Hey everyone,

I'm facing some electrical issues with my Ford Focus, and I could really use some advice. It seems like the GEM unit might be the culprit. I've done some testing and pulled out a lot of fuses, but the problem persists. Here are the details:

1. The GEM unit is suspected to be the issue, and I've identified the fuse box as "7M5T-14A073-CE."
2. Removed certain fuses (107, 112, 104), and the draw reduced to 132 mA. Removed the rest with no decrease.
3. Tried leaving the GEM unit for 30-40 minutes, but it didn't power down below the 132mA.
4. Removed all connectors, C96 - Front 1 (big green one) had the current go down to 0.5mA. Does this mean my GEM module is broken?
    

Things I'm considering trying:

- Cleaning the GEM internally and checking for damage.
- Testing the relay on the GEM.
- Exploring the option of buying a new GEM.
 

Another issue that's related / unrelated:

I've purchased an android head unit that contributed about 100mA to drain (separate from what's above). That will be a diagnosis later while I speak to the seller in the Amazon store. Looking at alternates and returning this one. 

leaf litter can block the drains hidden under the bonnet - allowing gallons of water to collect and then flood in and swamp the GEM... under the bonnet remove the silly plastic bit at the base of the windscreen and check inside way down under

however before that - disconnect the android device totally and see if the fault goes away

before that check the battery is in good order and not worn out - on her's with that same GEM the battery in good condition will last 4 months without starting the car and fire up as if it was yesterday (that is extraordinary for any modern car)

the car not shutting down can come from the Instrument cluster and dry solder joints and worn capacitors...  - if the gauges wobble or jump about before and just after start up - battery or cluster faults need fixing before playing with the GEM... unless you can clearly see its taken a bath from leaf litter or flood water

 

1 hour ago, MK2.5Hippo said:

Another issue that's related / unrelated:

I've purchased an android head unit that contributed about 100mA to drain (separate from what's above).

There is a good chance it is related to the problem.

Have you removed/disconnected the factory fitted Bluetooth module ?

I don't think that the GEM will be at fault. You have an issue going on that is keeping the Canbus system awake. One very common problem with your model is the Bluetooth module remaining active which in turn prevents the Canbus from going to sleep.

1 hour ago, Botus said:

leaf litter can block the drains hidden under the bonnet - allowing gallons of water to collect and then flood in and swamp the GEM... under the bonnet remove the silly plastic bit at the base of the windscreen and check inside way down under

 

good idea, i will check this 

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however before that - disconnect the android device totally and see if the fault goes away

before that check the battery is in good order and not worn out - on her's with that same GEM the battery in good condition will last 4 months without starting the car and fire up as if it was yesterday (that is extraordinary for any modern car)

the car not shutting down can come from the Instrument cluster and dry solder joints and worn capacitors...  - if the gauges wobble or jump about before and just after start up - battery or cluster faults need fixing before playing with the GEM... unless you can clearly see its taken a bath from leaf litter or flood water

test was done with android disconnected, battery is brand new (the other one died which is why i started looking at this, and i pulled all the fuses out and did the test, the instrument gauge was disconnected from the fuse box. 

27 minutes ago, unofix said:

There is a good chance it is related to the problem.

Have you removed/disconnected the factory fitted Bluetooth module ?

I don't think that the GEM will be at fault. You have an issue going on that is keeping the Canbus system awake. One very common problem with your model is the Bluetooth module remaining active which in turn prevents the Canbus from going to sleep.

Is this true even if all the fuses were pulled out of the GEM? I've taken a look at it and it looks like there's no water damage on anything. I can do another test again with all fuses out and wait an hour to see if it goes into sleep mode. This will be what I try today i think to make sure it is a CAN problem. 

The GEM is a bit confusing. It is part of the fusebox, but it is not controlled by the fuses in the fusebox. Removing all the fuses from the fusebox will not turn the GEM off.

