wpgjim

Hi I am a newbie to this site and have a problem that just occurred the other day. I have a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 and drive in the cold weather in Canada. The other day I got into my car and just as I was about to close the door the interior light went out. I thought maybe the bulb burnt out. I started my car and noticed the seat belt warning did not go off as it usually does and when I tried my rear defrost it does not work. As I was driving home I sprayed w/s wiper fluid but the wipers did not go on to take the fluid off. The wipers do operate but not in intermittent mode. I have checked the fuses, all are ok. I thought I had read somewhere that there may be a problem with the relay or time control relay?? Not sure what this is but according to my manual there are some relays just above the fuses. Does anyone know if this is the problem or what the problem could be? Any solutions would be helpful and if I have to replace a relay any idea as to cost in Canada? Thanks for any insight that may be given.

00gtr1

Focus's are notorious for ground problems, check your battery cables and the small ground that goes to the battery, If had to replace alot of battery cable beacause of corrison. The wiper relay problem is that the wiper relays don't park after they are shut off. and the fix is a new wiper relay from ford and you can find the location of the relay in your owners manual. I think its blue or gray I forget. Also check your rear hatch wiring for broken wires. It's the harness that connects the liftgate to the roof, It's an easy repair. your car might have several problems hope this helps.

Fordtech.

All the items mentioned are controlled by the GEM module, you need to get this checked/replaced as necc.

wpgjim

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check the battery cables for any corrosion although I don't think this is the problem since everything happened at once and it wouldn't explain the loss of the seat belt warning dash light or the annoying chime, don't really miss that part but that was a warning something was amiss. Never heard about a GEM module but if it controls rear defrost, seat belt alarm, interior lights and the intermittant wipers that would explain a lot. I was hoping it was just a cheap fix such as replacing a couple of fuses but no such luck. Then I read on another site about timer-control relay which made sense since all of the above must work on a timer. But I guess it's off to the shop I go to have that module checked. Thanks again. Any other suggestions or solutions before I take the car in would be appreciated.

Fordtech.

Depending on territory/build date it will either be central timer module or the later GEM.