'97 Expedition electrical issues

I recently bought a used 97 expo and lately it has been going haywire. at first the headlights would turn on and off on their own and the gauges would sporadically work. i let it run one morning to heat it up before work and when i came back outside it kept making the sound a vehicle makes when you turn the key and it's already started (kind of a loud grinding). now none of the gauges are working at all but it drives fine. i've heard that sometimes water leaks into where it shouldn't and this could be causing the problems. i'm not sure where to look for water though. it did all start after a couple of days of heavy rain.

Sorry, now that i've searched this site i see that this question has been answered several times. it seems that water is leaking through the windshield and into the GEM box and fuse box area. this afternoon i will try to clear out the water and i've heard of folks drilling a small hole in the bottom so the water will run out and it will not happen again. what do we have to do to get ford to issue a recall? this seems to be a far to common problem.

I've never had that problem though.