I don't have a schematic for your model, but usually it is one or sometimes two fuses in the engine bay fusebox that supplies the GEM with it's power. Try fuse 3 and 4 (60 Amp) in the engine bay fusebox, they are probably what is powering the GEM.

Sorry guys, I feel like such an idiot. After more methodical testing, the GEM unit powers down. Here's where I'm at now with the last test pending. 

All fuses out - except for that black relay 

Front 1 connector alone 63ma all fuses out 

With cockpit 2 - 148mA 

So now we focus on the 63mA from front 1 

GEM powered down after 30 mins - 3.75 mA

Next we plug in ***** 2 120mA - powered down - 3.84 mA 

Rest of quad connectors get plugged in - fuse blew on 200mA setting 😭 - meter on 10A reads 0.12mA will wait 30 mins to see what the draw is. Probably will be fine. 

Conclusions so far: GEM is fine, I'm a bit thick. 

Next to do is plug in all fuses except for the ones I think that are problematic. 

104 - 10A - battery saver 

107 - 10A - dash 

112 - 15A - radio 

and see if the GEM powers down. 

 

Have you disconnected the Bluetooth module ?

I have an android radio and I'm not sure where that bluetooth module would be. I assume it's in the old radio on the radio fuse 112?

4 hours ago, Botus said:

leaf litter can block the drains hidden under the bonnet - allowing gallons of water to collect and then flood in and swamp the GEM... under the bonnet remove the silly plastic bit at the base of the windscreen and check inside way down under

 

so what's this thing called. i lost a few of the clips and now i need to see if i can buy them somewhere. Would be nice to see a youtube video of it coming apart. A rubber thing came out and i'm not sure how to put it back. 🫠

So the old bluetooth module is still in place I expect. If so you need to disconnect it.

11 minutes ago, unofix said:

So the old bluetooth module is still in place I expect. If so you need to disconnect it.

I will see if i can find it. It's dark now, but I have time while i'm doing the testing 

who said it had factory bluetooth most didn't ?

if it does the module will be up around the door pillar on the passenger side beside the the bread bin that is the glove box....   with a big clip on wiring loom.....

if you have the round mic on the main interior light unit likely.....  if not unlikely

 

module

 

as for the bit of plastic - the stupid bit that stops u getting to the lid off the brake fluid reservoir - its not meant to be water tight ....  its just trim

 

 

50 minutes ago, Botus said:

who said it had factory bluetooth most didn't ?

if it does the module will be up around the door pillar on the passenger side beside the the bread bin that is the glove box....   with a big clip on wiring loom.....

I do not have that speaker thingy but I will check for the module anyways since it was insisted upon multiple times. 

Confirmed I do not have that speaker and no bluetooth connector in my radio connector. I double checked with the pinout diagram. 

 

So at least I've figure out the GEM module works and CAN go to sleep. Now it's a matter of diagnosing what is keeping it awake. Which has been covered extensively in other threads. 

 

Unfortunately, with all fuses in the Passenger Fuse Box removed, i've made sure the GEM shuts down by doing a parasitic draw test with just C96 - Front 1 and C103 - Cockpit 2. When I plugged the rest in (with no fuses), I could not get the GEM module to sleep. I tried unplugging C102 - Cockpit 1 and C100 - Floor 1 but still it did not sleep. 

My question is, what could be powered when there are no fuses in the passenger junction box? Yes the engine fuse box is full, but remember I got the draw down to 3mA with no fuses and just the C96 and C103 connected. Cockpit 2 and Front 2 are under the fuse box. 

does the instrument cluster go to sleep....

the instrument cluster goes to sleep at 10 minutes. however, when the instrument cluster fuse is taken out of the fusebox, the instrument cluster does not turn on. 

 

I'm just really confused as to what is getting power when the fuses are taken out. I'm pouring over the line diagrams now to see what could be on. 

