Hi There: We are the original owners of a 2002 Tbird in Thunderbird Blue and she has 27000 original miles and has been pampered her whole life. Recently the air bag light on the dash began flashing and then staying illuminated. I changed out the clock spring and it solved that issue. Unfortunately after I finished the install and hooked the battery up the hi beam lamps will not shut off. Key in, key out, headlamp switch on or off no difference. Let me add the instrument cluster lights have not worked for at least a year and recently the auto lamp feature stopped working. This is pointing me to the FEM being bad. But the only thing stopping me from having it rebuilt is the DTC is showing no codes. Anybody out there in Birdland have any thoughts or ideas? Thanks
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Help needed Front Electronic Module FEM 2002-2005
- Thread starter Gus Gutz
- Start date
I have 2002 that had no instrument lights, sent cluster in for repair they did a "circuit board repair and replace some bulbs" still no instrument lights, now dealer says bad FEM. Called United Radio and gave them part number 1W6T-13B525-AJ and they said they could repair for $215, average 3-5 day turn around. Looks like I will be taking the chance and using them compared to $595 for the other place. Thanks for the information.
Do the lights work on your shift indicator? Probably not. The dealership should have known this was the FEM from the beginning based on that too. Never ceases to amaze me how many unnecessary repairs are done at the dealerships. Let us know how long your repair takes at United Radio and it it resolves the problem.
When I had the FEM issue, I researched the issues here in the forum first. Someone mentioned the ghost in the system and a module that Ford replaced. When my lights went out and I couldn't turn the radio off, I took it to the Ford dealer. They said that they could not find a problem. I asked them to replace the FEM and that is when I started this thread. So just the opposite, I had a Ford dealer that didn't want to fix it until I asked them to replace the FEM all based on the post in this forum.
I thought it was the FEM 4 weeks ago. I specifically asked the dealer Dale James Ford of Apple Creek Ohio, if the technician knew his stuff and was not some "fly by night" mechanic. He specifically stated the guy had been with Ford 30 years and they were "just talking about that the day before". Feeling confident a mechanic with "30 years with Ford" knew what he was doing I gave them the job. Wish I hadn't at this point but it was my 82 year old Dad's car that died in June and we are just trying to get it fixed to sell it. I replaced the brake switch for transmission not coming out of park and no tail lights and recharged the AC. Dealer replaced "restraints module" for constant on airbag light, "repaired" dash cluster for no lights (I can't say it didn't have issues if the repair place said it had bad bulbs), and is now going to replace "FEM", all with only 31,500 original miles on her.
Told him to sell it 3-4 years ago but he sure loved that car for some reason watching it sit in the garage. I am glad he doesn't have to see everything that was wrong with her, probably break his heart.
Told him to sell it 3-4 years ago but he sure loved that car for some reason watching it sit in the garage. I am glad he doesn't have to see everything that was wrong with her, probably break his heart.
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The car is over 15 years old though. That is why warranties are years or miles, whichever comes first. 15 years is long enough to go from Kindergarten to High school.
Oh, I know, just pointing out it sure didn't get a lot of use to now do over $2000 worth of repairs and counting 
My Ford dealer said the same thing. They got their 30 year employee guy who said there were no issues. My bad FEM did not throw codes and the problems were intermittent. When they got the car there were no issues. But after the FEM was replaced I never had those issues. I think I had all the symptoms too. The only one I didn't have was the dash lights out. I had all the rest. Power steering, head lights, window drop, radio, wipers, oil light, top, your name it, I had it.
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Well the dealer called United Radio and spoke to them about repairing the FEM. They sent the FEM to them, and when they called to check on progress United Radio stated they do not work on them anymore and had already sent it back, what BS! I had called them also and gave them the module number and they said they worked on them.
Anyone have any other ideas for repair/replacement of 2002 FEM?
Anyone have any other ideas for repair/replacement of 2002 FEM?
See post #1
Help needed Front Electronic Module FEM 2002-2005
My lights went off and my drivers window would not go down. The radio would not turn off when the door was opened and the windows do not drop. this happened twice in two days. I am sure it is the front electronic module. Anyone know what to do and where to take it? MODERATOR NOTE 2020- We've...
forums.fordthunderbirdforum.com
Probably. In my experience working in IT, when a computer motherboard goes bad, it's often just a capacitor. That would explain why the repairs are done at a fixed rate, and almost always repaired. During this time period, many computer manufacturers had problems with Chinese capacitors blowing on PC's.
Just purchased this car and now am noticing these 3 issues, Power Door Mirrors, Window Washer Pump and Instrument Cluster Lights all not working.
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Is the shift indicator lit?
No - not lit and I wondered about that
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No shifter light & no instrument cluster lights are likely a problem with your FEM- https://forums.fordthunderbirdforum...ectronic-module-fem-2002-2005.5560/post-35306
I have a 2002 Tbird with 37,000 miles everything works fine but the steering is VERY tough. I went and purchased the little OBDII tester to see what is wrong. Nothing
is showing up all codes are clear. I thought I might need a FEM unit but no codes indicated that. What are your suggestion? What other things could be wrong? Thank you. Al
is showing up all codes are clear. I thought I might need a FEM unit but no codes indicated that. What are your suggestion? What other things could be wrong? Thank you. Al
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L
Larry Hunt
UPDATE EMAIL ADDRESS
We recently bought this 2002 Thunderbird with only 22,000 actual miles in early fall of 2020. Driving late one evening we noticed that the gear indicator light and most of the dash instruments would not illuminate. After reviewing this site I thought the front electronic module was at fault. I removed this module and had it looked at by a module repair specialist. He found no issue with the module. I reinstalled the module and traced power back to the fuse box. It indicated I had 13 volt power going from fuse 13 to the instrument cluster and fuse 5 to the transmission shift selector when the main light switch was activated. I am pretty sure others with this car have had this issue and would like to get feedback if possible on what had to be done next by others to resolve this issue. This is the only electrical issue with this car. Everything else associated with the Front Electronic Module works fine. I also changed out the Instrument Panel Dimming Module to no avail. Trying to avoid dealership diagnosis cost if possible.
Thanks
Larry Hunt
Thanks
Larry Hunt