth him in it! the vehicle door locks automatically locked as the vehicle started to move. luckily the passanger window opened when the vehicle went into the water (must have shorted out) we were able to rescue him before the vehicle sank (approx 1 min). when the vehicle was removed from the water, the gearshift lever was in reverse position and the ignition switch was in position #3. we are concerned that the brake shift interlock is not activated when the ignition switch is in position #3. is there a valid reason for this, or is it an oversight in the design. i have since tested this on a 1997 expedition and it does the same thing. has there been any other reported problems with this? we called ford and they said that they do not do their own safety testing and that we should contact the nhtsa. what should our next course of action be?