[DeTomaso] Why I drive only 35+ year old cars....

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

Modern cars have never had any appeal to me, and here's a good reason why.  
 This is from a fellow in the Nor-Cal Shelby Club, who has some slight 
difficulties with his 2000 Ford F-350:

====

 Hey gang,

I am hoping some one can offer me some advice / solution to a problem I
am having with my 2000 turbo diesel 2 wd A/T dually crew cab.  It
appears that the GEM (Generic Electronics Module) has gone bad so that
the truck does weird things like flash the dome light on and off, turn
the windshield wipers on and off - but most importantly - won't even
activate the starter to try to start.  Unfortunately, the company that
made the part for Ford went out of business and there are none at any
dealerships in the US according to a search performed by a dealer.  They
may be available in November.  I can not find the right one ('E' version
for power windows / locks and the Passive Anti Theft System - PATS) on
Ebay or in a wrecking yard (and there are none listed in the wrecking
yard's computer search of other wrecking yards).  Any other suggestions
for sources?  The next problem is that the truck will not even try to
start and apparently data need to be down loaded from the current GEM
(even though it is bad) through the diagnostic port and then uploaded
back into the new GEM through the diagnostic port with a special Ford
Dealer specific scanner.  I can not get a flat bed big enough to tow the
truck to the dealership up my drive way, even if I could get the part. 
Some on line forums contest the assertion that the down load needs to
happen, but the service manual, dealerships and an independent mechanic
confirm that it does.  There is a possibility that I could send the GEM
to Cardone and have it rebuilt, but that will take a couple of weeks at
least and still does not get around the need to do the down load (and
have the data sit on the scan tool until the GEM is replaced) and then
re- up load it.  Dealerships don't seem too keen on the idea of having
one of their scan tools tied up for a couple of weeks...  Ideas /
suggestions / help are all appreciated.  Thanks!

John

====

Amazing.   His truck is 12 years old and now it's a garage ornament.   
Killed by planned obsolescence and manufacturer support neglect.   Will it ever 
run again, or will he just have to tow it to a junkyard????

If anybody has any ideas to help him, since he's not on this forum please 
contact him directly at mastadon at planet10.com and tell him I sent you.

Mike