1999 Ranger No Crank Electrical Gremlin

[SomeBakerGuy]

Hi All,

This might be a long post but I am out of options and really need some help.

Truck:
1999 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4 Automatic w/ PATS

Issue:
For the past several months I have been experiencing an intermittent no crank no start. It has since progressively gotten worse until now where I am dead in the water. Previously turning the key to crank position would result in a audible 'click' and all interior electronics would go dead. Even if the key was removed and reinserted. The only solution was to disconnect the battery and try again. This did not occur every time and would sometimes go weeks without issue. In total this has gone on for the better part of 2 years. Until now.. It got to the point where I was having to disconnect the battery several times to get the truck to turn over without all the electronics going dead. Once the truck was started I had no issues. For context my battery is brand new and the alternator is about 1.5 years old.

My battery cables were looking rough so I pulled the harness two weeks ago and replace the positive cables to the starter and the relay box under the hood as well as the negative cable to the block. Truck turned over and fired on the first try, ran for about 30 seconds and died. Died as if you turned the key off. I will note even before I changed battery cables I was experiencing odd interior electronic issues IE. intermittent dome light, key chime, windows, cluster issues, etc. Since I've replaced the battery cables I no longer have the issue of the interior electronics all going dead but when I turn the key to crank nothing happens. I have gotten the truck to run 3 or 4 times but only for a few seconds before it shuts off. When it does crank it fires right up.

With the key in the on position and pressing the window switch the power window relay under the dash buzzes and the windows do not move. The dome light is intermittent and I'm getting erratic readings on the cluster gauges even with the key off. The key chime works intermittently and I can manipulate it by wiggling the key in the tumbler. It does not chime in the key-on position and I cannot get it to do so. The few times it has cranked it will chime in the on position.

What I have tried:
New/Different Battery
New Battery Cables
Probed fuses and checked/swapped relays.
Checked several grounds
Truck turns over when jumping the starter relay
New GEM module
New Ignition Switch
New Ignition Tumbler
Different Non-PATs key (Chime issue still remains)
Verified column actuator from tumbler to ignition switch is functioning
Tired starting with key in ignition but manually flipped the ignition switch (no change)

I would say I have tried nothing and I am all out of ideas but in this case I am at a loss as to what to try next. I could go on but this pretty much sums it up. It seems to be grounding or shorting issues but I cannot track it down. The few times I have had PATS related issues the "Theft" light would illuminate on the dash but I am not seeing that now. The key chime with the PATS and NON-PATS key is intermittent with the key inserted.

Should I test the PCM next?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[franklin2]

Your original issue was loose connections at the battery and or the cables. Like you said you fixed that with the new cables. But putting the new cables on, where you bolted the battery + to the starter solenoid, there should have been some smaller wires with large ring terminals that are with the battery + cable. These are what feed all the electric of the truck except the starter itself. I think you need to take the battery + cable off again, and check the condition of these smaller wires. If the ring connectors look rough, replace them.

What happens a lot also, one of these smaller wires will fall down and get forgotten. Look around and make sure they are all on the terminal and in good condition.