2.5L ('98-'01) Does a base 1998 Ranger have some kind of factory antitheft/starter kill?

[TremblantRanger]

Hey guys, long time no see!!! I haven't been here in ages since I bought a new project a few years ago, a 1988 Jeep Comanche that I'm slowly restoring in my free time. I recently spent some time on the Ranger to whip it back into shape, as it'll be my winter beater. I bought many years ago a ProStart CT-3271 remote start for this truck, but never could get it to work properly. At first, I thought it was because of my parking brake switch, which sometimes wouldn't light up the warning light in the dash when I put it on. My truck is a 1998 4 cylinder, 2.5 manual, so the remote start needs a hood switch, door switch signal, park brake signal, clutch switch bypass and brake switch signal. I bypassed my park brake switch with a toggle switch. Now, the remote starter will arm into ready mode, and I'm able to start the truck with the remote a few minutes after it's been shut down, but will not after 2 hours or more. The remote starter has a primitive diagnostic codes system, based on the number of times it will flash the parking lights. So far, it acts like everything is OK, and my Spidey Senses give me the feeling that there's some kind of factory starter kill timer... Am I right? My truck has no chipped keys, manual windows and locks, and is 2wd. Any ideas?

 

[Craig0320]

Pats didn't start on rangers until the 99 model year and yes they had the wide chipped key. Your 98 does not have any kind of factory installed kill or theft system.

 

[rubydist]

iirc, they did have some kind of power-down timer on the interior lights to keep from running down the battery. I'm guessing your power source for the remote start is on that circuit that gets shut down after a minute.