Upon doing research on other parts of the internet, when there are no fuses in the fusebox, but there is still a drain it could be either 

1. some programming fault

2. a bad relay shorting out or non functioning right

I'm going to test again and try to see what cable causes the GEM to stay awake because those other things sounds way too complicated, it does look like FORScan would be the way to go if that was the case. 

when did the fun start?

most cars with a battery drain have one of two issues

a battery you believe is Ok, but isn't
something on the canbus has been messed with or its wet, soggy or worn out and thus staying awake

is the GEM the original one from this car - inside is configuration set up in software that needs to match the bits the car has...

if you pull so much of the car away from standard, you (nor the car) will know whats telling what to go to bed
you seem up for the fight take ALL the android stuff out so there is NOTHING connected that isn't OEM ford (don't need the ford radio in there) then see whats happening.  I still think the cluster needs a rebuild.  Its normal and should be seen a std maint like doing the cam belt

 

 

 

 

16 hours ago, MK2.5Hippo said:

I'm just really confused as to what is getting power when the fuses are taken out. I'm pouring over the line diagrams now to see what could be on. 

canbus is a weird technology that came in from year 2000 and is lightweight wires pretending low volts and networking of modules can keep the cars configurable during build and the accountants happy... its really just a nightmare of gibberish that sometimes works - but a puddle, a bit of corrosion on a multiplug, buggy software or a worn capacitor will send you to the loonie bin and the car to the scrap yard

i would also consider looking at the solder joints on the cluster, many random issues can start there.

@Botus we can get into my story and the car's. I'm an American staying here for a few months, in order to avoid the costs of renting for my stay here, I bought a car. This was around mid-December. I'm hoping to sell the car in July when i'm off, so this issue will be my project that will slowly fund Halford's piggy bank. 

I put the android head unit in because I wanted to have carplay to get around, since the roundabouts confuse the hell out of me.

First sign of trouble was a few days before xmas, the car was a little sluggish to turn over when I turned the key. Whatever, it gets cold, my Corolla at home does the same thing sometimes. 

Around Jan 12, after not going anywhere with the car for more than a week, I get the old rapid clicking signifying a dead battery. This causes me to look into why my battery could have died. Having trouble getting a jump, I wait a day or so to learn that taxi companies can be called to give you a jump for 10 quid. We try that for around 30 mins, car is completely dead, no signs of life in the battery. The battery was fairly new, I checked the manufactuerer codes, it was maybe just a year old. 

Get a new battery and basically leave the battery connections unhooked ALL the time, unless I'm driving it for the day. At the current drain my 60Ah battery can handle about 2-3 days before we get into trouble voltage zones. 

I can return the android radio (until Feb 1), but I don't think that's the cause of the problem. What your post is making me thing I should do is unplug the radio completely and see if there's a draw. Maybe the fuses being pulled aren't the whole story. 

Then, yes, I've seen countless times on this forum, stories about the instrument cluster, maybe when the fuse is pulled, it doesn't mean all connections to the cluster are cut. Your insistence on the topic should be my shining clue that I should check the most common mistakes before pulling apart the car. 

--- Skip here for TL;DR ---

For the CANBUS stuff, does FORScan work for that? I have a mac, and I saw a tool for about 55£ that can bluetooth to my phone. Tomorrow I'll spend some time waiting for the GEM to sleep. I have had the GEM go to sleep, as you can see in the post above, so I'm thinking we have something keeping it awake. As far as I know it's the original, the car hasn't had too many owners. I still have the original radio, so I can put it in, but I won't admit defeat that easily. I'd sooner buy a new Android Head Unit and return the one I have. 

I will spend Sunday, tomorrow, with the car and see what she tells me. The goal is to see if the GEM goes to sleep with connections to it, and when it does not go to sleep. Then I'll try it with fuses in. The more I do this stuff, the more comfortable I feel with it, so I'm getting more and more courageous to try things. 

you are going to struggle with car or bike diagnostics and owning apple devices - yes the basic 16 possible engine OBD2 diagnostic engine management fault codes are covered by randomware products - but manufacturers all use windows based kit for playtime

forscan lite is a free tool for phones to do BASIC stuff - so when out and about you can get info about a fault stopping it running nicely, and thus you have half a clue about whats going on - which it great (but not much different to the other OBD2 phone apps out there....)  For multicar I have scanmaster lite to do the same but on most brands

but the great bit about Forscan is there's the PC based versions that are night and day different and the full paid license is almost full on ford dealer capability....

in between (but harder to come by these days) EMLConfig is a Free russian tool built for PCs running Windows supporting this era of european ford's and its incredible - it has code read and clear, plus coding stuff to check, backup, or change config in the various modules 

ALL these ideas only work with a decent 'dongle' (wrong name but we all call them that) this goes in the diagnostic port and plays magic with the comms the car sends / receives and the gibberish software you have on your laptop / phone

there is this mad ford fiddle to stop deep level playtime, they now realise needs to fake a high voltage to programme certain modules... and vgate make one that does the job...

for what you need the old manual switchable canbus network dongles are around 20 quid - but a decent auto switching one with feps 18V support is a great idea - and a cabled USB one is so cheap today

https://www.bmdiag.co.uk/forscan-diagnostic-cable-for-ford-vgate-vlinker-fs

ALL THAT SAID sounds like your android unit has one bit powered from a perm live not a switched feed... so when its meant to power down it doesn't ???

Roundabouts are simple - only two rules - give way to traffic on your right AND give way to whomever is already on there (no one remembers the last one - so if two cars about to approach at the same time, first one on has right of way)

Below - inside the GEM using EMLConfig  its a tiny app that needs a few runtime files and the dongle

its always 2.0.17 u get to find (he must have done a small bug fix but never released it as 2.0.18

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ALL THAT SAID sounds like your android unit has one bit powered OFF a perm live not a switched feed... so when it's meant to power down it doesn't ???

it's got a few settings actually. but simply, the way it's wired now, the ISO adapter on Connector A has everything but the 9 and 10 CANBUS one (maybe an issue?) connector B has 6 and 8. that's all. (See image I've attached)

The connector coming from the car itself has only the CANBUS wires not matched up. But it is connected to BATT+. 

For the radio settings - mine is this model, obviously I have a ford not a honda or VW. Right now I have it so the radio "turns off" immediately when the key is on the "I" position. 

 

 

5.1 User Mode = Only screen goes off after ACC loss, standby power draw is around 500mA 5.2 Direct sleep mode = phone goes to sleep after ACC loss, standby power draw is around 15mA 5.3 Sleep then restart mode = phone goes to sleep after ACC loss (dont know difference to Direct sleep mode), standby power draw is around 15mA 5.4 Direct shutdown mode = Powers down head unit after ACC loss (will do cold boot after ACC on), standby power draw is around 1mA

I have it on direct shutdown mode, but we still have the draw when the fuse is plugged in. Right now it's around 100mA - 120mA for the radio. The car's draw is about 100-120mA together they are about 240-250mA. 

and this one shows you "CANBUS" setting, but i'm not sure what the hell it's doing if there's no CANBUS wires going to the unit. These are all preloaded into the car. My steering wheel works fine with the radio. 

 

 

tomorrow the first thing I'm going to try is unplugging the radio (not just the fuse) and seeing if the car goes to sleep. 

 

After my tests tomorrow, it may be time to upgrade to that USB tool or the 55£ bluetooth one. https://www.bmdiag.co.uk/vgate-vlinker-fs-bluetooth-mfi-certified Would this one work? I can do both the phone and laptop. It says compatible with apple, but only on mobile apps which may reduce the functionality as you said. 

After all this, I have a feeling it's going to be something simple that was mentioned and not hacking the ECU. Either way I'm all for it, I needed a hobby anyways and this is a lot of fun. 

on some vehicles, radios etc dont/wont draw power from red but need to be connected to the yellow feed for proper function.